Who is Gracie?

Hi, I’m Gracie — the self-taught sewist, pattern designer and serial pattern hacker behind Gracie Steel.

I started sewing because I wanted to make clothes I actually wanted to wear. Somewhere along the way, that turned into designing sewing patterns so other people could do the same.

Gracie Steel has always been about making clothes that feel like you. I love a pattern that gives you a really good starting point, but still leaves plenty of room to change the length, switch the fabric, add a detail, leave something out or make it again completely differently.

Sewing for real life

I’m not especially interested in making clothes that only work for a photo.

I want to make things I can actually live in — shorts I’ll wear on repeat, dresses I can throw on without thinking, clothes I can travel in, chase a toddler in, wear out to dinner and pull from the wardrobe again next summer.

That’s probably why you’ll see me sew the same pattern over and over again. I’m always tweaking something, changing a detail or finding a completely different way to make a pattern I already love.

These days, there’s a little more life around the sewing.

I’m based in Melbourne, Australia, and I’m also a mum, which has changed the way I make, dress and share online.

There’s still plenty of sewing, but now it sits alongside sourdough, exercise, gardening, travel, home projects and the general chaos of family life.

I’ve realised I don’t really want to separate all of those things anymore.

Making has always been bigger than sewing for me. Sometimes it’s a dress. Sometimes it’s a loaf of sourdough. Sometimes it’s trying to grow a ridiculous number of strawberries on a balcony.

Completely self-taught

I didn’t go to fashion school and I didn’t come into sewing or pattern design through a traditional route.

I taught myself by making things, unpicking them, trying again, asking questions and figuring things out as I went.

That still shapes the way I design patterns now. I want the instructions to be clear and useful without making sewing feel more complicated than it needs to be.

My patterns are there to give you the information you need, then leave enough space for you to make them your own.

Made in Melbourne. Made by you.

One of my favourite parts of Gracie Steel is seeing what happens after a pattern leaves my computer.

Different fabrics, different bodies, different hacks and completely different interpretations — often versions I never would have thought of myself.

That community of makers has always been such a huge part of Gracie Steel, and seeing people come back to the same patterns again and again is probably the best compliment I could get.

So whether you’ve been sewing my patterns for years or you’ve only just found me, welcome.

I’m Gracie. I make sewing patterns, make far too many versions of them, bake sourdough, exercise, grow things, travel when I can, raise a little human and share quite a lot of it along the way.

Thanks for being here.