When Resthaven Bellevue Heights resident Mrs Ann Berresford heard a few of her fellow residents saying they needed small mending jobs done, she rang her son and asked if he could bring in her vintage electric Singer Sewing Machine.
Ann spent many of her younger years as a dressmaker, creating beautiful and intricate ball gowns for herself, as well as outfits for friends and family. She was taught sewing by her mother, Ruth Charlick, who was, incidentally, one of the first residents to move into Resthaven Bellevue Heights Retirement Living when it opened in 1980.
‘One of the first things I made was an apron when I was five years old,’ Ann says. ‘I still have the apron!’
Ann also made clothes for her dolls, and it wasn’t long before she was doing her own clothing and drafting her own patterns. Using the sewing machine handed down from her mother, Ann designed and stitched a pale blue ball gown with a detachable outer skirt that doubled as a cape – the perfect outfit for her visits to the Palais Royal dance hall on North Terrace.
‘I created the pattern myself,’ Ann says. ‘It even had very large pockets, so you could hold a bottle of wine in it! But I wouldn’t dance with that in there!’
Another favourite gown she created was a green satin number with a silver pattern.
Ann now advertises her services on the communal board at Resthaven Bellevue Heights, offering to do small alterations free of charge.
‘I thought, if someone needs a button sewn on, or a pair of pants hemmed, then I have the skills to help them out,’ Ann says.
She has also repaired seams and reduced waistlines.
‘It is better to fix these small problems than have to put a piece of clothing in the bin,’ Ann says.
Thank you, Ann – this is a wonderful example of community-mindedness on display!
