Alice Prior, the owner of 3 sewing businesses tells us about how she thought up her business ideas and how a Trans-Siberian trip changed her life.

To start with could you please tell us about your businesses?

I have 3 businesses:

 Alice and Co - which offers made to measure clothing mainly to London professionals who want something unique, or don't have the time to spend hours shopping to find what they want.   We also offer stretch dresses and vintage scarf dresses.

Madame Tra La La - offers a modern twist on vintage clothing.  We find many people like the styles of vintage clothing but don't want to wear old clothes.  Often my clients, being older and professional workers, could not wear vintage clothing to work so we offer vintage styles made to measure in modern materials.

Designer Raincoats - a range of unique colourful raincoats available in a variety of colours with exquisite linings.

How did the ideas for each of these come about?

I started out working in theatre design, that is what my degree is in.  I did that for 10 years, mainly on the set side of things, not the costumes.  Then I fell pregnant with my first child.  I could no longer work the long hours required by theatre design so I decided to go into dressmaking for a short while whilst the children were young, my eldest is now 21 and I am still doing it!

Madame Tra La La came about when I met a Scottish Lady called Tara who lives in Paris.  She decided she wanted to buy vintage clothing in Paris and sell it in London as there is such a demand for it here, and not in France.  My daughter was going to help her and when I went to drop her off I noticed that people were having trouble fitting into the clothing.  People were so much smaller back then, particularly in the waist so for instance a size 10 in the 50's would be about 4 inches smaller around the wait than a modern size 10.  So I suggested to Tara that perhaps she could find the clothes and I could make modern versions, made to measure, to better fit modern women.

The designer raincoats started because I found it very difficult to find a colourful raincoat in the shops so I made one for myself.   Lots of people liked it and wanted one too so I decided to make them to sell.  The benefit of making raincoats is that they are not as fitted as dresses so it is easier to sell them online.

I understand Madame Tra La La is a mail order service.  Is it difficult to get the clothes to fit when you are not measuring the customer yourself?

We imagined that this may be a problem so we leave a long seam down the side and offer a free alteration per purchase to make items better fitting.  However, so far not a single item has been returned for refitting.

Do you match follow both the fabric and pattern of the original vintage dress?

No, we use the dress as an inspiration but will adapt it to make it more suitable for modern fashions.  For instance a lot of 50's dresses have high, frumpy necklines which people do not want nowadays.   With regards to the fabric I like to offer my clients a wide range of colours so I have to find a fabric that is available in several different colours which can be difficult.  I try to keep the fabric similar, for example if the original is a light weight fabric I will use a light weight fabric in my version.   We also ensure we use very good quality fabrics. 

Do you do all the sewing work yourself?

No, I do the consultations, the fittings, design the patterns and source the fabrics but I have a team of very competent seamstresses who do the actual sewing for me.  They do it a lot quicker than I could and it allows me time to focus on the other aspects of the business.

It says on your website you decided to set up Alice & Co following a journey on the Trans-Siberian express.  How did that journey lead to where you are now?

It was a life changing for both myself and my husband (who became a travel writer after selling his account of the journey).  I met a lady who analysed colours whilst on the train.  I worked with her for a while after, she would analyse people's colours and then I would give style/fashion advice and could make them clothing in those colours.  The skills I learnt are still very important to me now as I can encourage people to be braver with colours.  That is also why I like to offer a good range of colours with all my products.

What advice could you give to people who are considering setting up on their own as a designer or dressmaker?

Try to keep your overheads as low as possible, especially when it comes to premises.  You do not need large premises to impress people.  If you deliver a good service people will come back regardless of where you are.  I work from a friend's house, she is a hat maker.  It means we can offer a friendly relaxing environment for our clients and offer both clothes and hats.

What are the benefits to working for yourself?

It would have to be the freedom, the flexibility to work when I want.  If I want to work in the evening and take the afternoon off I can.  So long as I deliver what was promised, when it was promised, I can do it as and when I want.  I never let my clients down.  That was one thing I leant in the theatres, the clothes had to be ready by the time the curtain went up.

What are the downsides to working for yourself?

It's always there and you never stop thinking about it.

To find out more about Madame Tra La La please visit http://www.madametralala.com/ for more information regarding Alice & Co go to http://www.aliceandco.co.uk/  and the designer raincoats can be found here: http://www.designerraincoats.co.uk/