Lisa Comfort grew up in a small Yorkshire village and fell in love with sewing when she was taught to make her first skirt aged 11. A year later her parents gave her a sewing machine and, despite being teased for her “uncool” hobby at school, Lisa was hooked.

Although Lisa was obsessed with sewing, her parents wanted her to get an academic qualification, so she studied French and Italian at Leeds University. All through her degree she made clothes and during her year abroad she spent all her spare time tailoring and dressmaking in Italy. After graduating she moved to London and worked in The City while doing evening classes in sewing. After getting into the London School of Fashion, Lisa’s sewing career took off. She worked for British designer Bruce Oldfield and bridal couture designer Phillipa Lepley. Lisa started teaching people to sew in the evenings and soon realised sewing was in danger of becoming a lost skill.

Lisa launched the Sew Over It in May 2011. She wanted to design patterns for stylish, fashionable clothes that people wanted to wear, create clear easy-to-follow instructions, inspire and help people to sew with her vlog and online tutorials, source unique fabrics and create kits which allowed her customers to buy into her personal style.

Lisa is also a writer and has published two books, Sew It, Wear It, Love It (2011) – an introduction to sewing for beginners, and Sew Over It Vintage (2012) – a beginner’s guide to making vintage inspired patterns.

Lisa has also guest edited Mollie Makes’ DIY Fashion bookazine and writes columns for Sew Magazine, Prima and Simply Sewing. She has also been featured in Mollie Makes, Psychologies, Prima, Red online and Homestyle.

She has also appeared on the Alan Titchmarsh Show and Kirstie’s Vintage Home.