Sew long to Pontefract's own '˜Sewing Sally'

Sally Sallett, also known locally as ‘Sewing Sally’, is due to shut her business, The Fashion Workroom in Pontefract, at the end of the month.

The 67-year-old has decided the time has come to retire and spend more time with her husband on their narrowboat and concentrate on her other passion - photography.

She said: “I have always sewn since I was younger, my mum showed me what to do and it was always a hobby.

“But it’s run its course now, and there’s not many of us about now and recruiting skilled staff is almost impossible.

“It’s difficult to find people who can do a good job.

“I’ve had the business 17 years now and I think I’m probably passed my sell-by date 
anyway!

“It’s changed so much over the years that people just don’t need someone to alter their clothes anymore.

“It was always manic in the run up to Christmas but everything has got a lot more casual these days, people don’t dress up as much.

“People wear much cheaper clothes which you can just throw away, which I completely understand because I do it myself!”

Speaking about her decision to retire, she added: “I’ve got mixed feelings.

“I shall miss the people and I have done this for so long it seems like I have been ‘Sewing Sally’ forever, so I will need to get a new identity!”

Mrs Sallett’s shop on Gillygate is due to close at the end of the month.

Having moved to Yorkshire in 1980, Sally Sallett worked at home for years.

She secured a job in 1996 at the famous fashion store in Leeds city centre, Harvey Nichols, where she spent four years.

During her time there, she would work altering clothes, some for a number of VIP customers.

Among her list of clients were former boxer Prince Naseem Ahmed, rock star Liam Gallagher and wife of supermarket mogul Ken Morrison, Lady Morrison.

She also helped to dress numerous Coronation Street stars during her time at the store.

She later set up her business in Pontefract.