Mel dresses up The Mill

Three seasonal handmade dresses in a new display are being admired at the entrance to Walford Mill, Wimborne’s arts and crafts centre. The meticulous work is that of the charity venue’s administrator of eight years, Melanie Pownall, who has never displayed her skilful creativity in public before.

Mel, whose love of horses as a youngster led to equine influenced drawings and sewing, later made clothes for her own children and produces free motion machine embroidered items for friends and work colleagues.

She said: “Lockdown gave me the time and space to develop my style from which the first summer dress evolved.” Each of the garments has taken more than a year to make and a winter model to complete the quartet is now in progress.

Despite suggestions of her taking studio space and running machine embroidery classes, Mel says her sewing and creative work is a fun hobby and fits around family and work activities.

The dresses can be seen along with the work of resident and visiting makers and artists at Walford Mill, which is open to the public without charge, each week from Wednesday to Sunday. Walford Mill Education Trust is keen to give developing new talent the opportunity to take space at the centre. Contact: info@walfordmillcrafts.co.uk or 01202 841400 for more information.