Words Jo Barnes
Photos Tanya Murchie
She sews silky satins by the seashore. The satins she sews are super, I’m sure. While the description of Britney King’s work may trip up your tongue, her beautiful gowns are easy on the eyes. For 15 years, from her North Saanich studio, Britney has not only been creating stunning bridal, bridesmaid and evening wear but has also been teaching others the fundamentals in this craft through digital courses. “I love gowns; it’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to make. I like creating something that starts as lines on paper and then comes out as a full physical product in my hands,” shares Britney. “I started to put together dressmaking courses to teach people the skills. I wanted to share what I have learned”.
Britney creates under two banners: Reign Bridal, her bridal gown line, and showroom and Threadora Gowns, her online courses on making gowns. Through Reign Bridal, Britney offers custom gown design services, in-house signature collection gowns with customization options, and studio fitting with consultation. She well understands that a wedding gown is unique to each client and wants to ensure that the gowns worn by her customers give them self-assurance. “I like to create confidence in people. Brides are the harshest on themselves. Often, they deal with body issues or they’re looking for a specific style and have trouble finding gowns in the store,” she relates. “A customer can bring me their ideas.”
Some of these customer-inspired designs have been very unique at times. “I did a gown based on a character from Game of Thrones. The bride loved the style,” she comments. “I made a post-pregnancy dress for another client. It had a flexible design as we went along such as an elastic waist in the skirt and flexibility in the bodice. It worked out beautifully.”
Meanwhile, Britney’s online venture, Threadora Gowns, provides sewing courses through two learning platforms, Skillshare and Udemy. Online subscribers follow a series of videos and learn all the dressmaking steps to make their own beautiful gowns. These gowns have the advantage of being half-scale, meaning, half the size of full patterns. This means less time, less material, and reduced opportunities for errors which results in an overall enhanced dressmaking experience. In addition, the online courses offer practical dressmaking guidance and inspiration. Topics have included making specific dress styles, sewing lace, bodice lining and facing, invisible zippers, and other valuable lessons.
“Customers want gowns that are easy to do. They want to learn all they can. With my half-scale patterns and video instruction, they have a simpler way to do this. I chose the name Threadora. It’s magical sounding, and,” Britney adds with a laugh: “sewing is my magical ability!”
This “magical ability” and the passion behind it traces back to Britney’s childhood experiences. “My grandmother inspired me. She was always sewing for the neighbourhood. We sewed together and made Barbie clothes,” she relates. “In high school, I had a great sewing teacher. I was the top sewing student in grade 12 and won a sewing machine which was great!”
She completed a Diploma in Fashion Design at the Art Institute of Vancouver, but discovered it was difficult to find a job in this field at that time. She worked at a retail clothing store and in wholesale accessories, but the hunger to use her skills, education and passion for fashion remained. In 2010, Britney launched Elise Tonn Designs, her first wedding gown design business, a forerunner to Reign Bridal. “The company was named for my grandmother, Elise. She had always encouraged me to pursue my passion,” says Britney.
Since that first business was launched, and the subsequent years of establishing Reign Bridal and Threadora Gowns, Britney has worked hard to connect with the Saanich community and beyond in sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm. “I have created YouTube videos to show people what can be done at a reasonable cost,” she relates. “To date, I have had 30,000 subscribers!”
Over time, she has taken her technical skills and applied them to new objectives in her dressmaking goals. “I learned and developed my digital skills from my day jobs, in social media marketing and website development, that supported my side hustle,” she says. “With Threadora, those skills helped me set up and easily navigate in platforms like Skillshare.”
The effort has brought rewards. Response for Britney’s educational tutorials has been very positive with over 700 subscribers signing up on Skillshare alone.
So, while she sells what she sews by Sidney’s seashore, Britney’s gowns and online courses have her customers discovering that speaking highly of her work, is easy to say.
www.threadora.com; www.reignbridal.com
