Sarah Connolly has loved charity shop fashion since being a teenager, but instead of trawling through the clothes rails, she now makes a beeline for dated bedding and psychedelic curtains, she tells Lucy Richardson

SARAH CONNOLLY is a collector of vintage clothing and a fan of recycling.

And she’s managed to combine her passions by launching a fashion brand, Ragtime Vintage.

Sarah’s mother Sylvia made some vintageinspired dresses for her last year, which inspired the pair to source 1940s and 1950s patterns from the internet and led to a thriving business.

“The problem with genuine vintage clothes is that often the sizes are very small. Women had gone through a decade of rationing,” says Sarah, from Middlesbrough. “I also make things from cottons and polyesters so you can wash them in a machine, unlike real vintage clothes which are often made of silk. We also alter the sizes of the patterns so they fit women today.”

So an old sage green duvet cover has been turned by the deft seamstresses into a 1940s tea dress. A pair of tartan curtains may not be in vogue in 2013, but as a 1950s-style dress they are bang on trend.

“I have always been into recycling and have shopped in charity shops for clothes since I was 19,” says Sarah, a 39-year-old mother to fiveyear- old James.

As well as enjoying radical career changes – Sarah was a scrutiny officer at Stockton Borough Council and her mother a former solicitor and lecturer – the pair are now thinking of ways to expand their creativity.

Their one-off dresses are stocked by Niamh’s Boutique on Middlesbrough’s Baker Street, and are also available to order through the Ragtime Vintage Middlesbrough Facebook page. The Connollys are also thinking about holding sewing classes to teach others how to make the clothes they covet.

“People do not usually think of using their old curtains and they could go to waste, but it means we can make things much more cheaply,” says Sarah. “We charge between £35 to £40 for each dress but customers know they are getting something unique, which makes them extra special.”