ABOUT

Sewing, designing, and making things by hand — still figuring out the rest.

I've sewn since I was a kid — textiles at school, my own work suits, curtains at home, even the clothes I packed for my honeymoon.

French couture jacket in progress — tweed fabric, pattern pieces, embroidery needles and thread on the atelier table — After Stilettos

Then I had kids, and stopped to concentrate on them. During Covid I got brought back to it — I saw a video online and thought, oh, I could do that.

I signed up for one class at a small fashion school in Miami, just to get back into it, and ended up doing the whole program. Garment Construction, Pattern Making, Textiles, Product Development, Adobe Illustrator all of it.

That was the foundation, but I wanted to go further — so I went to Japan to learn traditional kimono making, and to Arona, Italy, for couture tailoring.

More recently I took a hat-making course in London, and I'll be going back for another class with the same teacher.

There are full journal series on Japan and Italy if you want to go down that rabbit hole with me, with hat-making to come.

READ THE JOURNAL
  • Pink strapless tiered floral dress on dress form outdoors, made by Nicola Grayling at the Fashion Institute of Florida

    CONSTRUCTION

    From fashion school — a class where this dress took shape.

    CONSTRUCTION 
  • Silver brocade kimono wrap dress and miniature version on dress forms, made by Nicola Grayling at the Fashion Institute of Florida

    PATTERN MAKING

    Turning a ideal from a sketch, into an actual pattern, step by step.

    PATTERN MAKING 
  • Handmade French couture jacket in ivory tweed with black braid trim, crafted by Nicola Grayling at After Stilettos — Italian workshop

    FRENCH JACKET

    Everything I learned making a French jacket in Arona, Italy.

    COUTURE WORKSHOP 

A FEW THINGS ABOUT ME

  • I always have multiple pieces in progress — one on the drafting table, one on the sewing machine.
  • I love hand sewing, sashiko, smocking and couture hand-finishing.
  • I can't resist a fabric shop — if I love something I'll buy it without knowing what it's going to become, always 3 yards at a time so I know I'll have enough.

“Honestly, I spend more time unpicking than I do sewing” — Nicola

  • Nicola Grayling — Founder of After Stilettos, handwritten signature

The name came from thinking about who this is really for — women who've given up a career for kids, retired, or just walked away from whatever their version of "heels" was, and are looking for a space to try something new. For me that was working at a merchant bank in London, dealing with the traders every day. These days it's pins in a pincushion instead.

There's nothing to buy here yet — I'm working on that. In the meantime, if you ever want to know what fabric, tools, or machines I'm actually using, it's all in Styled & Found.

VISIT STYLED & FOUND