Qurna Creations has been offering a dressmaking and alterations service since 2002. Hilary Couch, the owner, had been dressmaking for family and friends for over 40 years when she had to give up her career to look after her ageing mother and started taking in sewing commissions to keep herself sane!

Local people beat a path to her door and the business grew, so that in 2005 she was able to able to take on a team of outworkers.

Sewing skills passed on through the generations...

Hilary learned her sewing skills from her grandmother who had been a professional seamstress. When she was left her grandmother's hand-operated sewing machine, Hilary took this with her on overseas postings and sewed for friends and their families in her spare time, attending specialist courses in designing and pattern-cutting on home leaves.

How "Qurna Creations" was born...

Hilary's last job abroad was in Iraq in the early 1980s and when she and her family settled in Crowborough and had to name a new house, she chose the name Qurna, after a place she had visited there.

The original Qurna is a very small town in Southern Iraq where the rivers Tigris & Euphrates meet, and is reputed to be one of many possible sites of the Garden of Eden. It seemed very appropriate for a leafy idyll in rural Sussex.

The name "Qurna Creations" was decided by her three daughters who, when they wore their prom dresses that Hilary had made, told their friends that "Mum has made me another Qurna Creation!". You will see this phrase on the labels of original Qurna garments.

Why Qurna Creations started creating flowergirl dresses...

In the Summer of 2005, Hilary and her co-workers had many requests to alter little bridesmaids' dresses that had been bought well in advance and were still too big when the wedding day arrived.

So Hilary came up with designs for a range of flowergirl dresses which could be ordered in advance, over the internet, and then made up only 6 weeks before the big day from 4 basic measurements – and would fit perfectly.

And so the Qurna Creations flowergirl dresses came into being.

Local dressmaking service...

The ladies of Qurna Creations still do a lot of local dressmaking and alterations, but can only offer this service to people who live near enough to Crowborough to attend for fittings.

First Communion dresses and party dresses too...

But anyone can order flowergirl dresses through this website, and the range now covers not only bridesmaids dresses but special party dresses and First Communion dresses as well.