DO you find that no matter how many clothes shops you go into, you can never find ANYTHING that fits? Or that items you like turn out to be extortionately priced?

Westhoughton's Diane Haddock has taken this problem into her own hands and has created her very own wardrobe -- both for workwear and for a night out on the town.

She said: "Being quite tall, the clothes I liked just weren't long enough for me. I like my skirts and dresses right down to the floor.

Diane, now 32, was a self-styled glam rocker in her teens, so she saved money and fashioned her own image through her designs.

When Diane first started clothes making she learned by "trial and error" but nowadays she doesn't even use patterns -- which is amazing when you see some of the pieces that Diane has made.

Her job as a machinist at Bentwood Brothers, Leigh has kept her nimble fingers in practice over the past eight years. And she says she can now whizz up an outfit -- with the right machine of course -- in about an hour.

Scraps of material from work have often proved very handy in some of her creations. For special occasions, she likes to turn out something that little bit different. Diane picks up her material at various fabric stores around Leigh and also from charity shops.

She said: "I can visualise an outfit when I see the material in the shop.

"Some materials that look a bit hideous on the shelf can end up as really nice dresses."

While pregnant with daughter Summer, now four months old, Diane made all her own maternity wear saying she didn't want to wear leggings as she looks like Max Wall!

She said: "It would have been too expensive to buy all the maternity wear I needed -- it's a lot of money for just a short period of time." Now she plans to get to work on Summer's christening gown!

Diane insists she still thoroughly enjoys making clothes both for herself and for close friends and family.

She said: "I find clothes-making really relaxing.

"I've thought about setting myself up in business, but it isn't something I have tried yet."

But who knows -- maybe you'll be the proud owner of a "Design by Diane" in the future!

And as pictures show, Diane reveals she's not only an excellent dressmaker but also a first-class model.