Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle's wedding gown maker on the brink of homelessness

The financial slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic has pushed a lot of people on the brink of homelessness, including a British embroiderer who has worked on two royal wedding gowns.

Chloe Savage, who helped create the iconic wedding dresses of Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, has revealed that she is struggling to make both ends meet amid the pandemic. The artist, who works from her home in Warmley Village on the outskirts of Bristol, England, shared with People magazine that her financial status has gotten so bad that her teenage daughter is having to skip meals to save some money.

"It's been horrific," said the 43-year-old who is facing a real possibility of homelessness, adding: "We've had all our work literally dry up."

Chloe revealed that the circumstances had a drastic impact on her daughter, who is now going to Child Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to get support.

"My 14-year-old daughter is skipping meals to save on the food budget. The stress is getting to her and she is self-harming too. So, she's now going to Child Mental Health Services (CAMHS) to get support," she said.

Chloe, who is also mother to two sons aged 8 and 24, was working as a conservator for The National Trust charity prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. However, she says that a lot of their international contracts started getting put on hold in January and February this year.

When the work started drying up, she shut down her Chloe Savage Embroidery studio, laid off her apprentices, and took out a $30,000 "bounce back loan" provided by the U.K. government to help small businesses during the pandemic. However, the loan money also didn't last for long as it was majorly spent on business-related costs such as electricity, materials, and buying herself out of her studio rental.

Chloe's parents are now turning their garage into a new workplace to help her out, and the family has also sold off her dad's beloved Morris Minor car.

Chloe had worked at the Royal School of Needlework in Hampton Court Palace to create Kate Middleton's gown for her wedding with Prince William in 2011. She appliquéd all the lace to Kate's Alexander McQueen gown and shoes, and also worked on her "elasticated blue silk and white lace garter."

Recalling her interactions with the Duchess of Cambridge, Chloe said: "Kate came in a few times. She was lovely. The usual blushing bride. She was excited about the dress, nervous about the day, questioning what we were doing... all that sort of stuff. She didn't pick up a needle herself. She didn't trust herself not to bleed on the work!"

Chloe, who is an alumnus of the prestigious École Lesage in Paris, returned to the court to work on the wedding dress of Meghan Markle for her nuptials with Prince Harry in 2018. She was given the task of hand-stitching California poppies, ears of corn, Commonwealth flowers, and a variety of garden flowers onto the royal bride's veil. However, she was out of the office when the former American actress dropped in to see the work on her Givenchy wedding dress.

Discussing the difficulties in her work, Chloe said: "It gave you snow blindness after an hour-or-so because you were constantly working white on white. You start to go a little bit cross-eyed after a while!"