The mission Nothing beats the feeling of saying "I made it myself", yet 7 out of 10 young people don't know how to sew a button on. For a good 30 years these basic life skills have been completely scrapped from education, in the UK at least. I am one of the forgotten generation who did not learn how to sew at school. I am a self-taught dressmaker who loves having the ability to create unique, well-made clothes that reflect my personality and style. I have taught over 250 people to sew in the past 5 years so releasing patterns seems like a natural progression. The aim is to try and help people gain the skills and confidence to build their...
Tomorrow, on New Year's Eve, I will turn 40. I thought I would reflect on 2016, the first full year of sharing my sewing related adventures through this blog. Firstly, thank you to everyone who has read it. I am not bombarded with comments but I can see in my page analytics that many come and take a look, and I really do appreciate it! It has been a year for going out of my comfort zone, starting with me joining the Entrepreneurial Spark programme in February. To begin with I felt very out of my depth discussing financial forecasts and all of the rest. However, I also felt like I was amongst people with the same mindset as me,...
For the last few years I have packed up my car boot several times a week and carried 4 sewing machines and all of my other kit down to the local theatre. I once counted over 15 bags of fabric, wadding and sewing samples! I have taught over 300 classes at Ilkley Playhouse and gained so many loyal customers. The management were amazingly supportive to me as a new business and allowed me flexible times and low rental. I am very grateful, especially to the late Walter Swan who encouraged me to give it a go. Joining the Entrepreneurial Spark programme in February this year was a big step forward for me. It made me realise that in order to...
