I’m determined to stay positive through this second lockdown in the uk.

This time we kind of know what we’re in for.  During the spring lockdown, I found those first 6 weeks really quite difficult. Positivity was definitely in short supply. The world stopped.  My world stopped.  Somebody pulled up the anchor and I was floating in a sea of the unknown. I know I’m not alone with that feeling.  Many, many small business owners had the same issues, I’m sure.  I think the fact we had (have) no real end point hasn’t helped.  I hope we all find our way through it and back to solid ground.

Once I came to terms with the fact I wasn’t going to be able to run classes I realised I could concentrate on all of those jobs that I’d been putting off.  Well, some of them.  Put the time into working on my business rather than just being in it.  This gave me a focus. Which direction did I want this business to travel in?  I had been working towards the end of a course with the lovely Kayte from Simple and season as lockdown hit.  Ironically about online learning and it made me think about what it was I really wanted to do.   All of a sudden I found that actually I’d have to learn the technicalities pretty quickly.  As I said, I’ve learnt a lot.  Naturally there was a list or three.

I planned out my branding and spent an afternoon vision boarding.  Something I hated when I was at college but now I could see a use, a purpose for it.  I doodled a logo and then realised I didn’t have the ability to get it from my sketchbook to laptop.  Thank the goodness for friends with tech knowhow.  Kami worked wonders on my doodle and it turns out she ‘loves’ building websites.  My next stumbling block.  Between us we spent most of the summer working through the tech and design of the site, with only a couple of glitches (one of which was my being without broadband for  month) we made it.  If you need help with logos or the tech side of things I can most definitely recommend Kami to guide you through the fog.

Where to now?

Well, I’ve just babbled on when I didn’t even set out to go through that part of my journey.  There were many ins and outs and it’s safe to say I learnt a LOT.  In fact I’m still learning.  Which brings me back to why I started out.  I’d like this space to be a positive one for anyone who chooses to visit.

Face to face classes will always be my favorite way to teach but in these current times that’s not so straight forward.  I hope to have a few online classes which will fill in one or two gaps for you if you can’t make it to a class.  There is a zip course in the midst of works and I hope to set out a version of a beginners course covering the basics to get you going should you want to dip your toes in the water or just have something to point you in the right direction for putting a sleeve in or getting that facing to lay flat.

My zoom sessions have come to the fore again too.  If you would like a zoom to help with any fitting issues or you’re not quite sure what that pattern instruction actually means, I’m more than happy to see you on the screen.  Just give me a shout or use the contact section of the site.

A sew-along to brighten your day

I’ve decided to throw a little love out there and share my bag pattern with you accompanied with a sew-along.  It’s gradually coming together and it’ll be a day or two before it’s all ready for public viewing but I hope to have it all ready soon.  I’ll pop it up as a course.  I’m hoping that this helps give you a focus should you need one.  A positive project.

Although I use mine as a wash bag to put ALL the things in, you could very easily use it for a project bag.  In fact, as most of us are unable to travel that much at the moment, it makes way more sense to work something for a new hobby or house a particular project.  These also make great gifts.  Filled with scented goodies or precious haberdashery they almost wrap themselves.

I’ll be quite open about this.  Once we’re out of this lockdown, or maybe after Christmas there will be a small charge to cover the time it’ll take to put it all together.  Fear not, if you sign up before then you won’t be charged.  There is a facebook group where it’ll make it’s first foray and you can swap ideas and ask questions.  I’ll also put something similar on the course just in case you don’t do that social media.  I don’t want anyone to miss out.

I hope that through this time of uncertainty we can find a moment to feel a little joy.  A moment where we can just be.  Sewing has been called zen-like and I think there’s a lot of truth in that.  Enjoy the process, give yourself time.  If you take part in the sew-along do let me know how you get on and show me the finished bag.  There is bound to be a blooper reel of videos which I might just pop at the end to lighten things up a bit.