Creative Crafters- Crafty Sew & So

Image: Crafty Sew & So

Tell me more about your craft? What is it? When did you find out you were good at it?

At Crafty Sew & So we teach people to sew and we’re particularly excited by dressmaking! Running the workshops has lead us to develop our own dressmaking pattern range, My Handmade Wardrobe, which have loads of supporting resources to help more people to learn to sew. Sarah, who is my business partner studied fashion design at university and has been sewing since she was 11 years old.

Why did you decide to turn into a business?

Sarah began teaching as a side job 5 years ago and took it full time just before we paired up to open the shop and studio. Opening a sewing studio in Leicester had been on both our minds for couple of years prior and good timing leads us to open our doors in September 2015.

Image: Crafty Sew & So

Tell us more about the process, the step by step process of your craft-From the concept to the final product.

For the dressmaking patterns, we like to design things for our wardrobes, so we have a look at the garments we wear a lot and look for interesting design elements to include. We work together to sketch out our initial ideas, then Sarah drafts the first pattern.

We sew up a toile (mock-up) and decide what we like and what we need to change and keep making tweaks until we’re happy. The pattern goes off to get graded, while we sew up lots of samples, take photographs and write the instruction booklets.

Image: Crafty Sew & So

Once everything is completed, we send off the patterns for testing by members of the sewing community, who give us feedback. We’ll make any final changes based on that and then go to print!

Where do you sell your product?

We sell our patterns, alongside fabrics, sewing tools and haberdashery in our B&M store in Leicester city centre, as well as online from our website. You can also buy our patterns from other sewing shops as we’ve started wholesaling!

Have you noticed a rise in crafters and people buying creations?

Definitely! Crafting and sewing have become more and more accessible in recent years. Blogs and independent patterns with clear and jargon-free instructions mean that people are able to try new things at home and in workshop more and more easily.

Image: Crafty Sew & So

What is the crafting industry like?

I’ve found the sewing community to be an incredibly welcoming place! I’ve friends who run similar businesses, which is enormous support and encouragement.

Do you recommend people starting up their own crafting creations and turning it into a business?

It can be incredibly satisfying to turn your passion into a business, but it’s also a lot of very hard work. I say go for it! But don’t do it blindly and make sure you have an incredible support network behind you. I recommend joining; The Indie Roller Coaster’ group on Facebook if you haven’t got that in real life, its full of small creative business owners who will have your back.