Hi, I’m Amanda, wife, mum of two, former Primary School teacher and Seamstress. I’d love to share my little story with you, to explain how I went from Primary School Teacher to Sewing Teacher.
Lots of people have these lovely stories where they remember their first ever sewing machine, a birthday gift or Christmas present perhaps. I don’t have a story like this, I honestly can’t remember my first ever sewing machine, it feels like I always just had one. In reality I’m sure my first sewing machine was my mum’s old one and from about the age of 17 I’ve always had a sewing machine in my life. I could work it, I could turn it on, thread the machine, sew straight lines, but that was about it. I had a few failed attempts trying to read sewing patterns, they were like double dutch and if the tension went off or the bobbin became tangled I hadn’t really a clue. For about 15 years the extent of my sewing was anything that involved straight lines, curtains, cushions, (just don’t expect a zip in them!) and I even stretched to some roman blinds, but that was it.
With a husband, baby and a toddler in my life I decided I needed to do something for myself and decided it was time to properly learn to sew. To understand those dressmaking patterns, to find out what a selvage actually is and more importantly to do something for me, to be Amanda and not mum for a wee while. I can honestly say learning to sew is absolutely up there with one of the best decisions I ever made. Not only did it give me a chance to do something for me, a night off from the bedtime routines, but I met lots of new people, some of whom turned out to be amazing friends, I laughed, learned and had the best times at those classes.
That was it then, I wanted to know everything. I challenged myself to try tricky patterns, to not give up if it didn’t make sense the first time, to use the fabrics that people said were difficult to work with and eventually work out how to work with them. It all started really 8 years ago, I’ve literally been sewing ever since, I have made everything from bikinis to coats to jeans to evening wear. You name it, I’ve made it.
Where to go from there? There seemed only to be one sensible option. I am a teacher and I do love my job, I am a people person, I love meeting new people and getting to know their stories and obviously I love sewing. Sew You Can is my way of combining all of my skills and helping others to fall in love with sewing just like I did. So, if you have always wanted to learn to sew but didn’t know where to start, I can help you. If like me there’s a dusty old sewing machine in the back of your cupboard but you don’t REALLY know how to use it, I can help. If you do know how to sew but your projects never seem to fit correctly or something seems to always go wrong I can help, or if your wee one is bursting with enthusiasm and want to learn to sew and you can’t even sew on a button, let me teach them.
Sew You Can is my dream, but I hope it will make your dreams come true too. If you dream of a me made wardrobe, of perfectly fitting clothes, of seeing a designer frock and being able to recreate it yourself I can help you make those dreams a reality. If you are just looking to learn some thing new, meet new people and have a laugh I promise that our classes will do just that too.
I hope if you’ve made it this far in reading Our Story you will give us a try. I promise that our studio is warm, friendly, and welcoming and not at all like school. You won’t do anything wrong, there’s nothing to worry about, but you will have a cuppa, probably a biscuit and at the end of the class feel amazing about yourself and proud of what you’ve made, so, what are you waiting for.
See you soon
Amanda x