Meet the Team
Carolyn
Carolyn is our owner and founder, and our main teacher here.
Carolyn trained as a teacher at Sheffield Hallam University specialising in Art and Textiles. After leaving Sheffield Hallam she spent a year in Switzerland studying Art and Textiles in Zurich. On returning to the UK she started her teaching career in Coventry and spent the next 25 years teaching sewing and dressmaking in schools and adult learning centres. During this time she studied for her BA degree with the Open University.
Carolyn trained as a teacher at Sheffield Hallam University specialising in Art and Textiles. After leaving Sheffield Hallam she spent a year in Switzerland studying Art and Textiles in Zurich. On returning to the UK she started her teaching career in Coventry and spent the next 25 years teaching sewing and dressmaking in schools and adult learning centres. During this time she studied for her BA degree with the Open University.
After raising her family she was inspired to start her private sewing school in 2010 to share her passion for sewing in a relaxed and friendly environment. Carolyn teaches children, teenagers and adults and specialises in beginners to sewing, and dressmaking.
Sam
Sam is one of our lovely shop assistants and teaches some of our children's and adult workshops. Her background was in education and Space Science but has always loved being creative! She has her own YouTube Sewing Channel called "Sew Let's Sparkle with Sam" where she creates sewing tutorials. She has recently found her love for dressmaking and is working her way through all her favourite patterns and working on getting the right fit.
Carmen
Assisting with the workshops and fabric cutting, Carmen is the youngest member of our team and has been with us (as a student first) since she was a little girl. She has recently taken on some of the Saturday Children's beginners classes as well! Carmen is also a budding fashion designer - currently studying Fashion and Textiles at College and inspiring us every weekend with the beautiful clothes that she makes.
Grace
Grace is one of our lovely shop assisstents and she simply loves to make weird and wonderful things! She graduated from the theatre and performance design BA at The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts last August. There, she created set and costume designs for theatre and musicians. Experimenting with reusing waste and creating sustainably is her passion. Aiming to build better worlds to inspire our own!
Sarah
Sarah Laws is one of our lovely external teachers who teaches the pattern cutting and alteration workshops. She designs MHW patterns and works in her studio in The Makers Yard in Leicester. She trained in fashion design at Westminster university before working in the fashion design industry for 7 years. She is passionate about sharing her knowledge and experience to enable everyone to make their own clothes and feel great about their bodies and skills.
Emma
Emma is one of our lovely teachers who teaches some of the adults 6 week sewing courses.
For as long as she can remember Emma has sewn, starting out with making clothes for her dolls, before working her way up to making clothes for herself. Following that love of sewing she studied needlework at school and went on to get a B/Tech and a degree in Fashion and Textiles.
For as long as she can remember Emma has sewn, starting out with making clothes for her dolls, before working her way up to making clothes for herself. Following that love of sewing she studied needlework at school and went on to get a B/Tech and a degree in Fashion and Textiles.
She started her career designing childrenswear for manufacturers supplying high street shops, and also worked in ladies wear, corporate and adult workwear. And although she had some interludes where she moved away from the textile industry, she always kept dressmaking. She started teaching in her spare time in 2019, and then in 2022 made the move away from the regular 9-5 to focus purely on tutoring dressmaking.
She loves what she does and takes huge pleasure in seeing students develop their own sewing skills and enjoyment in the creative process.
Tracy
Tracy is another one of our lovely tutor's. Tracy has been a freelance sewing tutor for the last 8 years at venues across Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. She enjoys helping learners of all abilities refine their skills to produce high quality bespoke items. She specialises in teaching dressmaking, homewares and bag making, often creating her own patterns or adjusting existing patterns.
Joséphine
Joséphine is another one of our amazing external teachers who teaches the revive and pattern cutting workshops.
She is a fashion design graduate with a profound commitment to sustainability and inclusivity. She's here to teach you how to love again your garments and make them entirely yours. Her classes are gender-neutral, size-inclusive (truly) and will teach you useful skills you can apply everyday to your wardrobe! Useful tips, essential techniques and styling make the base of her teaching which we know you'll love! She says she also has (quite) a bad sense of humour, which she hopes you'll enjoy too!
She is a fashion design graduate with a profound commitment to sustainability and inclusivity. She's here to teach you how to love again your garments and make them entirely yours. Her classes are gender-neutral, size-inclusive (truly) and will teach you useful skills you can apply everyday to your wardrobe! Useful tips, essential techniques and styling make the base of her teaching which we know you'll love! She says she also has (quite) a bad sense of humour, which she hopes you'll enjoy too!
Britannie
Britannie edits and maintains our website for us from home.
Britannie has been with us for a number of years on and off. She started out as a student back in 2018 and quickly become a member of the team working Saturdays. During the COVID-19 pandemic Britannie took it on herself to learn how to edit the website so that we could continue to sell our products online whilst we were in lockdown. In 2021 Britannie took a short break from us to follow her passion for working with deaf children and gained her level 2 BSL qualifations. She has now left that job following the birth of her new baby Elwyn and has come back to work for us from home, editing and maintaining the website. She still comes into the shop regularly though with her little helper to help the team with doing things online.
Britannie has been with us for a number of years on and off. She started out as a student back in 2018 and quickly become a member of the team working Saturdays. During the COVID-19 pandemic Britannie took it on herself to learn how to edit the website so that we could continue to sell our products online whilst we were in lockdown. In 2021 Britannie took a short break from us to follow her passion for working with deaf children and gained her level 2 BSL qualifations. She has now left that job following the birth of her new baby Elwyn and has come back to work for us from home, editing and maintaining the website. She still comes into the shop regularly though with her little helper to help the team with doing things online.