My upcyling journey started as a child at church jumble sales which my mother used to help organize. I loved helping at the jumble sales because I saw it as a great opportunity to get something for nothing. I loved routing through old handbags to see if a shilling had been forgotten. It was surprising how often I found some money. I suppose I should have donated it to the church, but instead, I used it to buy items from the jumble sale. Sometimes it was a jumper that had nice wool which I would unravel and knit into a cardigan, it might be a long skirt that needed taking in and up to fit me. Of course, we didn’t call it upcycling then, in fact, we didn’t even call it anything, we just did it. As one of six children, we didn’t have much money, so it was a good way of getting new (to us) clothes.

Anyway, fast forward 50 years and I’m still at it, except now we have charity shops instead of jumble sales. I re-discovered my love of sewing about 5 years ago and started making various items out of charity shop jeans and shirts. I was not very good at first, my seams were wonky, my sides split and my handles were uneven and broken. I persevered and with a great deal of practice mastered the art of sewing using old clothes. I realized that I could pass on my new found skills to others, and persuaded my poor husband, Andy to do up an old outbuilding that we had (very handy living in an old farm). I bought 4 sewing machines, researched names on Facebook, Instagram and Google, and so ScrapAdoo was born. I ran my first sewing workshops and learned very quickly how to handle nervous sewers. You see, most people who come to my workshops are grown women who have had a life-long fear of sewing. They thought they couldn’t sew, and during lockdown 1,2 and 3 brought their old sewing machine down from the loft, wiped off the dust, and tried to sew. Sadly, they failed, because the sewing machine needed a service so it was clogging up, or their thread was too old and kept snapping or they were using the wrong type of fabric.

And so, ScrapAdoo entered their lives through the power of Ask Northwich community group on Facebook. I had posted a simple question “would anyone be interested in sewing workshops?”. Well, these intrepid ladies saw my post and quietly answered “yes please, I’m useless at sewing”. And, so they came to my studio called The Bullpen, blinking in the sunshine post lockdown. They were a nervous, shy bunch, like baby deer. They were cautious, told me how useless they were. I told them that they would be fine and no-one was allowed to leave The Bullpen until they had finished making their beginner’s item, whether it was bunting, a cushion or a tote bag. They looked scared, how could they possibly do that in two hours when they’d been trying to use their own sewing machine at home for months. I showed them how to thread my sewing machine, made them do it twice. Gave them some scraps to practice on, straight lines, pivot. I could hear the change of pace as the needle hit the fabric, slow at first, hesitant, then too fast as they became over confident. Then the just right speed of someone who has relaxed and is applying the right amount of pressure to the foot pedal.

I went through the stages step by step, choosing the fabric, colours and patterns, straight line sewing, corners, made sure no- one was left behind. The tension gradually disappeared, frowns left the room and were replaced by smiles. Tea and cake gave us all an excuse for a break, catch our breaths, relax. And so they finished, triumphant! Proudly brandishing a shirt cushion, curtain tote bag or bed linen bunting. Yes, they could sew! They weren’t useless! They radiated confidence and sent photos to loved one -”Look what I’ve made”. And this is why I love running my Scrapadoo sewing workshops. I love giving people respect and the skills to feel confident that they can use a sewing machine.



And do you know why they all do so well? I take away the fear of making mistakes. I tell them that The Bullpen is a place to learn, if they knew how to sew, they wouldn’t need to come. This is the safe place to do things wrong, because then I can show them what’s happened and how to put it right. I tell them that using old bed linen and clothing is perfect for beginners because it doesn’t matter if they mess up. They can make another one and it won’t cost them anything. They don’t have to worry about messing up their expensive shop bought fabric. Save that for the experts. In The Bullpen we sew with old shirts, bedlinen and jeans.  Why not have a go yourself? Cutting up shirts is very therapeutic, but please ask permission from the owner first…..