1. Tell us a little bit about yourself, your background, general day to day life, hobbies (other than crafting).

I’m originally from Derbyshire and currently living in London with my partner and our daughter, Vienna-Rae who is 5 years old. I went straight into a retail job when I left school and after working for a couple of different companies, I moved into a Visual Merchandiser position. I did this for about 10 years before deciding to make sewing my career after falling out of love with my job when I had my daughter. Now I work alongside my mother running an online sewing shop as well as writing blogs and filming sewing tutorials for YouTube, and more recently I’ve begun working on fabric designing.

Each day is slightly different, I try to spread my time throughout the week in my sewing room, managing the website and drawing, and of course, being a mum! I’ve turned my hobbies into my work which is so much fun. My way to unwind now is to spend time outdoors as much as possible. I’ve found a love for gardening and enjoy growing herbs and wildflowers. I want to attract as much wildlife as possible to the garden and create a little sanctuary to relax in.

2. Tell us a fun fact about you

When I was a child I worked as a model, mostly for catalogues with my mum and younger brother and we had lots of fun experiences. We actually modelled for Centre Parks and Butlins brochures a couple of times and were fortunate enough to get a few free holidays from it!

3. When and why did you start crafting?

I started sewing while I was on maternity leave. My mother is a sewist and I wanted to help out with her business and very quickly found a passion for crafting! She taught me the basics and showed me the way around a sewing machine and I took it from there. I explored embroidery and macrame too, but I loved the idea of making clothes for my daughter. Once I got going, that quickly expanded into making clothes for myself too, as well as cushions and other homewares. I decided to document what I was making in blogs and tutorials for other sewers to recreate and now I work with The Craft Cotton Company on producing samples for upcoming fabric collections and events. While on this sewing journey, I’ve looked into the impact fast fashion is having on the environment which influenced my upcycling project book with Search Press called ‘Refashion, Restyle, Restitch’ (pictured below). I love turning a disused item of clothing into something totally different and getting more use from it, knowing that it hasn’t gone to waste.

4. We’ve seen your lovely daughter Vienna sporting some of your wonderful makes on Instagram, has she shown an interest in sewing?

She loves it! She’s seen me and her grandma sewing from a very young age and she likes to help where she can. She loves Spider-Man, so if I show her a Marvel fabric she’ll be wanting to make something from it, either a bag or a costume. Her list of things to make is gradually getting longer and longer, next being a blanket!

5. Your new range ‘Forest Journal’ is launching very soon, where did you draw your inspiration for the collection?

I wanted my first collection to be personal to me and everything that I love, right down to the gingham and patchwork designs. Autumn is my favourite season, so that was the perfect place to start when I chose the theme. I originally had two different ideas which were either toadstools or books. I drew the sketches separately but soon found that they both had the same feeling and fitted together really well! It tells a story venturing into the woods, foraging for mushrooms, then heading home to journal what is discovered over a hot pot of tea. The colour palette is a combination of rich tones that gives a warm, cosy Autumn feeling. I draw a lot of inspiration from fantasy and fairy tale stories so I subtly added those elements into the design with the colourful mushrooms and books sprouting flowers. The cotton is organic which is perfect for this collection too.

6. What three things are essential to set the vibe for a full day of sewing?

It has to be a good podcast (I’m a true crime/spooky story kind of gal), plenty of snacks and a plan of action!

7. What does your creative process look like?

I find inspiration for sewing and designing frequently which is handy, but it can cause me to forget or become bogged down in ideas. I like to collect all of my thoughts either in a notebook that I carry with me or I create a Pinterest board so that once I’m ready to work on a project, I have all of my ideas in one place. With work projects, I prioritise deadlines that need to be met and I sprinkle in some personal ones where possible. So many times, I’ve entered my sewing space without knowing what exactly I wanted to work on and end up doing bits and bobs without an end result, so I plan ahead which gives me much more motivation to complete projects without losing my train of thought. It’s very easy to get distracted by a pretty fabric in the stash!

8. How would you describe your style?

My style of design is very much inspired by nature with a whimsical edge. My favourite films as a child were things like Alice in Wonderland and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe which fed my love for enchanted forests and fairy tale imagery. I would always play outdoors making dens, finding caterpillars and collecting flowers and leaves for ‘potions’ and I think all these things combined in my childhood are the source of all of my inspiration. Nature plays a huge part in my style because that’s where I feel most at peace, so I like to reflect that in my work wherever possible.

9. What is your favourite piece you’ve made so far?

Everything I have made has its own place in my heart, but I recently made a quilted patchwork coat which has been on my list for a while. As you can imagine, making one from scratch is a long process so it is one that has a lot of time and love sewn into it. I used a lovely, muted blue and cream fabric collection with a beige, gingham check for the lining. I see everything I made as a mini milestone in my sewing journey because I learn something each time! This was the first time I’ve tried ‘big stitch’ quilting which turned out so well, I will definitely be using that quilting technique again.

10. And finally, do you have any tips for readers wanting to develop a passion for crafting?

Don’t be afraid to go for it, there are plenty of tutorials on YouTube and free sewing patterns to get you going. I’d advise to start with some more affordable fabrics while you’re learning and work your way up, even practise using old pillowcases or any unwanted clothing! Most importantly, be patient with yourself and have fun. It’s very easy to see all the wonderful inspiration online and feel overwhelmed but everyone is at different levels and as they say, everyone starts somewhere!

You can follow Kimberley and see all of her projects on her Instagram 🙂