Underpinning the business are personal goals and values. Recycling is part of life and collected materials inspire me.
Broken ceramics, glass, jewellery and found objects are used for mosaic art.
I made a bed from pallets and gate posts.
Old cupboards have been restored and various items for my home and garden are created from reclaimed wood and metal.
Passion
I’m passionate about sewing, textiles and trims and began using my Gran’s Singer to make unique bags from recycled fabrics and handmade textiles (felt, weaving etc.) as well as alternative greetings cards, many using recycled packaging.
Selling at fairs, bike rallies and shows, this business model didn’t bring in a good income and trading ceased.
Speed forward… bespoke Xmas party jumpers were made using recycled jumpers with unique festive characters, sold on Ebay. Mass production interfered with my fun as large chains started selling them so cheaply I couldn’t compete. I made xmas stockings too but they weren’t popular, so I gave up.
Steampunk
Then…Steampunk! Found this amazingly creative and wonderful bunch of folks and began making costumes from recycled bits and bobs and attending awesome events.
COVID 2019. I was furloughed, so set up and ran a pop up community project “Castle Sewing Hub”. When we weren’t certain how Covid was transmitted, there was an infection control risk – healthcare workers could be taking germs home on uniforms. I recruited volunteers, requested fabric and created a rapid response.
Redundancy happened in the midst of total lockdown. Andy, my job centre coach asked me “what would you LIKE to do?”. Explaining my self-employment dream he referred me to a business course. Revamped Curtains grew, was tested and became a reality in early 2021. An Ebay store was established and the rest is history.
It has NOT been an easy journey. Finding fabric was a nightmare at times, especially during the covid crisis. As an SME you have all sorts of things to deal with – variable/low income, recession, rising bills and trying to find ways of competing with no marketing budget or departments to pass jobs to! It is essential to have support and guidance. I plan to share my journey shortly, honestly with tips and knowledge on available business support, how to cope with the stress and loneliness of working from home, self employed and little ways I’ve found to help stretch a tiny income.
Sock Monster Project
One day…I’ll send more sock monsters to children who need them.
They are also made from recycled materials.
Some went to a Romanian orphanage quite a number of years back.
The children apparently loved them.
I keep sewing them when I have time, often on holiday. My dream is to run a community project to create them together and be able to send loads out to children who would welcome a silly toy to bring a smile.