Yep, I went Lionel, not Adele! I like them both, but Lionel wins - always.
So, I finally got round to writing something on my blog page! I hope you'll find my posts interesting & educational (from a sewing & embroidery perspective anyway!) but also a bit like having a chat with an old friend! One that you like!
So a little intro first, in case you don't know me already! I'm Rachel 👋🏻 I live in Beckenham in Kent with my husband, 2 year old daughter and two cats Daisy & Bruno 👨👩👧😺😼
Bunney & Thread started as an Instagram page where I simply shared the stitched photographs that I love creating as gifts for family & friends 🎁 I am very happy to now be able to say that it is my job, and that it has transformed into a sewing & embroidery machine tuition business, alongside machine embroidery commissions too. For me, it's the perfect combination ❤️
I started my journey into the sewing world when I was a child - actually not all that interested in my mums sewing machine, or anything to do with sewing in fact! I remember hating being measured for the next batch dancing show costumes or school / college leavers ball dresses - doing my best to avoid the pins as I was removing said costume / dress 😳 The only bits I enjoyed were playing with my mums sewing feet that she wasn't using at the time (I thought they looked like mini skis! ⛷️), rummaging through the old fold out sewing box and playing office with the draw full of sewing patterns 🗄️ My favourite part was going to the fabric shops (note: that's a plural there - SHOPS! 🏪🛍️ Nowhere near as many of those gems around these days sadly) Floor to ceiling colour and texture - I loved it!!
As I got older, I dabbled a bit with sewing. Making the occasional project for a Girl Guides badge and helping mum (probably not much! 😆🤷🏼♀️) with the latest costumes.
Fast forward to college & university where I had this fascination with textiles, but still no actual sewing involved in the courses I took, except when fellow students needed their latest vintage dress taking in, up, out - shake it all about! 💃
I then went off travelling around the world for 8 months which was an absolute dream 🌍 On my return to the UK in November 2008, my Auntie Val (also a keen sewer) was completing a City & Guilds course at Alison Victoria School Of Sewing, and there was a part time job going in the shop - now called Sew Your Own Wardrobe 🪡
It was a job made in heaven for me and I loved every minute of it 🥰 It wasn't until two and a half years later that I even considering leaving. Auntie Val saw another job advertised in a sewing magazine for an Account Manager & Product Specialist for Brother Sewing Machines and encouraged me to go for it. I got the job and then 10 years later, after travelling around the UK visiting and helping independent sewing machine shops & customers and being trained myself on some of the best sewing and embroidery machines on the planet, by the best product specialists there are - I made the extremely difficult decision to leave to be around more for my family.
I honestly didn't know what I was going to do next. I thought I could maybe do something as a side hustle to a "normal job" but it never really appealed. I had the amazing opportunity to give starting my own business a go, for real, so I went for it! 💪🏻 I'm so glad I did!! It really feels like it's what I should be doing and I feel extremely lucky to feel that way about my work 🙏🏻
Thank you to everyone who has worked with me so far along this journey and I look forward to meeting those of you I'm yet to work with! 🤗
Oh, and happy sewing machine day!! 🥰
Rachel x
Hi, was lovely to meet you at the Festival of Thread last Saturday and nice to read your blog and know a bit more about you! My grandmother is the culprit behind my love of all things sewing and craft related - I was only allowed supervised visits to her sewing room but it always felt like an aladdin's cave to me.
Have had a quick nosey around your website too, and really like the phone a friend bit! Look forward to hearing more in the future.
Debbie