Get to know our Brand Ambassador – Amy
What does a brand ambassador do?
A good question! Basically I’m here to get people excited about our sewing patterns, share advice and guidance, and help you get to know all the brands a little better. You’ll see tutorials and tips, sew-alongs, live stream events and partnerships with other amazing sewing enthusiasts across all our channels. Plus I want to showcase the best of the sewing community because your makes are so inspiring and uniquely you!
What did you do before joining Simplicity?
I’ve worked in publishing and content creation for my entire career. Books, eBooks, magazines, websites, CDs, social media… I’ve worked on it all. And while I’ve been involved in different industries, my personal favourite is sewing! I spent five happy years as the Editor of Love Sewing magazine producing a beautiful printed product and interacting with the social community. And I’ve been sharing my sewing online since I began stitching many years ago; showing my finished makes on my blog and social accounts.
When / how did you learn to sew?
I was in my twenties and realised I didn’t really have a true hobby or passion, so I took a 10-week adult education course and was hooked. Over a series of evenings I learnt how to read a sewing pattern, thread my machine and construct a garment. I left the course with a finished Butterick sundress that I have kept all these years. Funnily enough sewing was something I was too afraid to pursue when I was younger, my mum had told me stories of the dresses she’d made herself in the 60s and 70s before she stopped sewing but we didn’t have a strong sewing programme in my high school for me to feel confident in starting myself.
Flash forward and I’ve been sewing over a decade, having made hundreds of garments. I’ve taught others to sew, shared countless tips and tutorials and managed to make a name for myself as a sewing expert. Plus my mum has rediscovered her passion for dressmaking through me! We go fabric shopping together and share pattern recommendations with each other, it’s really lovely.
What’s your fondest sewing memory?
There are so many great memories: meeting other sewists on local and international meetups, visiting the McCall’s head office in New York and seeing the archives, holding my first printed issue of Love Sewing… but one thing that’s imprinted on my memory forever is making my wedding dress a few years ago. It was challenging, I learnt a lot about handling high-end materials, and was terrified it wouldn’t fit properly on the day but it turned out exactly how I imagined. You can actually read an interview I did with the Simplicity team about my dress here.
Tell us a little more about your life when you’re not sewing!
Well I just turned 37 and I live in North Yorkshire with my husband and cat – Chewie. I call her my sewing assistant but really she just likes to play with scrap tissue paper and roll around on my fabric while I try to cut it out. We live in an amazing area of National Park land so there’s always a good walk to be had. Plus there are plenty of great cafes and restaurants nearby. This year we’ve been renovating our house and I enjoy getting my hands dirty with decorating. My other hobbies include embroidery, pottery, paper flower crafting and baking!
What do you like to make? And what are you working on right now?
I LOVE dresses. 1) They make getting ready easy as you just throw on one thing. 2) There’s so many different styles to choose from. 3) And they work in all manner of fabrics. But I do like to make all styles of clothes like coats, jeans, jumpers, and swimwear. Plus I occasionally sew for others: I made a wedding dress for my closest friend, a Chanel-inspired jacket for my Mum and shirts for my Brother and Dad. My husband is still waiting for a shirt of his own, so maybe one day soon I’ll get around to that!
Right now I have a few projects underway. I’m hemming my Butterick 6758 from the latest summer collection which I made in ditsy leopard print crepe. It turned out to be the perfect easy day dress and the waist ties mean I can wear it as tight or loose as I like. And finishing up a cotton sateen version of the Sasha McCall’s 8036 dress. Plus I’m working on a toile of the Simplicity 8845 denim jacket from the Mimi G line to test the fit. My hope is that I’ll be able to cut the pieces out of different pairs of jeans I picked up at a local charity shop as a fun refashion challenge. I’m definitely someone who likes multiple projects on the go at once that I can bounce between when the mood strikes.
Keep in touch with Amy:
I’ll be behind the scenes on our Instagram and Twitter accounts and running the Facebook page, so when you message there, you’ll get an answer from me. To make sure I see your gorgeous makes using our patterns, tag our accounts in the picture or post so we get a notification. I hope to chat to you soon.
And if you’d like to follow more of my personal sewing adventures you can check out my Instagram and Twitter accounts or my Facebook page!
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