Update December 2020
I don’t delete my previous “about me” paragraphs as I like to look back on them. So if you want to know who I used to be, read below.
For most, 2020 has been an absolute sh*t show thanks to Covid 19. It’s been different for me as I am a teacher, so in some ways I was lucky to keep working and earning! However, the stresses it brought into school life have been intense. With the extra thinking time that lock down brought and turning 40 – 2020 marks the beginning of a change for me.
I had to put a stop to any sewing teaching that I was doing back in March. It coincided with a big loss of sewjo too so I have probably only made a couple of things to wear this year. However, in wanting to make something cheering for my dear work colleagues, I stumbled into making cushions with their pets’ faces on. I really enjoyed linking back into my drawing skills as I used the sewing machine to draw instead of pencil. I have ended up making quite a few cushions of animal faces for gifts. It takes such a long long long time to create them though, it is not something I want to do more than once or twice a year.
Watching Grayson Perry’s art in lock down programme reminded me how much fun playing with paints can be, so I started to paint again just for fun. I started to dabble with selling some on, but again I felt like I didn’t really want to do much of that either, so for the time being, my art is just for fun and you can see more on facebook.
Hitting 40 has raised a few new feelings in me, that’s for sure. For the first time, I started to calculate backwards from “the end” to see how much time I might have left! Coupled with enduring a year of nothing being normal, it felt right to really think again about what I want to do. Since about 36 I have been reading and trialling exercise, dieting and the associated dramas. Then, like most things in my life do, it struck me that I should learn about all this stuff properly. So my mid-life crisis brought about my enrolment onto a personal training course. I have literally just started and I’ve got a huge amount of work ahead of me. It may be just for me, or it may take me towards a new career. I’m planning to document it here, but whether that happens is another story.
Update December 2019
As this started as a sewing blog, I must explain that I am now morphing it to reflect more areas of my life. I still sew, but I also spend a lot of head space on living well, trying to eat better, exercise, being happy etc! So I’m transforming this blog into more of a diary of my journey with all those things. I’m hoping to compartmentalise it a bit, so if you are all about the fabric and not the influx of avocados, you should be able to skip to the sewing section!!
I don’t delete my previous “about me” paragraphs as I like to look back on them. So if you want to know who I used to be, read below.
Right now, I am still teaching. I have taken on some sewing clients too which I love doing. I haven’t sewn that much, but I have upped my game by studying it more and learning how to fit to within a millimetre! I’m branching out into painting and drawing too. I am @hazelnutthread on Facebook, come visit me and like/share my page… please?
I have been exercising regularly with a personal trainer for just over a year. In the last few weeks I have been exercising a little bit more. I am literally just starting on sorting out my food.
I flipping LOVE where I live, I love the countryside, the people, the cafes the food everything!! My little labrador pup is now a big labrador bundle of energy and destruction who keeps me exploring this wonderful pocket of the country.
Hazel, (5) continues to be the centre of my universe and my reason for wanting to be the best I can be.
Early 2018….
Have a read of How it all began…to read how my sewing journey started. Fast forward a couple of years and here I am. I use sewing and any sewing related reading, planning and thinking as a way to relax and enjoy life. I have had a break from it, but am itching to get back in. I’m tonnes better at it than I used to be, but I certainly can’t make things fit properly or adjust anything – so there’s no point bringing me your skirt to take in. I wouldn’t know where to start.
I probably make more for me than Hazel at the moment. She’s at an age where she only wears leggings and t-shirts, so there’s not much point in me making those. I have never made any home furnishings or anything other than clothes. It doesn’t interest me much, but I do have a need for new cushions so I might have to.
My other passions in life are “wellness”, where I am faithfully trying to follow the Harrison Methodology and eat, move, rest, repeat in the best way I can. I’m absolutely at the beginning of that journey.
I have a lot of opinions on education. I’ve been a primary school teacher for 13 years with various additional responsibilities and qualifications. There is a LOT wrong with the English Education system, SATs and Ofsted. Don’t get me started on academys.
I have an over active brain which leads me to suffer from heightened anxiety if I don’t keep it occupied with several projects at once. Currently I am renovating a house, training a puppy, doing 5 days work a week in 3, raising a four year old, training my body and learning to eat plant based. I was meant to start another Masters’ degree in September, but alas they don’t like that I’m part time. At the top of my list is my precious daughter Hazel, without her I would never have started my sewing journey nor would I have the motivation to be the best version of myself I can be.
hazelnut thread 