An innovative sewing school has success all sewn-up after moving to larger premises at a refurbished family-owned mill complex in Leeds, returning the craft of sewing back to the 19th century mill.
School of Sew which launched in July 2016 has moved to aptly named 1500 sq ft premises, The Spinning Mill at Sunny Bank Mills in Farsley, once the home of Yorkshire Television’s Emmerdale and Heartbeat.
Over the past six years Sunny Bank Mills has been transformed into a 21st century business centre and community hub and School of Sew is the latest in a recent influx of creative businesses to take up residence. The regenerated mill complex is now home to 70 companies, employing a total of 340 staff.
The success of the School of Sew has come from the increasingly popular craft of sewing. It helps budding seamstresses and seamsters to become sewing experts, even if they’ve never threaded a needle or sewing machine before. The School has also proved popular with experienced sewing enthusiasts keen to find a dedicated workspace to further indulge their hobby and improve their sewing skills.
Lessons and courses covering the entire sewing spectrum incorporating dressmaking and fashion, curtains and blinds, accessories and gifts have proved popular with novices and experts. Courses are also designed to help develop stitching skills and creativity.
Entrepreneurs Jo Tickle and Nicola Lee are the driving force behind School of Sew’ success. Their original business aim was to provide students of all ages with the skills and confidence to sew perfectly.
Jo said: “We’ve been astounded with the interest in the School and demand for classes has been huge, hence the need to find a larger more suitable space. The Mills provide the perfect home for the School as a variety of creative and unusual businesses involved in the crafting sector are based here so there’s already lots of interest and a great entrepreneurial craft vibe around the place. It’s the perfect environment to come along and get involved with sewing either as a one off project or a long term skills-building course.
“Now that School of Sew is established we want to continue to inspire people to be creative and discover their sewing talents. The changes we’ve seen in novices who have progressed to very competent sewers is very rewarding. We’re appealing to such a broad base of customer from mums keen to brush up on their sewing skills and older people who don’t have the space at home to professionals with stressful jobs who want a space to visit and wind down by learning to sew. Now we have the space we’ve got some exciting plans including team-building and corporate craft days, children’s parties and themed events.”
Nicola added: “We’re confident that the School will continue to go from strength to strength. Having the space to welcome more visitors, to run more classes, provide more workstations and equipment for students to use as well as display space is very exciting and the initial feedback has been glowing. We’re very excited for the future of the School of Sew and really looking forward to building on what we’ve achieved already.”
The School of Sew will officially launch at Sunny Bank Mills on Sunday 28th May during the first ever Loom event, a weekend of music, words, arts and comedy. School of Sew will offer tasters sessions over the weekend for both adults and children as well as discounts on course bookings.
William Gaunt, joint managing director of Edwin Woodhouse Ltd, the owners of Sunny Bank Mills, commented: “We are delighted to welcome such an innovative venture as the School of Sew to Sunny Bank Mills. It will help with our vision to return crafting to the mill as sewing is such an important part of our heritage here. I’m sure the school will be a huge asset to the community here at the Mills and to the wider area as a whole.”
