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Harrogate sewing tutor turns redundancy into chance to follow her passion

Dress By Amy offers beginner-focused sewing lessons, workshops and parties.

A Harrogate sewing tutor is helping adults and children learn new skills after turning her hobby into a business.

Amy Budd, who runs Dress By Amy, offers beginner-focused sewing lessons, workshops and parties, with sessions ranging from getting to grips with a sewing machine to making clothes.

She decided to pursue her passion professionally after being made redundant from her corporate job last year.

Amy said:

“Sewing and dressmaking is my passion and when I was made redundant from my corporate job last year, I knew that this was my opportunity to make it more than just a hobby.

“My approach is very much about making sewing accessible. I love helping complete beginners understand their sewing machine and then seeing their excitement when they make something themselves.”

Amy teaches a Learn To Sew in Four Weeks workshop at The White Rose Sewing & Craft Centre on Commercial Street in Harrogate.

Participants learn how to use a sewing machine before drafting patterns for two simple accessories and making them in fabric.

Her Beginner Dressmaking workshop at the same venue helps people learn to read and follow a commercial dressmaking pattern.

November’s sessions will focus on making pyjama bottoms using a pattern from independent designer Tilly & The Buttons.

For younger learners, Amy runs an after-school sewing workshop at The Sewing Sanctuary for children aged 11 and over, helping them develop practical skills while making something to take home.

Festive workshops at The Sewing Sanctuary will also offer the chance to sew a Christmas stocking.

Amy said:

“There’s something really lovely about sitting down at a sewing machine and concentrating on one thing. It’s a chance to switch off from everyday life, learn useful skills and make something with your own hands.

“Learning to sew gives you a real sense of achievement; you start with a piece of fabric and, with a little patience and guidance, you can turn it into something you can proudly use or wear which is completely your own.

“I’d love to help more people in the Harrogate area experience that feeling!”

Full workshop details and booking information are available on the Dress By Amy website, with enquiries welcome by email at Amy@dressbyamy.co.uk.

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