How Liz Built Flying Bobbins: From Fashion Industry to Sewing Business

This week on the show, I'm speaking to Liz from the small business Flying Bobbins. 

Liz shares her inspiring journey from working in the fashion industry to building Flying Bobbins into a thriving sewing business. 

In this episode, she opens up about the realities of transitioning from corporate fashion to running a creative small business, and what it really takes to turn a passion for sewing into a sustainable brand.

She explores the importance of community in the sewing world, how connection and support can fuel creativity, and the role Flying Bobbins plays in bringing makers together. 

Liz also shares honest insights into balancing creativity with the demands of everyday life, offering relatable advice for anyone juggling a business, hobbies, and personal commitments.

Whether you’re a sewing enthusiast, a creative entrepreneur, or simply looking for inspiration, this conversation is packed with practical tips, behind-the-scenes stories, and motivation to help you nurture your own creative journey.

Key Takeaways: 

• Liz studied fashion design and worked in the fashion industry for many years before starting a family.
• When her children were born, Liz felt that she needed a job that gave her more work/life balance as she wanted to be there for her children.
• Flying Bobbins was created during the pandemic.
• Liz offers a sew along club as well as in person teaching and a range of sewing kits.

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Guest details: 

Instagram: @flyingbobbins

Website: www.flyingbobbins.com

Youtube: Flying Bobbins Tutorials

Facebook: Flying Bobbins VIP Group

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Liz and Flying Bobbins

01:06 The Journey of Learning to Sew

02:24 Education and Early Career in Fashion

04:57 Transitioning to Teaching and Home Dressmaking

07:00 Launching Flying Bobbins During the Pandemic

10:23 The Impact of Sewing on Mental Health

12:46 Reflections on the Fashion Industry and Fast Fashion

16:37 The Philosophy Behind Flying Bobbins

18:42 The Rewards of Teaching Sewing

21:42 The Supportive Sewing Community

22:57 The Power of Community in Creativity

25:23 The Sew Along Club: A New Approach to Learning

31:42 Balancing Business and Family Life

37:41 Future Aspirations and Personal Growth

42:29 Outro - tip on Ko-fi

Transcript

Gemma Daly (00:11)
Liz, welcome to the Sewing Social podcast. I'm so happy to have you on today.

Liz (00:15)
Thank you

very much for having me.

Gemma Daly (00:17)
You're welcome. I was wondering if you could just introduce yourself to the listeners.

Liz (00:22)
So hi everybody, I'm Liz. I am the founder at Flying Bobbins, which I started up, I launched my website in September, 2020. coming up to six years, I design and sell sewing kits also have an online haberdashery, a subscription so I just, I love sewing.

I love teaching sewing, I also do lessons as well. yeah, that's flying bobbins.

Gemma Daly (00:53)
Amazing!

Well, you'd definitely sound like you do all the things and we're gonna get into all of that later, but first of all I was wondering if you could tell us like how you first learnt to sew, Liz?

Liz (01:06)
So my mom had an old Frister-Rossman machine and I was just fascinated by it. I used to make clothes for my cut up bits of fabric and sellotape them together. And then my mom got her sewing machine out and I was just obsessed. It didn't work properly because my dad had used it to try and mend some sails for his boat, which were far too heavy. And if anyone's ever tried to make sails, you'll know that a domestic machine is not appropriate.

Gemma Daly (01:28)
You

Liz (01:33)
So I was constantly trying to fix this machine and get it to work. And then somebody, one of my friend's moms gave me an old machine and that was it. I was away. So I'd get these bags of hand-me-down the older children. I would just immediately take scissors to them and be cutting them up. And I decided at quite a young age that I was going to be a fashion designer. And I had a file actually. would draw.

these little designs of dresses, give them names, give them prices and hole punch them and put them in my file. So, and to be honest with you, that was probably at primary school age and that's what I ended up doing. And that fantasy I had as a school child actually was pretty much what I used to do for a living eventually. Yeah, I'm very lucky. I do love a bit of stationery. I do.

Gemma Daly (02:15)
That's incredible. Very professional a young age.

Me too. So yeah, you had quite an interesting career, which started at fashion college. And I wondered if you could walk us through it.

Liz (02:31)
Hmm. Hmm.

Yeah, so, ⁓ after leaving high school, I did a foundation at London College of Fashion. And then I went on to do a degree in fashion at the Surrey Institute of Art and Design. I just loved it. Obviously there we learned industrial machines. so we had this fantastic, studios and rooms that we could use. It was heaven. It really was.

You'd walk into these rooms, each of you would have your own cutting table. There would be these banks of sewing machines, pressing machines, industrial overlockers, which if you're scared of threading a domestic overlocker, you should try one of them. It's just a whole other world of pain. But yeah, it was just this beautiful place that was creative, full of creative people, wonderful tutors. And I studied there, got my degree in fashion.

And as a result of that, I did a work placement with a designer called Maria Grach Vogel and worked there, got a job there and worked with her for a little bit. And then she did a collaboration with Debenhams. So they used to do designers at Debenhams. And it was through that, really, that I got my first sort of proper job, which was working as a designer at Debenhams. So I started off as an assistant designer.

and then worked my way up. Eventually I was the senior designer on the Julien MacDonald for Debenhams range. So altogether I worked there for 10 years. It was amazing. I got to travel. I got to visit factories in India, the Far East, Turkey. I got to do research trips in Saint-Tropez and Los Angeles. So it was a very, very cushty job. was hard work, a lot of travel.

and very So as happens in a woman's life, you know, you reach this crossroads where I had children and it wasn't compatible anymore. And I decided that it was time to for a And there was a studio sewing studio opened up in my ⁓ local village, and I would just be staring through the window all these machines that would bring back memories of

my college days and because as a designer working in the fashion industry, you don't necessarily get to do much sewing. You're designing, you're specifying things, you're sourcing things and you're giving instructions to somebody else who's doing the sewing. But I'd always had my industrial sewing machine from when I was at college. You know, it's just I didn't get to use it So.

I was looking through the window of this shop and the lady who owned the shop said, well, I could go in and teach some adult classes. And that's where the penny dropped. Well, actually, this could be I was thinking I'd go back to work after taking off a couple of years to have my children. go back as a freelance designer in the fashion industry. But actually, thought there's there's a whole other industry here. Home dressmaking, sewing, pattern design.

And that was it. It was just, yes, this is where I want to be. I love teaching as well. And that sort of, that set the ball rolling in my head. I was thinking, okay, how can I make this work into an alternative really to going back to the fashion industry that I'd worked previously? of course, during that time as well, so much had changed, you know, from the early

We were just really beginning to see the influence of fast fashion at that stage. When I had my first fashion design job, I didn't have a computer. My desk was just a desk and I had paper and that was it. So that goes to show how much the industry has changed now with CAD design. But even now you have AI, which is a whole different thing. everything had sort of changed anyway. And yeah, it was time for a new chapter. So I was teaching.

these wonderful, wonderful women, mainly women, a few men, how to sew, how to make their own clothes. And they were always saying, ⁓ the way that we best learn is if we now take that project home and remake it again. So I started to put together kits and really that's what I thought, okay, this is what I can do. I can put together these kits. And so when my contract came to an end there, I sort of thought, right, I'm going

start up my own company and I'm going to make and sell sewing kits. And I designed sort of an initial idea on four kits, costed them up. this was February, 2020, which was an interesting time in world history. I had at the time my children, Ben

four just turned four he was actually yeah it was his birthday in February so he was literally just four Lucas my oldest he was six he was at primary school Ben was just I was just about to go from having 15 hours childcare to having 30 hours and I wow how amazing I had a couple of months of that before this the nursery was closed down and everyone was sent home and I thought to myself right okay what to do because

Gemma Daly (07:17)
Yeah.

Liz (07:27)
I've my priority now is my children and what I'll do is never mind, I'll put that on the back burner. And I thought, pandemic will be a few weeks. I was a very, I'm a naturally very optimistic person. So anyway, I quickly realized that it wasn't going to be a few weeks. So this was our new normal. And I also realized that there was a huge interest in sewing and all these people I've been teaching were saying

Gemma Daly (07:35)
You

Liz (07:53)
you know, what are we going to do? And people, were you joining scrub hubs and getting out their old sewing machines? I thought, actually, far from scupper in my plans, this is the perfect time to be launching and, you know, not perfect in many ways, but from a commercial point of view, a really good time. So I thought, okay, I'm just going to do it. So I set up a Facebook group. I had about 26 students in there and I would go live every Sunday with a little live sew along in the Facebook group.

Gemma Daly (08:02)
Yeah.

Liz (08:20)
And we made things, I chopped up some old jeans to make a tote bag. We made my two hour skirt. We just did all sorts of different projects, scrunchies even. I hate to say it, but those horrible face marks we all had to wear. So we did lots of different projects like that. And then I thought, right, you know, it was very much, I thought to myself of, you know, I'll be an organized person. I'll write a business plan and da da da.

Gemma Daly (08:33)
Yeah.

Liz (08:45)
And that went out the window and it just ended up being pressing the go live button on my Facebook group and just winging it and just the interest was phenomenal. People invited their friends. And yeah, it was really lovely, though. It was really lovely because actually, we had this this little community then that grew and people from all over the country who joined and and got to know each other.

made friendships through this medium of sewing online together. So it's really uplifting and heartwarming and I could see it was successful as well. I then from that really that was the springboard to then build my website. I have no expertise in that field but I just set up a website, put what I did have, it was under my son's bed.

couple of bolts of fabric, a box of haberdashery and that was it. photographed it, put it on the website. that was September, 2020 when the website was launched. then as things got back to normal, I was able to spend more time on it and it just grew from there really in a very organic and possibly you could say chaotic way. I still haven't written my business plan. I would be absolutely.

Gemma Daly (09:57)
I don't think you need

it by now, do you?

Liz (10:00)
I don't know. I feel like I'm still free falling actually.

I make notes. I'm a very much paper and pen person, yeah, a lot of it is just ⁓ a very instinctive, organic sort of situation, but it's great. I'm very lucky to be doing something I love and be doing something that I can blend with family life. so that's really the backstory.

of how I got to be where I am today.

Gemma Daly (10:23)
Yeah, amazing.

Fantastic. And people love an organically grown business. I think it just feels natural, doesn't it? And something that they can relate to as well.

Liz (10:36)
Yeah, I'd like to think so. If anyone's thinking of starting a business, don't need to be, you know, you can just go for it. And it will be clumsy, but you can.

Gemma Daly (10:46)
I love that

and especially sort of during those Covid times which were, you know, it was a significant event in everybody's life wasn't it? But it sounds like you were a bit of a lifeline to people and you know they would log on at a certain time and you'd make something together which sounds really meaningful.

Liz (10:59)
Mm.

Yeah,

it was that yeah, and I think it is lovely. Like you say that lifeline that it gives people. Throughout the years that I've run Flying Bobbins, I have had emails from people but I get emotional really, because I had somebody who was undergoing medical treatment and she said this was the best painkiller of everything else that she'd ever been prescribed.

for those moments where online sewing. And I think as sewers, we understand that it takes you out of whatever you've got going on in your life and you can invest yourself in that creative process. And it is wonderful. It's nice to know that I am providing something of value like that to people. So it's lovely. And I think that was definitely the case during.

the COVID lockdown, people who are maybe feeling isolated or stressed, something creative. There's a Japanese word for it, and I can't remember what it is, but that life force, when you wake up in the morning and you've got something created to look forward to, you feel great. can't remember what the... Yes, that's it, yes, yes. documentary about how to make yourself live longer.

Gemma Daly (12:06)
Yeah. Is it Ikigai Something like that. Yeah.

Mmm.

Liz (12:18)
So think

sewing is just brilliant. Absolutely, absolutely.

Gemma Daly (12:21)
Keep sewing everybody, it might make you live longer.

So I just wanted to go back a little bit about your time in the fashion industry, because I think in general, with fast fashion, obviously that quite a negative but it sounds like your experience in the fashion industry was quite positive from what you described.

Liz (12:46)
Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, it was but I did have a really great time and I forged fantastic friendships and really, really good people. I think a lot of the time the people are really good and sometimes it's the industry that can go downhill or become a bit toxic, lose its way.

from when I started till now, I think the industry has changed obviously a lot. I was never a fan of fast fashion. I don't think there's many designers who would say that they are because I would much rather sit and design a beautiful coat with layers of top stitching panels, linings, contrast bindings, loads of details. I'd rather sit and spend 10 hours designing one coat than churn out 20.

blouses and that's not sustainable, but it's got no soul either. fast fashion is almost like I'm glad that it's getting so much bad press because it's not good for the environment. But it's not good for the design industry either. I think things that are and I think this is what people who sew actually when you start making your own clothes, you really realize what goes in.

to doing that. And you have a real respect for it, don't you? And when you see these things that are so cheap, you have to realize there's someone not getting their fair share along that line or there are some compromises being made in the production and the thoughtfulness, the consciousness that goes into the production if something's really cheap. when I do buy clothes, I often buy pre-loved because I love

Gemma Daly (13:56)
Mm.

Mmm.

Liz (14:16)
I love searching through secondhand know vintage yes but also just stuff that's just somebody hasn't got useful anymore you can breathe a new lease of life into it and I just think that when you look at the industry throughout history you have these wonderful factories where things were really time was taken and there were

the machinists were really high skilled workers and making piecework from start to finish. And I love the idea that we could eventually get back to some element of that. think people are very used to not costing a lot. think one reflection on that is if you, when you tell someone that you can sew, you know, they say, well, can you just do this alteration for me? And you say, well, it costs this much because it takes that long. And they're, well, I could buy a new one for that.

And it's like, yes, you can. And there's a reason why, and it's not necessarily the right thing. But I think when you start to learn how to that's sort of when you really appreciate. Because actually, sewing and garment manufacture is one of the few is human-made. And the whole entire process cannot be, or has not been able to be, as of yet.

Gemma Daly (15:02)
Exactly.

Liz (15:25)
wherever you have a garment made, any garment you buy from anywhere will have been touched by a human hand who's making it. Yes, they're using a machine, a sewing machine, but it's not a production line in the sense of anything else. It's very unique and special in that way. yeah, I'm, I'm glad to see a backlash against fast fashion, because I think that there's so much more having something that you can keep for many years that's

had love and care put into it and that's precious and special.

Gemma Daly (15:55)
Absolutely, and I think that's a really interesting perspective. And I hope that we get back to some sort of slower paced production, because I do believe there are a lot of people that do want to step back from this fast pace of life, because it's everything, isn't it? It's not just fashion, it's everything.

Liz (16:17)
I definitely agree. I think that we're just overloaded, And it's nice to take a breath and really open your wardrobe and have a curated few items that you truly that have a story. You remember where you bought them, how you saved for them, how you repaired them.

Gemma Daly (16:22)
Mm.

Absolutely.

Liz (16:37)
breathing life into the things that you wear like that. I think that's so much nicer and adds to your life experience.

Gemma Daly (16:44)
That's really lovely. let's talk about flying bobbins then and I need to know from the start, where did the name come from?

Liz (16:54)
I went through so many names because the good thing about the word sew is it has so many cliches because you can say sew this sew that and I was coming up with so many different names typing them in they were all taken I started off with and sew she did as a working name and somebody else already had it and I was just trying to come up with something and you know I was in it I was

actually teaching, I can even remember the people who were in the class and I looked at their faces, they were all smiling, really big smiles and I could just see the little bobbins and the threads whizzing away and it just came to me from the ethos whilst I was, I came home, like, it's like they're bobbing, it's as if their bobbins are flying, it was the feeling of flying, like what we're talking about, you take a deep breath,

you have had those dreams you know where you're flying it's like when you're sewing it's like that feeling you're you're away you're in the clouds you and your sewing machine oblivious to the surroundings so is like you're flying in that sense but also i was looking at these little all these students you know and it just came to me they're like they're like my little flying bobbins and i thought oh there's my name

Gemma Daly (17:47)
Mmm.

You

Liz (18:08)
And I thought it's a bit mad, but I quite like that because I thought, well, at least no one else is going to have that. The only thing is when I first typed that into Google, I got loads of results for fishing gear because I think it's like fly fishing. ⁓ So that was the only that was the only problem I encountered. But I think ⁓ it quickly. Yeah, it just stuck once I had that once I had that name embedded in my brain. I thought, yes, it's original.

Gemma Daly (18:21)
Hmm.

Liz (18:34)
It sounds happy and that was what I wanted to create.

Gemma Daly (18:39)
Yeah, that's lovely and

it is happy, it's joyful, isn't it? So you mentioned earlier that you obviously teach a lot of people how to sew. What do you think that you personally get from that teaching? Do you find it rewarding?

Liz (18:53)
Absolutely. It's absolutely incredible teaching people. When you get a new class come in, you get a new class of six students. So I teach and in person. When you're doing in person teaching, they come in and you say, this is what we're going to do today. And you hold up an example, like maybe it's a little zipper pouch or something.

They're like, go, well, you might think that's what you, I'm not gonna get that done today. They're like, there's no way I'm gonna do a Let's just manage that expectation. That's not gonna happen. And they all walk out with these beautiful zip-pads. I can't believe I've done this. And it's just that wonderful thing. And then I did for Mother's Day, I did a mommy and me session where I had three moms come with their daughters and...

It was brilliant and all the girls were there and they all made their own tote bags. They're around the age of 10 or 11. And it was great and they just they'd done this thing together with their mom and they'd all got went with their own bags, which they'd chosen the fabric for. So they were all very unique to them. So, yeah, that it's just it's lovely to see the looks on their faces and you know what that feeling is and you're giving that to someone else. And then they say,

they come back the next week or if you're doing a rolling class, do you know what? Everything I've looked at in the shops now, I'm looking at it and thinking, they've done that like that. And I've been looking at my clothing labels and I went to buy something the other day and I thought, I could make that. And it's just, see these sparks ignite and people find, they find joy, but they also find friendships, community and creativity.

is just something that makes people happy, whether it's gardening or pottery or painting, a process which starts with nothing and ends with something. It's yeah, it gives people that real happy feeling.

Gemma Daly (20:40)
It's powerful as well, isn't it? Because you're passing on knowledge as well. So like you say, people are looking in the shops thinking I could do a better job than this. And I do that all the time, not to boast of my skills or anything like that. But I do look at things like you said, and stuff that's produced en masse is produced cheaply and not of good quality. So you do think I can make this myself.

And I think every person that you pass that on to, it's gonna get bigger and bigger. That chain is gonna grow and people will start know, stuff that is made by hand a lot more. So I think it's really powerful.

Liz (21:19)
Yeah,

yeah definitely I'd like to think so. It'd be nice to have have that effect.

Gemma Daly (21:28)
Absolutely. So we do talk a lot on the show about the sewing community and people's of it. You touched briefly on it there, but what's your experience, Liz, and how do you feel about that community?

Liz (21:42)
I think it's a really wonderful community. just feel like it's comparing it with the fashion industry. The fashion industry was amazing and I met so many wonderful people. It is a competitive industry though and I feel like the sewing community and the sewing industry, we lift each other up a bit more in a way that I haven't observed before in my life. you know,

Gemma Daly (21:56)
Thank

Liz (22:07)
You don't you see that you see other people succeeding in the same domain in the same industry and you don't think ⁓ you they're my competition you think they're my go you you cheering each other on and and you know you you help each other out where you can you give each other if somebody can't buy something from me I'm very quick to tell them who they can buy it from

Gemma Daly (22:20)
Yeah.

Liz (22:33)
And it's just not, it's a nice wholesome, uplifting way to be that you kind of, and I think it actually, it actually benefits everyone and it's a very caring sharing community. I don't know. just, yeah, I just think it is really nice and everybody's kind. If you put something on that you've made, everybody's, that's so great that you've done that. That's, you've made that well done.

it's just very positive really, because people, you know, they feel proud of what they've done. Sometimes they're a bit shy to share things for the first time. So the Facebook groups, for example, you know, you see people, if I see something on one of the Facebook groups that I belong with, I'm always like, like, like, like, like, because it's just, you know, keep going, keep going. yeah, it's really, I think it is a supportive industry. that that's lovely. That's what we need more of in the world, isn't it? Because

Gemma Daly (23:14)
Yeah.

Liz (23:24)
Look at where we are. Being overly consumaring, overly competitive. It's like this dog eat dog philosophy. It just doesn't work for anybody ⁓ ultimately, does it? So if we can be this benevolent group of people who all lift each other up, I think that is the way forward. And it'd be nice to see the creative industries as a beacon of how that can work.

Gemma Daly (23:49)
Absolutely, and I feel the same way. It is positive place because, like you say, life, but also we talk about social media and how that can negatively impact people. And obviously, yes, there's evidence to say there is, but when you go on Instagram and you're part of the sewing community, it doesn't feel like that at all. It's the exact opposite.

Liz (24:13)
Hmm.

Gemma Daly (24:13)
and everybody

will always big you up and shout you out and just be proud of each other. Cause that's what it's all about, isn't it?

Liz (24:21)
Absolutely, it's sharing in each other's joy, sharing in each other's triumphs. And then also sharing in each other's failures and having a laugh when it does go wrong because we've all been there sewn in the two left sleeves or whatever, cut out the famous, you know, cutting out your binding from the back panel that you meant all of that stuff. We've all been there, haven't we? So yeah.

Gemma Daly (24:33)
Yep. Yeah.

Liz (24:47)
It is a nice positive, and I think when you look at the social media surrounding sewing and craft and textiles, it's not judgmental in a bad way. and it's good to see that because that encourages people to that you shouldn't judge yourself either.

Gemma Daly (25:05)
Exactly, lovely points there. Now let's move on to your sewing kits and the sew along club that you've created. Tell us about what this includes because it looks like an awful lot of work goes into that.

Liz (25:21)
It's a treadmill. It is. can't believe how quick, I never want to wish my life away. And I'm like, is there a way to slow down time? Because it just, yeah, I can't believe how quickly the months pass on. But there is never a shortage of ideas of projects to cover. I think somebody said to me, you know, how long will you run the Sew Along Club for? Because you will get to the point where you've kind of done everything and I'm like,

Gemma Daly (25:24)
hahaha

Mmm.

Liz (25:49)
That is the one thing I don't worry about. There's always a new pattern. There's always a new project. And that's exciting every time I get an idea for something But the way that the Sew Along Club works is when I first started off going right back again to 2020, I started to do these projects, Facebook Lives it started off as, and then it went on to YouTube so that more people could access them.

because not everybody's on Facebook so I started to do it on YouTube and the first few sew-alongs that I did I just did on YouTube and didn't you know charge for them or anything like this but they were detailed you know hours and hours of I thought really I should probably charge for this because it's not just a brief overview or five minute or a pattern review this is like an actual sewing lesson it's especially I did the I did the Carolyn pajamas

Gemma Daly (26:26)
Mmm.

Yeah.

Liz (26:40)
If anyone's ever made them, they take about, it's about 10 hours of sewing, isn't it, and cutting out. And I thought, no, I should really sort of put this in a little package and sell it as a lesson rather than a ⁓ free YouTube thing. So yeah, so that's how that idea really started. And I thought, I could just, rather than, I was doing things as and when, and I thought I need to probably...

Gemma Daly (26:41)
my word, I have.

Liz (27:04)
formalize this so I thought well what about if I do a new project every can you can sort of subscribe and get your new project every month and it started off being called the high five club because I think it was five pounds per month and I really launched the videos on the fifth of the month so I thought I'll high five but then it all got to be too long the flying bobbins high five sew along club it was too many things so I just made it into the sew along club

Gemma Daly (27:21)
Mm-hmm.

Liz (27:30)
And then it's 10 pound per month and you get your video sew along. So it's like a sewing lesson really online that you can watch at your own pace at your own leisure. And then you get your 10 % discount on any of the associated kits or patterns that month. And you get to be the first as well. You get pre a 20 day pre-order window. So the kits sell fast each month. So I just open up that pre-order window so that people who are in the club

If I sell out of one fabric, I normally have time to order it more quickly so that those people who are in the club can get their first choice of fabric normally. So yeah, that's sort of how that works. And then we have once a month, a Facebook live, people can ask me questions. We do a little prize draw for maker of the month. We have a dedicated Facebook group just for that sell along club so people can share their progress together. then you also get, so you get your new

sew along every month, but if you want to access any of the past ones, then you get those at half price as well. So that's, that's sort how it works. I'm constantly thinking, you know, is that too many to do once a new project every month or, but then not everybody does every project. But when you get, once you've got them, you can always refer back to them. So it might be that I have ⁓ a, a blouse with a particular type of cuff. And then it might be that those instructions refer to.

something else that you might make with a cuff on it. So it's a bank of lessons that you accumulate during the time that you are on the Soho Club that you can then also refer back to because the lessons don't expire, you've just then got those.

Gemma Daly (29:02)
Yeah, I think like you say, it's about the skills, isn't it? It's not always about that particular project because certain projects will have these special skills that you might not be doing all the time and it's the learning of those that's the important thing to have. So that sounds really interesting. Are there any particular garments that you love to make?

Liz (29:23)
I like trying something, a new pattern for the first time, because it's a, it's a journey of discovery. I don't think that there's anything that really stands out to me as a particular type of garment that I really love more than anything else, actually. I like, I like bag making as well, actually.

Gemma Daly (29:26)
Mm-hmm

Liz (29:39)
And what I love more than anything else the little kits that I do for my own designs. I'm a designer at heart, really. So I do love designing the patterns. I love maths. My children are like, you're such a weird person. My husband as well. Maths was my favourite subject at school. I just love it. And so if I design a little idea in my head,

of a bag or something. And then translating that into a 2D pattern. That's what I'll get. If it's one of those days where I'm waking up and I'm like, what have I got to do today? I'm going to have to, I'm doing a bag actually for the May project. And at the moment I've made my prototype and I've now got to make that prototype into a paper pattern. And although it sounds like really that's your favorite thing, that would probably be one of my favorite things is taking all the measurements, doing all the geometry.

doing the seam allowances, figuring out how the process is for how to make it. I love it there's something a bit complicated and you can dissect it and think, how would you make that? How would you finish that thing? Like a Rubik's Cube sort of thing. How would you go back and solve that problem? So that's sort of, that calls to me, that sort of technical design But yeah, I love sewing everything really. Yeah.

Gemma Daly (30:56)
All the things, all the things,

but you're not on your own there because I've spoken to a few pattern designers who also love the mathematical side of things, so it must be, you literally put two and two together don't you? Maths and sewing patterns.

Liz (31:10)
Yeah, it is and

it's funny sewing industry and garment making sewing is very female dominated. Obviously, you've got love, amazing sewers of all genders enjoying sewing, but it is female dominated. you don't always, there's a bias to not associate that with

maths and science and it is, it is, there is an element of science to textiles and there is an element of maths to pattern cutting so brings those things together from two different worlds.

Gemma Daly (31:33)
Yeah.

That's really interesting. I've not actually thought about that before, but you're absolutely right. So running a small business can have a lot of ups and downs, as I've heard, you know, through the show and as we experience in society in general. I just wondered what your experience has been like so far.

Liz (32:01)
For me, the biggest challenges I face, first of all, it's self doubt. It's like, am I doing this right? How do I know whether I'm any good? do I measure my own success? Because I've got nothing to really compare myself with. I'm in a unique situation. It's my life, my family, my home, my business.

I have to, I'm constantly thinking, should I be doing more? Then I think, should I be doing less? And the reason for starting a business, a big part of it was so that I could bring up my children myself. And, you know, everyone has what's right for them. That was, that's what felt right for me. I think that is for me.

the biggest challenge actually is just striking that balance that makes me feel like I'm growing in the right direction and potentializing on all the work I do whilst maintaining the time that I want to spend. My children are now, my children were four and Like I said, in 2020 they're now double that, you know, they're 10 and 12. My oldest is now...

Gemma Daly (33:06)
Mmm.

Liz (33:09)
at high school, things change in such a short space of time. The demands that your family needs from you change. And it's nice to have something dynamic that I can control the ebb and flow of. I'm quite lucky in that I work from home, I have a studio cabin in the garden. I don't have really huge overheads, huge commitments. have a member of staff who's quite on a casual basis. So nobody's relying on me for their bread and butter.

And that gives me the freedom to control the ebb and flow of the business itself. So although that gives you the freedom, the side of that is you've got no targets. So how do you congratulate yourself or how do you validate yourself? And I think that's the one thing, if anything is rolling around in my head is, I doing it right?

doing too much, am I doing enough? So with regards to the business at the end of the day, you make mistakes, you can put them right. If you accidentally order the wrong color fabric, you, you money goes down the drain because of your own stupid moment, you can overcome that. You know, you can figure out a way around all of these glitches. I've had things like go missing in the post. I've had things.

Gemma Daly (34:21)
you

Liz (34:30)
that say they're going to be delivered at a certain time and they're not. Recently I had fabric that was faulty. All of these things are a pain, but really you can work your way around all of these things. If I had a huge shop, if I had loads of staff, it would be different. The stresses, the things I'd be worried about would be different because you would know that other people were relying on you for their income.

would know that you had huge bills every month for premises for utilities maybe you you know in a contract for a premises for a certain number of years so you'd have to be a lot than I am probably but yeah I think the biggest challenge for me is really striking that balance between I am naturally ambitious I want the business to grow I feel like what I'm doing is good and I want to get it out there.

Gemma Daly (35:10)
You

Liz (35:22)
But then I have to think, what does that mean from the perspective of these very few precious years, which are now slipping through my fingers at a fast, fast rate? You know, when my oldest is in four years time, he'll be 16. You know, he's already almost as tall as me now. I just, I want to hold on to this time. And then I think that is the hardest challenge is just getting the balance right. And luckily, I think I'm very lucky.

that I have fallen on my feet and managed to find something that gives me that balance. But every now and then I have a huge wobble and I think I should be back at work. What am I doing? I should go back to my old job and I'll be working at a nine to five and I will have paid holiday and I will have a weekend and why on earth am I doing this? You know, and then it's like, right, have a little word with yourself, Liz. You know that it wasn't all that you've been there, done that. You know, it wasn't like, you know, like the grass is greener on the other side yet. No, come on.

Pull yourself together, get on with it.

Gemma Daly (36:21)
I feel you, I really feel you. And I think it's, and this might be an overstatement, but I think it is a woman thing. It's a mother thing as well. You want to hold onto those kids for as long as you can keep them small, but we know that time doesn't stop. But you also need that thing that's for yourself and you're doing that. And the validation is by the people coming back again and again and again, which you've said happens.

Liz (36:29)
Mmm.

Mmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Gemma Daly (36:49)
So

it sounds like you're doing an amazing job.

Liz (36:52)
⁓

thank you. I am so grateful to all my customers because they're so lovely and yeah, they are everything to me, my lovely customers. Getting all emotional now.

Gemma Daly (37:01)
⁓ that's really nice. ⁓ bless you.

this is how much it means though, isn't it? It's the real life.

Liz (37:08)
I think it does and I think it's what

you're saying about for women in particular, if you you've got a career that you're passionate about and you also want children, sometimes there is a challenge there. So there you go, what a soppy tart.

Gemma Daly (37:21)
I love that. No,

I love it, Liz. Thank you. Thank you for being open, really. And that's what it's all about.

Liz (37:30)
⁓ yeah it is, and it's a happy tears, it's great. It is.

Gemma Daly (37:33)
Yeah, so

on that sort of vein then, do you have any exciting plans or things that you want to make happen for the business?

Liz (37:41)
At the moment, I think I'm keeping it steady. just, yeah, at the moment I've got enough on my plate really, because I've got my in-person classes, I've got the Sew-a-long Club and I've got the website. I desperately, every year I think I should do this, is to do the Stitch Festival in Islington, which I'm going to on Thursday.

and it just rolls around it's a difficult time of year we've got everyone's birthday in March and it's just I you know I'm just saying from a selfish point of view I really should do that one day as an exhibitor I did the knitting and stitching show and that was fantastic but it took a lot it's very very expensive to do it as an exhibitor.

Gemma Daly (38:18)
Mmm.

Liz (38:21)
plough a lot of hours into it, it's a real commitment. But yeah, I would like to do the Stitch Festival in Islington, because I do think that that's such a great show and I feel like everybody's talking about it. I'm really excited to be going there on Thursday as a customer rather than an exhibitor, definitely.

Gemma Daly (38:37)
sort of thing, yeah.

Liz (38:40)
So yeah, but that's one thing that I definitely would like to do. From a point of view of getting the admiration of my children, I really want to grow my YouTube following. I mean, they're obsessed with all these YouTubers. And yeah, I'm like, if I could get a few more thousand, I could say, look children, I want to get one of those. This is just a vain, yeah, this is just a vain ambition. It's just so that my children will think I'm cool before it's too late.

Gemma Daly (38:59)
The disc thingy. Yeah, the...

Liz (39:06)
I just want to get one of those play buttons please. YouTube did send me at one point there was like this incentive for people who have YouTube channels and they sent a Lego play button and I was like YouTube have actually sent me this children and then they so they built that for me and they've got it in their bedrooms so when they can play YouTube stars they've got their own play button.

Gemma Daly (39:18)
wow.

Liz (39:31)
So yeah, think that getting YouTube play button is my totally pointless vain ambition.

Gemma Daly (39:41)
So just to tie up the interview Liz, I like to play a little game of this or that if that's okay with you. So, knits or wovens?

Liz (39:46)
okay. Yeah, yeah, that sounds fun.

Ravens.

Gemma Daly (39:53)
Classic planes or bold prints? Bold prints. An organized stash or creative chaos?

Liz (39:56)
Bold prints.

organized every day.

Gemma Daly (40:06)
Very good, very good. A meal out or a takeaway.

Liz (40:11)
or a bailout.

Gemma Daly (40:13)
separates or a one-piece garment?

Liz (40:16)
separates.

Gemma Daly (40:17)
scissors or a rotary cutter.

Liz (40:19)
rotary cutter.

Gemma Daly (40:21)
That's controversial. No, I'm joking.

Liz (40:23)
I know. Well,

as a fashion student, I've probably now been like struck off of the list.

Gemma Daly (40:33)
Tea or coffee?

Liz (40:34)
Coffee, coffee, I have more coffee than blood in my system. Yeah, 90 % caffeine.

Gemma Daly (40:38)
running on coffee every day.

Spring, summer or autumn, winter.

Liz (40:46)
Autumn, winter, I love autumn. and people think I'm mad, but I love autumn. I even belong to an autumn appreciation Facebook group. That's how much I love autumn. I really love it. Cozy, cozy.

Gemma Daly (40:55)
She really loves it.

Yeah. A more involved make or a quick win.

Liz (41:02)
involved, challenging.

Gemma Daly (41:04)
technical. Yeah.

And the last one, follow instructions to the letter or improvise.

Liz (41:11)
⁓ I always read the instructions and then I go off and do my own thing. I actually sometimes take sewing patterns on holiday so I can read the instructions. Sad, so sad. Yeah, absolutely.

Gemma Daly (41:21)
Dear. Downtime reading. I like it.

So where can people find you, Liz?

Liz (41:30)
Okay, so the website is www.flyingbobbins.com. There you'll find all of the sewing kits, the haberdashery and fabrics, the patterns, and the lessons that you can buy. If you are local to Surrey, I do regular open day, so join my mailing list and you will know there's one coming up in spring, summer. I haven't set the date yet, but there will be an open day. That's always great fun.

Our Instagram is at Flying Bobbins, YouTube is Flying Bobbins Tutorials and Facebook is Flying Bobbins. So just, it's a unique name. If you search for it, you'll find me.

Gemma Daly (42:06)
Fantastic. And obviously I'll link all of that in the show notes, but I just want to thank you for being an incredible guest today and joining me on the Sewing Social podcast.

Liz (42:13)
Oh, thank you. It's

been brilliant. Thank you so, much. think it's a brilliant podcast as well. Thank you. Angie, great to speak to you. Bye. Bye.

Gemma Daly (42:21)
⁓ thank you Liz. You take care. You too. Bye.