From Hobby to Hustle: How Hayley Built Sew Hayley Jane & Thready Set Go

In this engaging episode of the Sewing Social Podcast, we chat with Hayley, founder of two beloved sewing brands: the popular subscription box Sew Hayley Jane and her latest creative venture, Thready Set Go. 

Hayley shares how her lifelong passion for sewing evolved into launching successful sewing businesses that inspire makers around the world.

We dive into what it takes to build a successful creative business, the behind-the-scenes of running a sewing subscription box, and the lessons she’s learned along the way. Hayley also talks about the importance of flexibility, the power of the online sewing community, and her goals for the future of Thready Set Go.

Whether you're a sewing enthusiast, a creative entrepreneur, or curious about turning your hobby into a business, this episode is packed with valuable insights, creative inspiration, and tips on growing a brand in the crafting world.

Key Takeaways:

• Hayley's sewing journey began in childhood, influenced by her mother.
• She transitioned from Sew Hayley Jane to Thready Set Go due to market challenges.
• Community engagement was a key aspect of her previous business.
• Thready Set Go aims to be a hub for all things sewing.
• Virtual sewing socials provide a welcoming space for sewers.
• Hayley emphasises the importance of flexibility in business planning.
• The monthly pattern club features independent designers and tutorials.
• Hayley aims to expand Thready Set Go's community and offerings.
• She values both in-person and virtual sewing experiences.

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Guest details:

Instagram: @sewhayleyjane

Website: threadysetgo.com

Youtube: Sew Hayley Jane

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background
01:53 Personal Sewing Journey
08:16 The Birth of Sew Hayley Jane
12:52 Transition to Threadyset Go
14:50 Community Building and Engagement
22:28 Future Plans and Aspirations
23:35 Fun Rapid Fire Questions

Transcript

Speaker 2 (00:12.814)

Hayley, thank you so much for joining me on the Sewing Social podcast.

Oh, thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here.

You're welcome. I was wondering if you could introduce yourself to the listeners.

So I'm Hayley and I now run my new business, is Threadyset Go. probably, I want to say better known because that makes me sound like I think bit too much of myself than I actually do. But for the last nine years, I ran Sew Hayley Jane, which was a sewing subscription box business that unfortunately we've now closed. But spinning off to Threadyset Go, which is an online sewing community hub, bringing the community together. So yeah, that's kind of what I do.

Perfect. And I'm going to take it back a little bit because I always like to know about people's sewing journeys. So could you tell us a bit about your personal journey into sewing and what sparked your passion for it?

Speaker 1 (01:05.39)

it. I actually, knew this question was coming and I texted my mum last night and said, do you remember when I actually learned to use a sewing machine? And she said, no. And I thought, don't actually remember having a lesson on how to use a sewing machine. It's just kind of, I think I learned through osmosis. My mum sewed, her mum sewed. I was very lucky that my secondary school did textiles, which I took as a GCSE.

I like I started these lessons and I just somehow just knew how to thread up a sewing machine. So I must have obviously learned at some point, but it's just magic. It's always been there. It's like second nature. It's just, you know, your hands just move in this direction. You just know what you're doing.

Cool, so it's been since childhood.

Yeah, I definitely was always crafty, know, the old making clothes for dolls and things like that. My mom, I said, I always sewed, but she probably sewed more out of necessity at that point. She sews as a hobby now, but at that point it was more out of necessity, curtains, cushions. But I do remember, and I said this to her last night, I remember she made me, when I was about 10 years old, she made me two really very 90s shift dresses with, you know, that I wore over t-shirts, little straps.

black and white polka dot, think it was, was, know, epitome of 90s. It's the kind of thing we like to sew and wear now. And she managed to find some photos of them. cool. And then, yeah, so I took, I did textiles as a GCSE, but it was a lot of, you know, making potholders and creating prints on fabric and things like that. But I did it as a GCSE.

Speaker 1 (02:42.314)

And I remember it actually put me off sewing, doing it for GCSE. For my final garment or my final project, I made a full length dress out of stretch velvet. Wow. Not knowing really what I was doing. And the teacher obviously was very encouraging and was like, yeah, go for it. But she should have said, I don't think that's a great idea actually.

And I don't remember learning anything about grain lines or anything like that. So everything was twisted and it was obviously a stretch velvet that I got really cheap as well. It wasn't great quality fabric. So it was awful. Absolutely horrendous. And I don't think I did any more sewing then until well after university. And I started getting interested in vintage fashion in 1940s, 1950s, that kind of thing. But being

taller and curvier than the average woman was in the 40s and 50s. Going to vintage shops, there was nothing that actually fit me. So I sort of went, oh, I'll just do it myself then. were, know, sewing blogs were starting to become quite popular. Blogs, not so much at that point, but there was, you know, it was the rise of the blogger. Tilly and the Buttons had started blogging and things like that. And there were a couple of bloggers who did

vintage styling and vintage sewing. So I made a circle skirt and I went to the local haberdashery shop in Winchester, which was a C &H Fabrics, I think it was called, which was more homewares and quilting, but they did have some fashion fabrics as well. And I remember going in and flicking through the book, you know, the Vogue and the Butterick and all of that.

Speaker 1 (04:27.168)

I asked for some advice. said, look, I'm really new to this. I'm looking for a dress. Can you point me in the right direction for something for a beginner? I ended up buying a dress that was square neckline, princess seams, invisible zip at the back, gathered puff sleeves, not what I would call beginner friendly at all. And I bought a really nasty green polka dot.

quilting cotton. it was not, you can get some really nice quality quilting cottons that work beautifully for dressmaking, but this was not one of them. But I forged ahead and I made the dress and I was so happy with it. Even if I was walking around really stiff because it wouldn't move, I did it and I was really, really proud of it. And then yeah, it all kind of then sort of sparked from there, you know, the sewing bee started, the rise of the indie patterns, things like that. I was like, oh my gosh, I can actually make clothes that aren't just...

costumes, know, so, you know, I made a pair of pyjama trousers with the love at first stitch book and I actually wore them. I my God, I can actually make something that I can wear every day, not just something to be fancy or something for a costume. So yeah, that's kind of where my personal sewing journey took off.

is quite a journey. That's brilliant. So do you have any sort of particular garments that you love to make these days or any pattern companies that you personally love?

I just did a video for YouTube with maxi dresses and it turns out I love gathering. All the maxi dresses include gathering. know a lot of people hate gathering, but I find it quite therapeutic to sort of, once the stitches are done, then sort of, you know, put on a YouTube video or something on TV or listen to an audio book and pull those gathering stitches. And then I end up with something floaty and gorgeous. So yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:17.838)

I don't mind gathering either, but I can see how some people think it's quite an arduous task.

Yeah, definitely. In terms of pattern companies though, I don't think I have a favourite. I everyone has a standout garment or something from their collections. It's always interesting to see how different pattern companies approach different techniques as well. yeah, I love them all.

So you were one of the sort of original, I'm going to call it like a surprise subscription box for fabric and sewing supplies. How did the idea for Sew Haley Jane come about?

So at that point I was working with adults with learning disabilities in a day service. was, you know how you just sort of come into the end of the road with a particular career and I'd started sewing as a hobby and my husband had his own business. he would have to leave at eight o'clock in the morning, scraping ice off the car in the winter and he was still at home in his dressing gown just having a couple

I was like, well, that's a bit unfair, isn't it? But I'd also, because of the blogs I was reading, was reading about all these women who were starting their own businesses. I was like, well, this is really exciting. And at the same time, we had subscribed to one of those fruit and veg boxes, you know, where every other week you get a surprise box of fruit and veg. You don't know what it is or some of it you don't even know what to do with, but you're inspired to try this new thing. Remember, me and my husband were in the car. think we were on the...

Speaker 1 (07:49.56)

drive home, long drive home and I was saying, I'd love to open a fabric shop. What a dream that would be. We've not got anything in our local area and so over it we're starting in Guthrie and Ghani, these beautiful fabric shops. I just really, really wanted to do that, but the thought of opening a bricks and mortar shop and the cost involved in that was just a no go. Luckily, Andy is a web developer and he'd always been interested in developing a subscription based

website. So he said, well, what could you do a subscription box for fabric like the fruit and veg box? And that was where it started, that little seed of an idea. was like, no, don't be ridiculous. No one's going to go for that. That's, well, maybe. So yeah, that's sort where it all started. And that seed was planted and I just had to go for it then.

And I always love to find out a little behind the scenes things, because you only get to see the surface and sometimes the finished products from some particular businesses. But how far in advance did you have to plan the theme for the box and source the component?

Yeah. So I am not an organised person. I wish I was a much more organised person. And I was so proud of myself. One year, I had sort of a plan for the year in advance of the themes I wanted. So every box was themed and all the fabrics and components were curated around this theme. But if I say it's January and I'm planning something for October, I actually get to that point in the year and the things that I wanted just aren't available.

or I can't, it just wouldn't work. So I always try to have an idea sort of three months in advance of what I wanted and, you know, lock down the fabrics and things like that. But I had to also be very flexible. And if something just wasn't working, completely change the theme last minute, because sometimes it just wasn't working. I had to, yeah, being flexible was quite important.

Speaker 2 (09:52.842)

What was the most exciting bit for you about curating the boxes?

Once they all come together and I've got all the fabrics are there and cut out and I had a sort of island or table in the middle of the room where I would put the thread and the magazine that we did and the haberdashery and the gift and the sweet, there was always a sweet treat as well and everything was all ready to go. And then I got in the team for a couple of days to pack together. And yeah, once you sort of put the fabrics and everything all together.

curated all beautifully. said, yes, this box works. It looks really good. This is so exciting. And then obviously a couple of days later sending them out and waiting to hear what slightly nervously sometimes waiting to hear what people thought about because it was a surprise. They didn't know what they were getting, which was a risk. It was a risky thing to do, but nine times, nine and half more than that times out of 10, it paid off and people loved it. Yeah, that was always really exciting.

And it was it sort of like you get one box packed and you literally on to the next one or was there a bit of a lull in between?

No, there was a bit of lull in between in terms of getting the next amount of things. So the subscriptions closed on the 25th of the month and then we had two weeks to get everything in and prepped and sent out. So then I had another two weeks before the next lot came in, but I was, you know, taking photos and videos of what we'd just sent at the same time as starting to work on the next box. It was, and I think having that

Speaker 2 (11:25.142)

So it was a constant process.

constant thing meant the months just disappeared. I literally send a box out and blink and it was ready time for doing the next one. That's a bit nuts.

You said that sadly you had to close the doors on Sew Hayley Jane. Was it earlier this year?

year. Yes, was in May. May was the last box, April. Yeah, May was the last box.

Yeah. And what do you think was the tipping point that made you pivot your business plans?

Speaker 1 (11:57.326)

So last year, so I say we because my husband is a big part of everything that I do as well. And we had decided to try it because the current climate meant that we saw, you know, so many businesses are struggling at the moment and we definitely were. We were seeing the numbers going down because people were trying to save money and you know, the prices of everything that we were buying was going up. So we were stuck in this place. were like, how can we add more value to the boxes? So

When I started Thready Set Go, it was to be a part of the box or a stand alone thing as well. So if you subscribe to the boxes, you got full access to everything on Thready Set Go, or you could just sign up to Thready Set Go. So that was kind of the idea, but we just didn't have enough time to make that work. it just, everything was sort of conspiring against the boxes to be honest.

It was time to say, do you know what, enough is enough, we need to draw a line under this. It was becoming really difficult. It was a really tough time. So yeah, but the time came.

It's really brave though, to sort of, you know, end something and then straight away start something else. But like you say, you've started Threadyset Go. Can you explain what that's all about?

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (13:08.97)

Yeah. So a huge part of what I was doing with Sew Hayley Jane was the community. Every month I made a little mini magazine that went into it and I would have features from my customers, the people who were buying the boxes, showing off what they were making or doing profiles of them. And then interviews with small businesses in the community that had products that were in the boxes as well. And we had a Facebook page and it was the community vibe of everything that I was really...

enjoying more than anything else. And I was really sad that I felt like I was going to be letting down the community by closing the boxes. So Study Set Go set out to become a community hub for all things sewing. there's a forum, which is completely free to join. And it's kind of like going back to those old school nostalgic vibes of the internet, you know, before social media with the forum. It's really, really lovely and people are having conversations there. It's really positive.

Then we have Sewing Socials, so online Sewing Socials, which at the moment I run three times a week, which is really lovely. It's just totally chilled out. You turn up, you can do it from home, obviously, set up your camera and just sew and chat for, I mean, there's more chatting than sewing that goes on, obviously. But it is, everyone's different. So some people are really chatty, other people are just really happy to sew and listen into the conversation. so yeah, everyone's welcome. And then I also do video tutorials.

as well. So that's something that I'm growing over time. I'd like that to be a library of sewing tutorials. But the thing that's absolutely loving at the moment is the monthly pattern club, which you were a guest on recently. is lovely. So every month we feature a different pattern from an independent pattern designer, show it up over the months. I do video tutorials that highlights aspects of

Bye.

Speaker 1 (15:00.938)

some of the techniques that you need in sewing the pattern. So it's not like a walk through, it's not a sew along, but it's you need to know how to sew a facing or how to do some gathering. So there's some tutorials. And then at the end of the month, I host a live online, I call it like a chat show or sort of like a live podcast almost. And our members get to be in the virtual audience. I invite the pattern designer and a couple of other lovely special guests.

I interview them for an hour, hour and a half, and then invite our members to members of the audience to ask questions. Then if there's time, we go into little breakout groups with the guests as well. So we get a little bit of social time just to chat as well. It's just so lovely. It's kind of bridging the gap almost between the influencers and the designers and the people that we all love to follow on social media. Just bringing the community together a little bit more.

That's exactly right. The pattern party was really lovely and I enjoyed being a guest, so thank you for having me on. But you also had Sharlene, didn't you, from So Sew Dressmaking and you had Victoria from Little Rosy Cheeks. there was a variety of, well, guests, How do you choose who you're going to feature for the following months?

So in terms of the pattern, it's sort of seasonal sometimes or something that I feel might be missing from my personal wardrobe. So sometimes it's perhaps a little bit selfish. I want to this thing, but I think it's also something that everyone else would be interested in as well. And also patterns that you can learn new techniques through. we've had a jacket from Friday Pattern Company. We've had

the Falconer pants from Helen's Closet, Emily Dress from So Sew Dressmaking. So they all had different techniques, completely different style of garments and things like that. So that's the pattern designer. And then if the pattern designer has someone that sort of naturally fits, you know what mean? There's people who've made connections already. with Friday Pattern Company, we also had Paige Joanna who works with Chelsea. So they were a really natural fit. And because I've...

Speaker 1 (17:18.733)

I've been really lucky that I've made a lot of connections with the designers and makers in the sewing community through running Sew-Hayley-Jane. There's lots of people that I've been able to reach out to and say, you like to come and do this thing with me? they yeah, amazing, that sounds really good. And generally everyone's gelled really nicely. It's really lovely because it's very low key, very informal. It's not a formal interview. I try to think like Graham Norton.

when I do the interview.

Yeah, fantastic. And I was really impressed with the actual platform that you use for your pattern party. Was that another one of your husband's creations?

No, that one wasn't. That's something that we found externally. So it's a little bit like Zoom. Everybody knows Zoom, but with Zoom, have to download something and the tech can be a bit glitchy. So we wanted something that was going to be as easy as possible for everyone to use. So we found this really awesome platform called Wearby and it just works really lovely. You just get a link sent to your email when you, sort of 10 minutes before the event starts and you just click the link, make sure your webcam's turned on and your microphone's turned on and that's it. You're in.

Yeah, was brilliant. was impressed anyway. You obviously mentioned that part of Threadyset Go is the virtual sewing socials. For anyone that hasn't been to a virtual social, how would you describe the experience? You did mention that it is very chatty, but just to sort of put anybody's mind at ease, who might be nervous about joining, what can they expect?

Speaker 1 (18:32.056)

thank you.

Speaker 1 (18:53.678)

Yeah, we've had lots of people who've said they were nervous about joining and believe me when I tell you that the first few times I did it, I was terrified. I was so nervous. I think there are so many socials happening in person, but walking into a room full of people, a lot of us sew and we don't have anyone in our life that sews. And although we know that sewing can be really great for your mental health, it can also be very solitary. There's a lot of people who find it harder to leave the house for health reasons or

anything like that. So to be able to just set up your laptop or your computer or your tablet or whatever in your own space. So whether it's your kitchen, your lounge, or you've got a dedicated serving space, it doesn't matter. And if you want to be in your pyjamas as well, it doesn't matter. The fact is, it's really, really lovely. Everyone's really welcoming. I try to include everyone in the conversation. Obviously we have some people who are naturally really chatty and some people who are naturally quite shy.

That would be me. The fact that I'm doing this thing just blows my mind sometimes. So I try to sort of make sure everyone has a chance to say something, but I have got people who have emailed me in advance and said, look, I'm really nervous. I don't really want to be on camera or speak. Can I just come? And yes, absolutely. You can still come. You have the option to turn your camera off and your microphone off and just listen into the conversation and feel like you're part of it. And then over time, if you're feeling a bit more...

bit braver or a bit more confident, know, everyone's welcome.

lovely. And are there any exciting plans coming up for Threadyset Go that you can tell us about?

Speaker 1 (20:32.628)

I have so many ideas, but nothing is set in stone yet. So I don't want to say anything in case it doesn't happen, but I do have lots of ideas. But one thing I would really like Thready Set go is as the community grows, as it gets bigger, to be able to have the sewing socials running a lot more, you know, once a day, every day, and even in other countries as well. We've got people who are joining us from the USA and Canada and Australia.

obviously the time difference makes it quite tricky. So it would be lovely to have someone that can host for me in these different countries so that everyone can join and see the benefits.

exciting. So just to tie up today's interview, Hayley, I like to play a little game of this or that. that okay? So, woven or knit?

Yeah, sounds good.

Definitely woven. That's hard actually. It was always prints but I'm starting to gear more towards solids. We need solids in our wardrobe to wear with all these amazing prints that we have. So I love both. Yeah, I love both.

Speaker 2 (21:26.52)

solids or

Speaker 2 (21:42.484)

One project on the go or multiple.

try to have one project on the go. If a project doesn't get finished before the next one started, it then ends up going in the box of doom and stays there for far too long. So I try to do one project at a time. I do have a few projects that are unfinished.

Don't we all, don't we all? Tea or coffee?

Tea, every time, always tea. Unless I'm out at a coffee shop, I feel a little bit cheated paying for tea if I go out somewhere. So then I'll get a latte or something.

an organised stash or creative chaos.

Speaker 1 (22:21.078)

I would say organised stash at the moment where we had to, well, obviously we had this big studio where I had lots of stuff and now I'm in our spare bedroom. So I had a lot less space to play with. I did massively downsize my, I didn't, never have a huge stash anyway. but I did massively downsize everything. So I'd say, I'd say it's, I want to say organised chaos actually. I have.

drawers where I just chuck everything in and then it's like the moniker cupboard in France. Everything's chucked in there and then closed. From the outside, it looks nice and organized and tidy, but if you open the drawers, you will realize it's not. It's a mess.

That's the best way I think. Meal out or a takeaway?

Ooh, can I have both? You could have both. I love a takeaway, but it's also nice getting dressed up and going out sometimes as well.

your takeaway of choice.

Speaker 1 (23:19.606)

If I had my choice, it would be a Chinese. But if it's, you know, my husband and Mia, it's more likely to be pizza. Yeah.

I thought you might say that. An in-person sewing social or a virtual one?

Well, I have to say virtual now, don't I? Both, again, they both have their place, absolutely. It's nice to have the chance to meet people in person, but they're few and far between. So if you don't have something that's local to you or easy to get to, being able to do things virtually is amazing as well.

Absolutely. Spring, summer or autumn, winter?

So I love autumn winter, but for sewing, I love spring and summer. I love getting cozy in jeans and jumpers, but their jumpers are a little bit less exciting to actually make. I love sewing maxi dresses and blouses for the summer and the spring, but I hate the heat.

Speaker 2 (24:17.518)

So it's really a bit of both. is a bit of both. Scissors or a rotary cutter?

scissors, I cannot get on with a rotary cutter at all unless it's fat quarters and I'm just doing something in a straight line, scissors all the way.

agree with that one. And the last one, a paper pattern or a PDF?

I get my PDFs printed so I guess I would have to say paper pattern. I cannot stand cutting and sticking everything together. quite often think it's funny people say they love the PDF because it's sort of instant gratification. But it's not because you've then got to spend time cutting and sticking it all and that just takes so much space and it's yeah, no.

I find that's a couple of hours sometimes.

Speaker 1 (25:00.91)

Absolutely. But obviously there's so much more available as PDFs now. both are great. I like to have the... I also love the pattern envelopes that you get with printed patterns as well. They just look nice.

So where can people find you Hayley?

So you can join Thready Set Go completely free. The forum is free to join. So that's just ThreadySetGo.com. You can find me on Instagram, just Sew Hayley Jane on Instagram and YouTube as well. Just search Sew Hayley Jane and you'll find me.

Awesome. Well, thank you so much for being a guest on the podcast today. It's been lovely to

with Thank you so much, been a pleasure.

Speaker 2 (25:40.984)

You're welcome. You take care. I'm here. Bye. Today's episode of the Sewing Social podcast. Thanks so much for listening. If you're enjoying the show and want to support what we're doing, you can now leave us a tip over on Ko-fi. It's like buying us a virtual coffee or a spool of thread and it helps us keep bringing you inspiring stories from the sewing community. You'll find the link in the show notes or at ko-fi.com forward slash

Bye!

Speaker 2 (26:10.355)

Sewing Social Pod. Until next time, happy sewing!