From Sewing Bee to Sewing Boss with Jen Hogg from Jenerates

In this episode of The Sewing Social, host Gemma sits down with Jen — a self-taught sewist, small business owner, and familiar face from The Great British Sewing Bee. 

Jen shares her inspiring journey from learning to sew at home to building a thriving business rooted in creativity, innovation, and sustainable values.

Together, they explore the realities of competing on national TV, the challenges and joys of running a handmade business, and the power of community in the sewing world. 

Jen also introduces her line of thoughtfully designed sewing tools — created to solve real problems while supporting a more sustainable approach to making.

Whether you're passionate about slow fashion, love clever sewing hacks, or just want a peek behind the seams, this episode offers fresh insight, inspiration, and practical tips from a maker who’s redefining what it means to sew with purpose.

Key Takeaways

• Jen learned to sew from her grandmother and through trial and error.
• Mistakes in sewing are valuable learning experiences.
• Jen enjoys the engineering aspect of the creative process.
• Her business started organically after creating a useful sewing tool.
• Sustainability and social responsibility are key values in her business.
• The sewing community is supportive and collaborative.
• Jen's innovative tools have had a positive impact on sewing practices.
• She enjoys using surplus fabric for her projects.
• Jen loves to use charity shops and factory surplus for sourcing fabric.
• Jen sews primarily for herself but also for her family.

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Guest details:

Website: www.jenhogg.co.uk

Instagram: @jenerates

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Jen and Her Sewing Journey

02:57 Exploring Jen's Creative Background and Skills

07:52 Transitioning from Law to Sewing Business

11:44 The Experience of Being on The Sewing Bee

14:05 The Importance of Community in Sewing

17:31 Innovative Sewing Tools and Their Impact

23:59 Personal Sewing Projects and Sustainability

28:38 Fun Rapid-Fire Questions with Jen

Transcript

Speaker 2 (00:09.656)

Jen, welcome to the Sewing Social podcast. It's so lovely to have you on today. I was wondering if you could introduce yourself to the listeners.

Yeah, hi Gemma, thanks for asking me on. So my name is Jen Hogg and I have a business which is called Jenary and people know me for that but they also know me because I was on the sewing bead. Quite a violent one now, series five, so that went out in 2019.

Lovely, and we're gonna get onto that a little bit later. But first, I sort of want to dig into your background a bit, Jen. So, did anyone teach you to sew or are you largely self-taught?

I don't remember being taught. mean, I'm 55, so I was learning to sew in the days before YouTube videos. And I don't remember being taught, but I'm pretty sure that I would have been tugging on my gran's skirt asking her to show me things on her thread-all singer, which she used all her life to amazing effect. My mum sewed as well, not as much as my gran. And I suspect my gran probably had more time at that point to show me. So I suspect I...

probably learned to knit and sew from my gran. But then on the whole, it's been a process of trial and error. So I've sewed consistently. I got my first sewing machine when I was 14 and I still have it. It's an old Toyota, completely solid metal, weighs a ton, fantastic machine. If I was sewing enough by 14 that it was warranting my own machine. really, certainly from that, John Ward.

Speaker 1 (01:41.87)

I would be trying things as upcycling clothes, using fabric that I'd found in the charity shop, you know, making trousers out of old bed sheets. I thought I was archy. I looked ridiculous. I remember those bed sheets that were, they were blue and white stripe, or sometimes you got them blue and pink and white stripe. And I remember making trousers for me and my friends when we were about 15 and we'd walk around St. Andrews in these trousers thinking we were just like the bees knees. So yeah, I would say on the whole, was childhood lessons and then trial and error.

absolutely trial and error. just, I do think when you're sewing, if you do something and it goes a bit wrong, it adds to your knowledge. So it's still worthwhile, even if it goes a bit wrong, or you end up making something that you think, I'm not quite happy with that. You've learned a lot in that process.

Yeah, you do, don't you? Because you do generally in life learn more from your mistakes than you do for the things that went well, because the things that went well was easier.

Absolutely, and this is learning from your mistakes. It's the things that go wrong that you figure out how to correct either on that occasion or on the next occasion. That's where you really do your learning. I think that's right. Yes, so it's going to see the use of errors.

Well, not that many to get where you are today, yeah, consolidating your learning through those little errors. Because I obviously do a little bit of research about my guests, Jen. You sound like a very creative person and your skills aren't just limited to sewing, are they?

Speaker 1 (03:10.51)

No, I think I think I should probably have been an engineer. I really enjoy the engineering aspect of the problem solving aspect of the creative process. And but then also I really enjoy making. And so I've tried lots of different things. Some of the things that I've got more involved with than others, I've done quite a lot of silversmithing and I've done quite a lot of joinery and woodwork, which is very much in my family background. And, you know, I've done everything from stained glass and wrought iron. I've laid up.

I've built a fence. If you can make it, then I really want to have a go at doing it. And it really is just, yeah, I love it. I love it all.

That's awesome. like you mentioned with Woodwork, did you make any prototypes for your business generates yourself or did you just have those ideas down on paper?

want to know, a nice story actually. The first thing I made was my wee sewing ruler, which is basically a square sewing ruler that has, if you imagine the kind of apex and the two corners, there's a zero in both corners, which is, I couldn't find that. And I really wanted a wee ruler that had those two zeros. And I had it in my head. I didn't make a prototype until we filmed the sewing bee. And at that point, it was before it came on telly.

And at that point I was helping out a friend who has a yarn shop in Glasgow and I was doing some knitting classes for her at the shop. you know, you get chatting to the folk who come along with the class and this one woman was there and I said, you know, what do you do? And she said, I've just moved back to Glasgow with my husband and we've got a laser cutting business. And I'm like, well, that's interesting because I would really like to have a shot in a laser cutter. So I'm pretty proficient on Illustrator. And again, that's from a past life. I used to do a lot of bespoke.

Speaker 1 (04:57.954)

reading cards and I had a shop for a while and I did the spoke stationer. So I was just getting illustrators. I made, I defined my ruler that I wanted and then asked her to cut me it. And I really liked it. And so then I felt, okay, I'll, I'll cut a hundred and see what happened. And we cut a hundred and I put it on Instagram and sold them within about 10 minutes. And that was really how the business started. And I didn't intend to start a business. it was.

you know, very organic, really, meeting Rachel and their husband Pete. And I still work really closely with them. They're my production partners. And I love the fact that they're only a couple of miles from my house in Glasgow. So then I can do things and I can go backwards and forwards to their studio and, you know, work on iterations. So yeah, that's how it all started. So I guess, I guess in answer to your question, yes, I have done prototypes in the sense that everything I designed has been for my own use first.

So it's always something that I think I could do with something to solve this problem. And then I come up with an idea and I make it for myself. And if I find it useful, then I add it to my catalogue.

Yeah, well, I think that's obviously the best way, isn't it? Because you know what is lacking and you're trying to fill that gap. that sounds like a real fate moment meeting, is it Rachel? And it's sort of progressed from there. Because I was going to ask you where your products are produced. So are they all produced in Scotland? Yeah.

Everything I do, there's only one exception to this and it's only because I couldn't find anybody in Scotland to do it because I do think one of the things that's important to me is that my business is socially responsible. So I use equal products wherever I can. You know, I don't package with plastic, for example. Obviously I use silicone rubber, but that I think is the best material for the hemmers. And you buy it, we buy it once, you don't need to buy it more than once. And it'll last you for as long as you need it. And I produce as locally as I can.

Speaker 1 (06:53.102)

So everything I do is with Rachel and Pete who are close to me here in Glasgow. The one thing that I couldn't find anybody in Scotland who was doing this was I needed somebody to prune on acrylic and then cut it. So that Tuesday's a process and there's a guy in Birmingham that I use for that. But having said that, I sourced my refab of the acrylic from the Plastics Factory in Glasgow. And it's big international business, but I went to their Glasgow base.

And it was hilarious because, I mean, these people, they do things like they supply plastic, like acrylic bus shelters, you know, it's like a big industrial application. And I go in and I'm like, oh, can I have one sheet recycled acrylic, please? So I think I'm literally their smallest customer. And their sheet is like two meters by three meters. Their sheet is big, but one sheet is a small order for them.

But yeah, everything's in the UK. That's awesome.

Yeah, yeah, that's important to me. mean, I think, you know, it's, it's, it's really about trying to have integrity in my business and to give everybody a fair amount of the, the income from it, if you like. So, you know, everybody's paid fairly. The customer's charged a fair price for what it is I'm producing the cost of that. And so it's, yeah, it's all about kind of, actually with integrity, I think.

I love that. That's really cool. Just sort of going back a little bit again, because I read a bit about your work background and you've had such a varied career, haven't you? How did you sort of get to where you are on this current path?

Speaker 1 (08:28.93)

Well, that's an interesting one because I did well academically at school and I think it's better now, but certainly when I was at school, if you were achieving the grades and it was kind of the careers advice was do you want to be a lawyer or a doctor, essentially? And I studied law and I really enjoyed it and I worked as a solicitor, was a court solicitor and I did that for about 10 years until I had my family. I enjoyed it basically, it's kind of, it's quite a nosey.

thing to do because you get to investigate lots of different things. So I did cases, you know, did cut up cases where solicitors were being sued. So then I had to investigate the background, those cases, so you can learn about lots of things. I know lots about industrial deafness and lots about another one that I know lots about is the silo storage towers on farm, which is such a random knowledge to have. I really liked the nodiness of that. So again, I think that's part of the creative process. I think, you know.

being creative, you're essentially, quite nosy about how things work or how things might happen. So yes, that's solicitor. And then I, when I had my kids and my husband's solicitor too, it's punishing hours, you know, and we decided at that point, I had an idea that I wanted to open a design led gift for a shop. really focusing on local crafts, it's hard to sustain a shop just on that. So it was a kind of broader base than just local craft. So I

gave up my legal career and opened a shop and I did my bespoke stationery through that too, kind of as a separate business, but running the two concurrently. And then I sold the shop and kept the stationery and then I joined an international medical association in a kind qualifier legal role and did some really interesting work with them and got to travel a bit with them as well. And I did that for a few years and then that...

into an end and that's when I saw the application form for the sewing beat. So I was quite lucky because I'd just kind of finished that job and then I was kind of in a gap period of my work and saw the application and saw, look at that, that's interesting. So that happened.

Speaker 2 (10:39.118)

Brilliant. And how did you feel when you got selected to be on the show?

Man alive. I mean, I think I'm not alone. I saw the application and again, I think essentially being quite nosy, I thought, I'll have look at that online. And the application process in itself is interesting because the first thing you do is you fill out quite a long questionnaire about your sewing, about your, you know, what you've sewn, what you want to sew, why you sew. And it really makes you think about your own sewing history. And that was interesting in itself. So I ended up filling it out and sending it in.

And at every stage, because there's thousands of applicants, and at every stage they say, very much. If you don't hear from us, then at the end of the road for you. If we want you to go further, we'll call you. And so using every stage, I genuinely thought, well, that'll be it. I won't hear anything then. And then it kind of got a bit real when they, you know, they'd asked me to come down for a sewing edition and then a screen test. And I still thought, yeah, you know, it doesn't never happen. And then when they called me and they said, I've come here

Can you come down to London for the psychiatric evaluation? And at that point I thought, holy moly, what have I done? But you know, so then you're down to like the final 50 or something at that point. And I thought, I'm going to stay off of me this. It's going to be a really interesting thing to see. And, you know, I've never been in a TV studio before really. And it'd be really interesting just, even if I'm out in the first week, it'd be really interesting to see how that works. So again, it's this, yeah, there's a common theme here, isn't there? Basically.

I'm a nosy cake.

Speaker 2 (12:15.126)

say more you just give everything a go.

But yeah, so then when they phoned me and they said, well, you come on. And I did think, crikey, you that's, that's an opportunity I can't pass up really. I do not want to be on telly. I hate having my photo taken. But it's an interesting thing to do. So I couldn't say no to that really. And then of course I did pretty well, you know, again.

You got to the semi-final, is that right? So that was series five which aired in 2019.

Yeah, I do.

Speaker 1 (12:43.038)

That's right. was the first place that people quite often remember it because that was the very first one that Joel Issa did. The first one after it was off air for three years and it was the first one back. I wasn't a super fan. I I had watched all of the series and I didn't re-watch them before I did it, which I probably should have, but I think because genuinely I thought it would never happen. I just didn't bother my BMA.

Did you watch it before then?

Speaker 1 (13:11.392)

So yes, I went into it fairly, blindly, I guess, but yeah, I really enjoyed it. I mean, you know, it's nice to see a program about something that you enjoy doing that is usually a solo activity, you know, before we using Instagram as well and social media. I think now we have more opportunities to have a community around our sewing, but back in the day there was, you know, wasn't a common thing to do or I didn't even know anyone else who did it.

Absolutely. We've talked on the podcast quite a lot about the value of community and it seems to come out as obviously a common thread every episode, is, really important, isn't it? To have people around you that have that common interest.

Absolutely. something that's really, I find the sewing community, know, my experience personally has been that it's been incredibly supportive. And I think it's a really lovely community and it's a privilege to be part of it. And it's worldwide as well. So, you know, I think as well through social media and through the communities that we form, you actually build up genuine friendships, which is a lovely thing. Yeah, it's a very, very valuable part of what we do. You know, genuinely, I've not been aware of any sense of competition.

in the community. So it's very much if you have a question or you have an issue with a pattern and you ask a question within the community, whether that's on Instagram or Facebook or whatever, you will get answers. And there's not any sense of, this is my knowledge and I'm not going to share it, you know, which is great, isn't it?

It's really nice. Yeah. Just going back to the show for a second, is there a particular challenge or a particular garment that you were most proud of that came from the show?

Speaker 1 (14:52.716)

Yeah, I mean, had a few things that I was really pleased with. In week two, we had children's week and two things happened in that week. The first thing was that the transformation challenge, I'd done this kind of bird outfit. It was a dressing up outfit and we had to use fake fur coats. And so I'd done this kind of bird and the fake fur became the feathers on this keep. And I made this big, like big hat, which was really kind of graphic, really kind of strong visual thing. And Patrick wore it. And I did think, yes, I

broken Patrick crack. That was a funny moment. And in the same week as well, in the made to measure, I had done a version of a highland dance outfit for a girl. And normally the outfits, you know, they're, quite involved in this. kind of have blouse and then a very fitted waistcoat over the top. And because I knew I wouldn't have time to do those two things as well as the skirt part. And I couldn't jiggle because that would be too time consuming. But the thing I did actually was a legitimate.

highland dress outfit from a place called a Boyne, it's called a Boyne skirt. And then the top I managed, kind of self drafted this version of the waistcoat with the shirt built in and it worked perfectly. It worked so well. And I was really pleased with that because it was a kind of way of achieving the result I wanted within the time that I had and it just worked. So yeah, I liked that. That was one of my favourite weeks actually.

So from this whole amalgamation of all the different careers and things you've done in your life, Jenerates was born and we sort of heard how you met your colleague that produces the items that you sell. Do you have a particular favourite item in your sort of catalogue?

The things I use most myself, I use the wee ruler all the time. It's really handy. And the hemmers and the seam circles. So the seam circles I did because they speed up a very boring part of the process for me. So if I'm using a pattern, which doesn't have the seam allowance, I do not want to spend time adding a seam allowance. It's the bit I don't want to do. I quite enjoy facing off patterns or, you know, if I'm using fiber motor embroidery or something, quite enjoy that part of it.

Speaker 1 (16:57.494)

And then I want to put on the sewing and I really can't be bothered spending time doing the seam allowance. I really enjoy the seam circles for that. And then the hemmers, I just use all the time. At the moment I'm making a pair of denim, long denim shorts for myself and I was using them to, in fact, I use the everyday hemmer to mark the shape of the fly on the shorts. So there's always, you you kind of come across ways of using them that aren't necessarily what I intended when I made it, when I did the design. So.

Those are my favourite things from that point of view. I'm the pattern tracker for knitting. I designed that because I do little bit of fairing and it lets you keep track of your pattern, not only the role you're on, but also the role you've just done, which is how you tell you're in the right place. I use that all the time as well. I really enjoy the Flex Hemmer because it's such an innovative idea. It was something that didn't exist at all in this world until I thought of it.

And that's really lovely, know, and it's had such an amazing response. I've got a sign where I've got a big version of the flex cut out of wood that's then backlit on the sign and it looks a bit like I'm a chiropractor.

Yeah, it does look like a spine.

Especially when you see it curved on this kind of figure.

Speaker 2 (18:13.55)

So that product is for curved hems, is that right? Yes. pin it in place.

Absolutely, the flex hammer curves in either direction. So then I did it thinking about shirt tails, you where you get that kind of S curve. And that's probably where I use it most often, but then people are using it for all different kinds of things. I sell a lot to quilters and I think that's for a bleakie when you're stitching shapes on because you have complete flexibility in the shape that you're using it with. Yeah, whereas the everyday hammer is the one that's got a straight edge and a curved edge and two corner options.

But of course, because they're made out of silicon, you can put your iron on them, obviously, it's a fabric, they've got holes and then the steam goes through and then you can also pin through the holes into your ironing board or into a felt mat to hold the hammer in place and then that frees you up and that's really useful. And also the silicon, you you start off with an idea. And for me, it was about my starting point with hammers was actually that I wanted something that I could put the iron on and I could put holes in so that the steam would go through.

And that was the two things I wanted. And then you realize, I'll hold them off the gauge. And then you think, well, I can also pin through them. And then as I'm using it, I realized that if I'm using one of the corners to press the corner of a pocket. And what I'll do is I'll put a running stitch into the seam allowance and then I'll pull that face against the silicone so the hem is pinned into place. And as I pull it, you realize that the silicone lifts a bit, okay, because it's flexible.

And what that means then, I just lift that silicone a wee bit and then press it. What that means is the fabric is really hugging the shape of the hammer. And so you get a very accurate result. So then you realise, the silicone is useful for that as well. It's that flexibility there that actually lets you achieve this really perfect result and replicate that result if you're doing patch pockets, for example. So yeah, these things kind of take on a life of their own within my head, within my use.

Speaker 1 (20:11.982)

And then also people will tell me when I meet people or I'm talking to people on mine or whatever, they'll tell me about a way they're using something that I haven't necessarily thought of. So an example of that is the seam circles and people have told me they use them to draft echo quilting lines. Now I'm not a quilter, so I don't know what this is. And it's where you have a central shape and you radiate out from that shape. So you can use seam circles to do that. And then that led me to think, oh, that'd be actually a really quick way to draft pad stitching lines.

when I'm peeling. So, you know, there's all these kind of things take on their own life. And again, that's where the community comes in, because then actually within the community, people share those ideas and then they extend.

It must be so nice to hear that from people that have bought the products.

Yeah, I really enjoy talking to people about how they've used the product. I mean, the thing I really don't like hearing is when, you know, like somebody came to me at the show and said, no, I've got the same circles, but I've not used them yet. I'm like, them out and use them. Use them to mark your stitching line. When you're going around a corner on a collar, for example, use them to mark your stitching line on the fabric. Because that's where you lose sight of the lines on the plate of your machine. So if you mark a stitch, you get, again, it's about having a perfect result where it matters because anything to do is a collar or a pocket.

anything that's front and central, you want that to be spot on. It doesn't matter so much elsewhere, but it matters when it's front and central. So yeah. Thank you.

Speaker 2 (21:34.326)

Such a good idea. And you've been doing a lot of shows over the last few years, haven't you? And you normally team up with Victoria from Little Rosy Cheeks. Yeah. A lot of work goes into those shows, doesn't it?

Yeah, there's a effort. mean, the best bit is when you are all set up and you just chat to people and it's really good fun. mean, getting organised for them, driving usually down to London. I mean, there's one in Glasgow, a couple in Glasgow, but usually we're driving quite a distance. Victoria and I do them all together because it's nice to have the company and we're good friends.

And also we set our stands up so although we have two separate stands we don't put a barrier in between us and that way we can help each other. And we've designed our stand furniture to be coordinating, it's a really inviting space overall. It was actually Victoria that kind of got me into doing them, she was like how about we try one? And we did the Alley Pally in 2021 which was the very first show back after Covid and it was a crazy show. Everyone was so pleased to actually have something to go to. So yeah that was the first one we did.

I mean, they're really good fun. My least favourite aspect of them is the breakdown at the end, which is really fun. Just a lot of work and people are trying to get out quickly and it's just, you know, chaotic. you know, they music on and try and everybody else out and just focus on what they need to

I heard, because I spoke to Tanya from Bornella Fabrics and she said, is it the Stitch Festival where everybody's got to go in one lift?

Speaker 1 (23:07.278)

Oh, it's a nightmare. It's a nightmare. Yeah. And Stitchfest as well is, because it's in Islington, they have to close the business design centre. I think it's by 6pm on the Sunday because it's a residential area around about, especially at the back. It's all residential where the each yard entrance is. So it is absolutely frantic. And I think, I mean, I've heard if you're not out by six, they literally lock the doors and you have to wait until Monday. So, and there's one left. There's one service left.

So yeah, we've kind of worked out actually because everything we have packs down into quite small components and that's because we come down in my car, so we have to fit it all in my car, it's quite a big car but it's not a van. So everything packs down to quite small components so we realised that we could actually use the kind of passenger, the person lift rather than the goods lift.

That's really handy.

Yeah, yeah, that's my top tip. you can do that, that's what you have. That's what you should do because yeah, Stitch Fest is probably, Alley Pally is bad as well for breakdown, but Stitch Fest I think is the one that trumps them all. last year. I was better this year, but last year Vick had actually gone back up by train and I was taking the stuff to the car and I have, you know, one of these flatbed trolley things that I can feel and I managed to, eventually managed to get in the lift and I came out the lift and you're

I had to park outside, had to like pull my trolley like, you around this corridor over this shabby bit of ground and everything fell off. no, I just wanted to just like, wipe.

Speaker 2 (24:44.782)

I was wondering if we can talk a little bit about your personal sewing and what kind of things do you like to make Jen?

Again, that's an interesting one. About 80 % of my wardrobe, I think, now is made by me. Most of my sewing is for myself, although I do sew for my daughter and a wee bit for my son. He's very tall, so I've had to make him trousers. And also for his girl, I've made a couple of things. I really like sewing everything. I enjoy the kind of learning aspect of trying new things. I don't tend to sew underwears and the things that don't tend to do, but...

Well, obviously never. But I really enjoy, I enjoy working with denim. I enjoy working with found fabric. So I use surplus. I've done quite a lot of things with surplus from X Cashmere Middle in there. And they have amazing fabric. They weave cashmere for very high end clients. And I've done a lot of work with, you know, surplus from them, which comes in various forms. So there's

You can imagine a scarf surplus, so that's kind of scarf width. But then there's also, I think, called splitter tape, which is when they take the scarves off the loom that leaves a tape about maybe an inch or an inch and a half wide. And then you can weave with that or you can sew that together. So I've made a quota of that, actually. And then they ended up on their annual report one year, actually, because they gave me some blanket. It had an error in the weave.

they couldn't use it. Really lovely blanket and I made a cool set of that which is still my favourite coat, one of my favourite winter coats. So I really enjoy using surplus because of the challenge of that. Enjoy you know like I've made one of my favourite summer coats it's actually a denim jacket it was the Merchant Mills Ottoline and I made that out of three pairs of old jeans. However having said that I do think as well it's it's a tricky one if if you go into a charity shop

Speaker 1 (26:45.506)

I don't know, what do you think about this? Because if you go into a charity shop and there are jeans there that you can buy, okay? is it okay for me to go in and buy them and cut them up and repurpose them? Or should I leave those jeans for somebody who can buy them and wear them as jeans? Okay, I think ideally I leave them and I take the jeans that for some reason can't be worn. But then you don't access them, you can't get them because they go to rag. So those are the ones you can't get in charity shops. But it's an interesting one, isn't it?

It is, and I have the same thing. So I've got like four pairs of jeans sitting in my room at the moment. One of them's from my son who has outgrown them, but they're all perfectly wearable. But I really want to make this amazing bag I saw in the Talco magazine that's made out of like strips of denim, but I cannot bring myself to cut them off because they're wearable. I should just take them to the charity shop.

Cause I have that internal struggle as well.

I get it. a really hard one, isn't it? Yeah. The only solution that I've found really for that, I've kind of thought of the solution, but I've not actually spoken to my contact yet. We've got a great Chinese shop in Glasgow, which do amazing stuff. they take donations from people, but also from companies. And they will sell what they can sell and they'll upcycle. So they take stuff which is too damaged to sell and actually use it.

And I'm pretty sure if I said to them, look, you know, can I take some of the denim that's leading up cycle? Pretty sure that they would let me buy that. But I've not done it yet, but that's on my to-do list. I need to speak to them about that. Glasgow, let me give them wee shout out. They're called Revolve Recycle and they're based in Rutherglen and Cambreslang and they do really terrific work. It's worth going in to see them. They also operate haberdashy within the charity shop.

Speaker 1 (28:42.158)

So you can sometimes get really good fabric or patterns, zips, threads, things like that. So they actively encourage people to bring in haberdashery to the charity shop and they also will be very happy to sell your makes. So I take my clothes that I've made that I want and into charity shop, I take them to them because I have heard that some other charity shops, because they don't have care labels on them, aren't so happy to put them on the shelf. Whereas Revolve, Recycling, Glasgow are very happy to put them on the shelf.

So that's my shout out for them. Would you agree?

That sounds amazing. I'd be in there all the time, so it's a good job. don't live anywhere near there. So to sort of draw the interview to a close, Jen, I like to play a little game of this or that, if that's okay with you. That's good. Yeah. Right. So prints or solids? Solids. Tea or coffee?

Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon.

Roses or a rotary cutter? Roses. Interesting. Spring, summer or autumn, winter? knew you were going to say that. From the coats, yeah? A meal out or a takeaway? Meal out. One project on the go or multiple?

Speaker 1 (29:40.929)

Autumn, Elephant

Speaker 1 (29:52.371)

One for sewing, one project on the go for knitting, multiple, multiple projects on the go.

it takes so long. Yeah. Sewing for yourself or others.

Oh, that's a tough one.

You've mentioned both, so I know that you do both.

I do both, I mean I film more for myself but I really enjoy sewing for, oh that's a lie, enjoy sewing for my kids essentially and my friends.

Speaker 2 (30:17.719)

Yeah. An organized stash or creative chaos.

I would like to say organize fast, realistic, there's more creative care.

paper pattern or PDF.

They usually get PDF purely for the convenience. You also have the instant access to them.

Yeah. And the last one, being on the sewing bee or watching the sewing bee.

Speaker 1 (30:39.682)

Well, see, that's an interesting one because before I was on it, I would say being on it and having, yeah, it's an interesting one. It's still the theme music still makes me. So I haven't, I've never got past the kind of stress aspect of being on it. So I guess probably watching it. Although I find that difficult.

bless you, trauma, traumatize

You do make really good friends on it and somebody said it's trauma bonding.

Yeah. So where can people find you, Jen?

You can find me, my website is, you can access me either to jenhug.co.uk or actually generates.com, both are simply to the same place. And I'm on social medias at generate across most of the social media. do most of my social media is Instagram. So yeah.

Speaker 2 (31:30.318)

Brilliant. You've been amazing, Jen. So interesting. And I want to thank you for joining me today on the Sewing Social podcast.

Thanks very much, thanks for having me on Jenna, it's been lovely. You too, thank you. Bye! Bye-bye!

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