My name is Liz. I am a Mother of two, and a couple of years ago I completed a sewing course for beginners. I really enjoyed the course as it gave me the opportunity to develop my creative skills and now I make drawstring backpacks, tote bags and clothing items. Sewing has been very good for my well being, it gives me the chance to switch off from the mundane things of life and gives me a break from my main job in criminal justice policy which can be intense at times. There is one particular thing that I chose to do a couple of years back which has played an important role in getting me to where I am now.
I’m going to take you back to the Autumn of 2016. I had recently given birth to my second son and was also managing with the challenges of looking after my eldest son, who was a boisterous two year old at the time. During this time I was feeling quite isolated and overwhelmed with becoming a Mother of two under twos and was keen to find some good activities or a programme at a local Children’s Centre. One day my sister told me about a new wellbeing course which would be running once a week over a period of around 5 weeks. I’ve always been aware of the importance of wellbeing but I was finding it difficult to be active or healthy which was having an impact on my wellbeing. Feeling a bit unsure about how I would manage with attending the course with a small baby and a bit sceptical about whether the course would make a difference to me, I decided to go along to it anyway.
I walked into the room on the first day and was welcomed by Georgina’s warm smile. During the course we learnt about healthy eating, nutrition and practical ways to introduce exercise into our weekly routines. One particular activity I enjoyed was completing the ‘wellbeing flower’. Working in pairs, we were encouraged to think about all of the different things that help us as individuals to feel good and have a sense of positive wellbeing. Little did I know that this task would encourage me to think about my passion for sewing. This led to me developing a simple plan on what I needed to do to achieve my goal of learning how to sew. With Georgina’s guidance I was able to consider a number of options on how I could find more information on courses and more importantly how I would be able to attend whilst working out childcare arrangements.
Georgina’s enthusiasm and energy along with her relaxed approach and ability to engage with each of us, really helped me to learn so much and I used to look forward to going to the sessions. Rather than just running through the course content, Georgina challenged our thoughts and helped us to find simple but practical solutions to improving our wellbeing whilst helping us to understand its importance. Looking back, I realise that with everything else I was managing with at the time, the course was a life saver. It helped me to reconsider my health and wellbeing and enabled me to bring to life my dream of sewing. Learning to sew and using my creativity skills has led to so many opportunities such as supporting fundraising events and exhibiting my work as part of an International Women’s Day event just last month. If you are in need of some motivation to develop your self, realise your potential or just start something new then I would definitely recommend any of Georgina’s courses. I can’t thank her enough!!
Info: If you would like to see my work please follow me on Instagram: @sewstylishcreationsuk