5 things I miss about my old studio

Plus some I don't, and a surprise...

My daughter drawing at a table in the workshop room

Times are really tough for small businesses right now, and it’s heartbreaking seeing that so many are closing down their bricks and mortar premises. It’s not a decision that’s ever taken lightly, and having been there myself I fully empathise with the agony of making such a decision.

It’s just over 12 months since I started subletting my old studio, and hitting that milestone felt good. Letting it go was necessary, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t tough. I’m still tied into the lease until April 2026, but once I make it to under 2 years to go I know I’ll feel even better about the whole thing! It’s not in the forefront of my mind as much as it was a year ago, and although I’m still on the journey of processing it all I have realised that I am talking about it differently. That feels good.

So in the spirit of processing, I wanted to mark the occasion by writing this post. There are some things that I desperately miss about the space, but also some that I don’t miss at all.

Looking back through old photos of my studio, I’m reminded of how beautiful the workshop room was and how wonderful it felt to work there. It had such a positive energy! So that’s what I’m trying to focus on rather than all the things that went wrong in the end 😂

My Trust the Process hoop, designed and stitched at my old studio

The light

Oh, the light! It’s hard to explain how wonderful it was in there, even on a dull day. I painted the walls white, and the light just bounced off them onto the white tables and it was brilliant. The building was south-facing, so the workshop room had bright light for the whole day, which was amazing for working and taking photos. The workshop room just had such a special energy, and the light was a big part of the magic.

I must admit that I struggled with getting used to working at home again in terms of the light (I say working at home, I’ve actually been next door in my Father-in-law’s spare room!). I’m so grateful to Keith for letting me set up here, it was so kind of him to give up this space in his home. I’m always chasing the light now, which is an added complication to working two days a week - especially when I’m working on commissions.

The morning commute

My morning commute since moving out has been non-existent 😂 I’ve released how much walking to the studio was a time to reset before starting the day. It was 10 minutes to unwind, say hi to people on the way and just take a breath before getting stuck in. I’ve really missed moving my body and having that walking time on my own without my little ones in tow. Recently, I’ve come to realise how much I miss working away from home.

A lovely house covered in wisteria on my way to my old studio

The quiet

There is a lot to be said for having your own quiet space, and because we home educate I think this also goes hand in hand with the commute and lack of distance. Over the past 18 months I have felt quite overwhelmed, and I think that having time to work down at the studio on my own was more helpful than I’d realised at the time. By the time I’d made the decision to move out of there, I was so stressed out about covering the rent that I couldn’t see this. It all just felt like a huge mistake.

Opportunities to create together

My friends Daria and Louise would pop down to my studio most Tuesdays, and this time with my creative friends is honestly something that I really cherished. We’d put the world to rights over endless cups of tea, each working on our own projects. Louise would help me cut thread for kits too, for which I am so grateful (and I promise I’ll never ask you to do the Keep Going kits again, Louise! 🤣). That time to hang out, bounce ideas off each other and generally just support and encourage one another is something I’ll never forget. It brought us closer together and it means the world that we had this.

I also miss being able to host workshops - not just my own, but for other local creatives too, including The Peacock and the Printmaker (Heather now has her own studio - yeah!), Little Cherub Design and Zoe Gardiner from Postpartum Matters CIC, seen here in the photo below. This was taken on the day I moved out - I was packing up the shop in the room next door whilst Zoe journaled with a group of women, and it was just wonderful to end it on this positive note. It’s brilliant being able to work with and be with other people and I think we really need that connection.

The last workshop in my studio was hosted by Zoe Gardiner (top left)

The community

The building is right in the heart of Lemington where I live, and it felt really special to bring something new to the community. The people who came and supported it made it so worthwhile being there, and I’m sad that I didn’t get to do some of the community projects that I’d hoped to.

The Crafty Social was a community even that I hosted fortnightly on Tuesdays, and we met some amazing women who came to craft and chat. It was wonderful, and I miss that a lot.

Louise running a crochet workshop with two lovely regulars from the Crafty Social

But there are a couple of things that I don’t miss…

The pressure to find around £1000 a month to cover rent and bills. As soon as Tina from Totally Polished took it on, it was just such an incredible relief. When I’d previously been selling a crazy number of kits and haberdashery supplies each month, it was totally manageable financially.

But then Brexit happened, we didn’t quite come out of Covid lockdowns and back into a new normal life as we thought, and suddenly my international sales were non-existent. Not long after the rest of my online sales slowed to a trickle (literally a handful a week). My workshops never really got off the ground when they’d been one of my main income streams before the pandemic. It felt like all of my income streams collapsed in one go.

During the period between moving out of my studio and Tina signing the contract to sublet, I was working 3 jobs to cover the rent and bills - and barely adding anything into the family pot. I think this was one of my lowest points. I want to say more about this, but I need to wait until I’m out of the lease to do that. Things definitely got worse before they got better.

Flashback to the day when I shared that I’d take £3.12 at the shop

I also don’t miss working in retail. I had always dreamed of having my own shop, and I loved working in retail when I was younger. But when you’re opening up your shop every Saturday and barely any customers come in, it’s a struggle let me tell you!

This photo above is from the day I made £3.12 (which my friend Juda described as ‘iconic’ 😆). It was hard to admit it, but nobody really talks about the days like this and I wanted to share for anyone else who was feeling the same. This was the reality and it cost me more to be open than I made in sales on a regular basis by the end. Whether you have a bricks and mortar building or not, there are days like these sometimes and it’s important to acknowledge the low points as well as the wins.

Me working in my craft room on the day I submitted my book manuscript

Moving on

Over the past few weeks, the realisation of how much I miss working away from home has really hit. I was reading More Sales Please by Sara Nasser Dalrymple (affiliate link), and in it she talks about life in lockdown and how that made her rethink how she was running her business. As I read it became clear that my life is still a bit like lockdown in many ways, apart from the obvious part about literally not being allowed to leave the house!

This might explain why I’ve been feeling a bit stuck and low, and I realised that my current work setup has a lot to do with it. I work next door, I’m home educating (and currently wondering whether I can actually do it long term although it works so well for my kids) and it feels like I’m in a small bubble. I have come to the conclusion that I need to get out more, but it was really hard to work out what could actually change.

Since leaving my old studio, I honestly felt like I’d never consider renting anywhere else again (and I’ve 100% been put off from ever taking out another commercial lease again for sure). But didn’t even consider it as an option until I realised that I need to do something to shift this feeling of stuck-ness. I started looking at potential options near to me, and I am pleased and very excited to say that I have found the perfect new home at a studio in the John Marley Centre in the west of Newcastle, run by Breeze Creatives!

This was me picking up my key on the most glorious, sunny day last week! I’ve been moving everything across (huge thanks to Keith for moving me in), painting the space and unpacking. It’s slowly getting there and it’s so nice to have a 30 minute walk to get to my own space. It’s in a beautiful old art deco school building, and I can’t wait to show you around.

There have been so many emotions taking this on, but it feels right to be giving it another go. I’m so very grateful to everyone who has signed up to my Embroidery Membership, as this has enabled me to go for it financially. It doesn’t cover it (for transparency, I think I need another 15 paid subscribers or so for that), but it has given me the confidence to take the leap.

If you’d like to support me in my new venture, you could join my Embroidery Membership too, or preorder a copy of my new book (and check out the kits to accompany it), or even buy me a cuppa on KoFi. Thank you so much for supporting my work!

And I’ll leave you with this, because sometimes we need a reminder that it’s okay that things don’t always work out as we’d planned:

What feels like the end is often just the beginning.

If you’re in a sticky patch, I see you and I hear you. It feels like it won’t end, but please know that one day you will look back on this and realise that you’re processing what’s happened. You are strong, you are resilient and better things are coming for you ❤️