How Heidi can turn those precious old clothes into treasures to keep forever
FROM a summer dress that a toddler has outgrown, or a shirt favoured by a lost loved one, Heidi Davies makes beautiful, sentimental items from clothes so special that people just don’t want to part with them.
For them, she harnesses precious memories into keepsakes to treasure forever. Every item, from bears to bunnies and cushions to blankets, is lovingly hand-crafted into a bespoke piece by Heidi in her home studio.
Once just a keen hobby sewer, the mum of one from Rolleston-ondove turned her hobby into a business after a health scare caused her to take time out from her job as an HR manager.
Heidi says: “I’d purchased a kit to make your own keepsake, and I enjoyed it so much I wanted to make more. After a little while, my friends suggested I should sell them. I’d been doing that for several months when, in May 2019, I was diagnosed with a benign brain tumour.
“I had surgery to remove it and was anxious about returning to work, so decided to take some time out from my job at Rolls-royce. I continued to sew and decided that was what I wanted to focus on. Until then, in 20 years I had never thought about leaving the corporate world.
“But I suddenly became very busy with orders, and people were coming to me via recommendations. I established Heidi-lou Handmade Keepsakes in November 2019. And I’m lucky enough to say it’s now my full-time job. It’s perfect because I fit it around school hours, so I can take my little boy to and from school, which I wasn’t able to do before.”
Heidi is completely self-taught, although she attended a few workshops to learn some specific skills.
“I’m a massive perfectionist and I think it really helps in sewing. We’ve converted one of our bedrooms into a dedicated sewing studio, and I love it.”
When a customer contacts Heidi, she works with them to select the most appropriate pieces.
“I work with the client to understand favourites, special requirements and any embroidery they would like. Then the creative process starts. I plan the layout for the keepsake – spreading all the clothes out to look for patterns, fabrics and colours which work together. Every pattern piece is lined before cutting, and then they are all sewn into the keepsake. Stuffing the keepsake is usually done in the evenings in front of the TV and then the final details, such as button joints, faces, bows etc, are added.”
Her customers have plenty of options from which to choose. In total, including her bears and bunnies, Heidi offers a range of 12 different animals, among which are lions, unicorns, elephants, dogs, dinosaurs, and cats. These can be made into keepsakes from baby clothes, school, Scout and Brownie uniforms. Heidi also makes two styles of blanket, two different cushions and her memory frames. Her pet keepsakes are also very popular.
“My most popular item, by far, is my bear, closely followed by my blankets.”
She has adapted one of her bear designs to produce birthweight keepsakes, where the bear is made using treasured baby clothes and weighted to perfectly match the child’s weight when newborn.
Because she is working with precious items of clothing that have sentimental
value, Heidi is exceptionally careful to look after them throughout the process. She has enjoyed making all the keepsakes, but some are particularly memorable.
“I made a bear for a lady whose husband had passed away due to Covid, and so she asked me to make another bear for his best friend, using his heavy metal festival clothes. I was also asked to make a bear in memory of a lady’s father who had passed away over 20 years ago. She had kept some of his clothing, and I made it from a jumper, baseball caps and his collection of pin badges.”
Indeed, Heidi says that few items are unsuitable, and that she can work with most pieces.
“While I’ve never been asked for anything particularly strange, some of the more unusual items I’ve been asked to use include socks, towels, trilby hats and dog beds.”
While each item is unique, Heidi regularly has requests to produce several items for a family.
“My largest order was for 16 memorial bears from over 20 items of clothing for one gentleman’s family of 10 grandchildren, four daughters, a wife and another family member.”
Heidi has a website and a Facebook page, but also attracts business by word of mouth from previous customers.
“I’ve made keepsakes for customers all over the UK and Ireland, and I know that some of my items have been sent to customers’ family members in Cyprus, America, Canada and Spain.”
It seems it’s never too late to preserve those memories: “I’ve even been asked to make keepsakes where the clothing was much older. I’m currently making a pair of birthweight keepsakes for 26-year-old twins!”
Heidi can be contacted at www. heidilouhandmade.com
My most popular item, by far, is my bear, closely followed by my blankets.
Heidi Davies