‘This is what I always wanted to do’
Catrin Evans, from Dundee, was furloughed from her job in marketing at the city’s Discovery Point after lockdown hit.
“I got a sewing machine for Christmas and I had always been interested in learning but had never had the time.
“When lockdown started and I was furloughed, I started learning. The first thing I made was masks for the other people living in my flat.
Another friend saw them and asked if I could make some for her too – and she paid me for them. It was then I realised that I could keep on doing it.
“Since then I’ve set up my own Instagram page, @sewlongstitches and I share them on Facebook too and I’ve had a lot of orders.
“I sew every day. It’s mainly masks at the moment, although I am starting to get commissions for larger items too – I got a commission for my first pair of trousers the other day. I think masks are a good thing to make at the moment, so I’m happy with that.
“I don’t know what is going to happen to my job longterm, as I am still on furlough, but either way I would love to expand my sewing business further.
“As soon as I started doing it, I figured out that this is what I have always wanted to do.”