SEWING The great leveller

Gill Towell wants to make sewing as accesible to as many people as possible. Here she explains why it’s a brilliant skill and a wonderful way to spend your time

- GILL TOWELL

“There are many benefits of sewing, but my top two are that it’s a great leveler in people’s abilities – anyone can learn to sew – and it also brings enormous health benefits,” says Gill Towell, an award-winning sewing tutor from Maidenhead.

“Sewing encourages mindfulness and is therapeutic, and therefore reduces stress and anxiety. It also stimulates creativity and helps to challenge the mind.”

Gill set up GillyMac Designs to teach local children and adults to sew. “I worked in the city for 20 years, but sewing had always been my passion. When I had my two daughters, I realised my work was taking me away from them too much, so I took a sixmonth sabbatical. It was during this time that I had the idea to run sewing classes,” she says.

That was six years ago, and Gill hasn’t looked back. She now runs weekly classes and specialist workshops at her studio in Maidenhead for regular sewists as well as beginners, from junior school age and upwards.

“I want to get more children sewing,” she says. “It’s a great life skill to have and something they can do for an hour or so with their friends. I love that whatever their ability at school, when they sit down to sew they are all on the same level. There’s nothing they can do that’s wrong – it’s all good, positive fun.” The sewing classes range from patchwork, quilting, dressmaking, bag making to homewares. The children and teen classes make amazing items for others, themselves and also to enter (and win) national competitions.