Where It All Began: Just Sew By Holly

Hi there!

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Holly. I live in North East Tasmania, and sewing is my passion. I’ve lived here my entire life and truly love it. For the better part of this year, I’ve been working on my brand and business, Just Sew By Holly; a dream I’ve had for a while now and have finally decided to start.

Now let’s go back to where it all began. As an eight-year-old whose mum had just put her into sewing lessons, in all honesty, I don’t know a life where I haven’t been sewing. To me, it’s a skill I’ve had my whole life.

My sewing teacher, Kimmy, a close family friend, taught me everything I needed to know. Sewing lessons often consisted of more afternoon tea than actual sewing some weeks, we loved (and still love) a good chit chat. Over the eight years I attended sewing lessons, I made countless items: pillows, quilts, décor, bags, you name it, I’ve most likely made it or something very similar.

Growing up, I had so many dream jobs of what I wanted to be, from a zookeeper to a hairdresser to an osteopath. However, something that always stuck in the back of my mind was that my ultimate dream was for my career to be sewing-oriented in some way. At the time, I had never really seen anyone have that kind of job, so I didn’t think it was an option.

As I finished my sewing lessons alongside high school and moved on to college, I became focused on becoming an osteopath. Up until Year 12, that was the path I was set on, and I hadn’t really done much sewing while navigating college. My spark came back during Year 12 when I dropped the idea of becoming an osteopath and decided that fashion design was my desired path. I even made my own Year 12 formal dress using a Kiana Bonnollo pattern I bought from Etsy.
(I made the pink dress, and the stunning woman in blue is my bestie Zoe!)

I had my path to becoming a fashion designer all planned out, finishing Year 12, moving to Sydney, and studying at Couture Arts Fashion Academy (CAFA). However, that never happened. Instead, I ended up taking two gap years. During the first year, I tried to start a business called Truly Holly, but I jumped in the deep end without any real knowledge of what I was doing, and it ended quickly.

In my second gap year, I worked in school administration. Halfway through the year, I decided that starting my own sewing business was my dream and that I was finally going to do it. I applied for a business course at UTAS without telling anyone, thinking I wouldn’t get in, and a few weeks later, I received an acceptance email. I honestly couldn’t believe it was actually happening.

Now, a year into my university course and roughly six months into this whole Just Sew By Holly business adventure, I’m enjoying it so much. Of course, it’s still early days and there’s a long way to go, but I’m loving every second of it.

Do I have an exact plan for Just Sew By Holly? Yes and no. I have rough ideas of what I want to do, but I’m also letting the business take me wherever it wants to. As long as I’m sewing, I’m happy. I love everything from making quilts to dresses to patching holes in trousers, I genuinely love it all.

I especially love that no two days are the same. I enjoy being kept on my toes, and whenever someone asks me to do a sewing job and starts the sentence with, “It’s okay if you can’t do it,” it actually makes me want to do it even more. I love a challenge and the creative freedom that comes with it.

Thank you so much for being here and supporting Just Sew By Holly, I’m so excited to share this journey with you.