My lifelong passion had sparked an idea to help other women. By Jenni Smith, 48
Carefully I pushed the needle through the material and reached for my scissors.
‘That’s lovely and neat,’ my grandmother said.
I was nine and she was helping me to make a skirt.
It wasn’t long before I became hooked on sewing and, by the time I was 12,
I was getting creative and stitching letters on to my T-shirts.
My passion remained with me when I went to university and afterwards when I got married and became a mum.
In time, we moved from the UK to Toronto in Canada and, one day, I was going to a playgroup with my son when my eye was caught by a quilting shop next door.
I went in and marvelled at the fabrics.
‘They’re beautiful,’ I said.
Joining a quilting group, I fell in love with the craft.
When we returned to the UK, I continued quilt-making and set up my own sewing business. In between having two more children, I honed my expertise, eventually publishing a book about it.
Then one day, I was at a dance class with my two-year-old daughter, when I met a fellow mum, Kay.
The pair of us signed up for tap dancing lessons and soon became friends.
When the school held an auction of promises, I volunteered.
‘I’ll donate a quilt-making lesson,’ I said.
Kay came to the lesson, along with some others, and the evening was such a success that our friendship circle began to meet at each others’ houses to sew.
'I've had an idea'
I taught them how to make all sorts from kids’ clothes to curtains.
And we planned sewing weekends away. Kay sorted the food and logistics while I concentrated on delivering the sewing lessons.
In time, I took the leap and opened up a studio in Ilkley, West Yorkshire.
‘I’d love it if you came to work with me,’ I said to Kay, and she did.
As we grew into middle age, our conversations at the sewing group turned naturally to the menopause.
Several of us were experiencing perimenopause and menopause symptoms.
‘My memory’s been badly affected,’ said one.
‘I can’t sleep,’ said another.
‘I’m really hot all the time,’ sighed Kay.
I began to think about what she could wear to keep cooler.
‘What about a light, floaty jacket?’ I suggested.
We found a pattern and ran it up on the sewing machine.
‘This is great,’ Kay said when she put it on.
As our conversations while sewing covered our serious concerns about the menopause, my mind whirred.
Sewing was so therapeutic but I wondered if it could help us in other ways and I came up with an idea for projects specifically created to help women through this time of life.
Kay had an idea. She found a pattern and set about cutting and stitching.
The following week she showed the group an eye mask she’d made.
‘To help beat insomnia,’ she said.
Kay and I put our heads together and came up with more patterns from relaxation blankets to combat anxiety, to baskets for storing items so we didn’t keep forgetting where we’d put things.
‘Sewing for the menopause,’ I said. ‘This could be an idea for a book.’
We pitched the idea to a publisher, and it was accepted.
We poured our ideas into it and when we saw the book cover for the first time, we felt so proud.
It’s on sale now and we really hope it makes a positive difference.
Who’d have thought our needles and pins would help us navigate the menopause!
• Menopause Makes, by Jenni Smith & Kay Walsh, published by Search Press, £20, out now