The Fernery

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Lisa Newark - Maker
Small-scale Freemotion Applique Artist
Small Creative Business Owner for 15 Years
Buy my work, download tutorials and find gorgeous sewing supplies at thefernery.co.uk

09/09/2026

Expensive things that are worth the money, Sewing Edition:

Hi, I'm Lisa, I've made a living from my small-scale freemotion applique work for almost sixteen years and these are the things I think have been worth spending my hard earned money on over the years!

🪡 My Bernina machines - I saved for years to buy my first one, and it was worth every penny, and every year I waited. I now have two and would never use anything else!

🪡 Fiskars Scissors - my Mother in Law bought me my first pair years and years ago, and I still don't buy any other scissors. They're not a deal breaker price wise, but they're more expensive than some. Worth every penny in my opinion!

🪡 Wool Blend Felt - If you're making products like the ones I do I always recommend a 30/70% mix (I sell mine on my website) - acrylic felt will melt when you iron it, and once you've used the good stuff you'll never go back!

🪡 Wool Pressing Mats - I have a large pressing bench in my studio topped with these mats and can't remember how I coped without them. If you're still using an ironing board, give one of these a try and you'll see how great they are (also good for quilters, especially great for anyone who does applique).

🪡 My Studio... built by my husband in 2020 after working from the dining room and saving HARD for the first ten years I ran my business, fully funded by my own hard work. After years of working in our home, to be able to have my own dedicated space to run my business, and crucially close the door on at the end of a long day has been absolute gold.

What can you not live without when you're sewing? Let me know in the comments!

🔗 If you'd like the links for some of my favourite tools and supplies, just leave a comment including the word 'studio' in the comments, and I'll have my Fernery Fairies DM you (affiliate link)
🔗 The wool blend felt is available from me at thefernery.co.uk, or comment 'felt' and I'll send you a link to all my supplies
🔗My full studio tour is over on youtube.com/the_fernery -comment 'tour' and I'll send the link straight to your inbox

I had a conversation in the pub this weekend that went along the lines of "if you love your job, it's not work, is it?"W...
06/09/2026

I had a conversation in the pub this weekend that went along the lines of "if you love your job, it's not work, is it?"
Whilst it certainly makes it EASIER to do my job, and not begrudge the 50 hours a week I spend working, I would defy anyone to be a fly on my studio wall for a few hours and call what I do 'not work'. Naturally, next came the old classic "it's time to start hiring people then!"

Ugh. There is an expectation when you run a small business that you should want to grow, hire staff, rent a workspace, get big brand deals, pay to advertise, win awards and influence people... but what if there's another way? What if you're content to stay small and know that you'll weather any storm? I *could have* justified hiring staff ten years ago, but (here's the crucial bit)... I don't bloody WANT to!

💚 I don't want a team of people around me when I can do it all myself - I'm a control freak and an introvert, so staying small suits me.

💚 I don't want to pay for advertising when I could just create fun reels and get seen that way - I don't need 1000 orders a month, 100 suits me.

💚 I don't want to be an influencer and sell you products I'd never use - if I show you something in my studio, you know I love it and use it!

Not everyone wants to commute a mile down the road - I can walk 100 yards from my back door, turn on the fairy lights and do an hours work after dinner if I want to. I can post a quick story at 6am, answer a couple of emails, jump on the treadmill and then still be in the kitchen ready to make sure my teens have some breakfast before they leave the house.

These are my quiet luxuries. The things that make this business fit around my life, rather than the other way around.

The things that have helped me still be in love with my business 16 years down the line. Yes, I work hard, but I’m happy to because I still genuinely enjoy my job - and you will not convince me that I’d still feel the same way if I’d spent the last 16 years accumulating staff, overheads, advertising costs and all the other things that come with scaling a business.

Small isn’t a failure to grow. Sometimes it's literally the whole point 💚

So this is headlined 'dirty little small biz secrets' , but a less catchy title would be 'things I do to protect my peac...
26/08/2026

So this is headlined 'dirty little small biz secrets' , but a less catchy title would be 'things I do to protect my peace as a busy Mum who runs a small creative business, that would send the insta-guru's into a complete headspin'.

There's SO MUCH pressure to run what, for *most of us*, started as a side hustle from the dining table during our Babies nap time as though it's a multi million dollar corporate gig, but what if we're happy being Solo self-employed and not hiring people to do our Social Media and pack our parcels?
What if we don't WANT to reach the point where we have to be VAT registered?
What if we're happy never scaling our business and just knowing that we can cover the ever-increasing food bills and a few treats each month?
What if we have no desire to be influencers who get sent huge PR Hauls and have to post about irrelevant s**t we'd never buy in a million years (there was almost a slide dedicated to this, but I don't want to put off anyone who might actually send me useful PR, you know?!).

I love working from my studio in the garden - I don't WANT my business to grow to the point where I have to rent a unit. Yes, I sell a few materials now alongside my makes, but I'm happy keeping those to a couple of shelves in the studio thanks - I don't want to commute to a warehouse every morning.

Ok, your go - hit me with your best 'dirty little secret'!

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