Sew Together Romsey is run by Jan Grafton and Janet Beck. We are both Janets, but to help you differentiate between us Janet G will be known as Jan!
Firstly a bit about me, Jan Grafton. I moved to Timsbury, from South Oxfordshire in 2015 and have enjoyed settling into Hampshire life. In 2014 I decided to take early retirement, I have taught textiles and food technology for more than 35 years in state Secondary Schools but felt I needed to explore other directions to allow me time to spend more time with my family and nurture my own creativity.
I was born into a family of sewers and my grandmother introduced me to a lifelong love of creative hobbies; I can remember cutting and making doll’s clothes in my bedroom from about the age of 8. I continued to explore with textiles and was always making something, eventually pursuing it through school and college. I always knew that retirement wasn’t going to mean giving up work completely but an opportunity to pursue new ventures; so over the last few years I have been spent exploring what is important to me and deciding on the path that nurtures and inspires me.
I have taught Textiles to GCSE and A’ level, and examined both levels for the AQA examination board. Whilst I have a wealth of experience in this field I cannot claim to be an expert at everything sewing related but I have a ‘can do’ attitude and will aim to help students to solve problems that arise.
Hello, I’m Janet Beck. I’m delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate with Jan at Sew Together Romsey. Like Jan, I trained to be a textiles and food teacher and and taught in Secondary schools for 38 years, before retiring in 2018.
Sewing has always been my passion. My first project was a pink felt elephant made from a ‘Womans Realm’ pattern in the 1960’s, with the help of my Dad. At college, and in my early twenties I made a lot of my own clothes. Later I enjoyed making clothes for my two daughters, including numerous dance costumes. At school I would always be called upon to make costumes for the drama productions, an aspect of my job I really enoyed. In 2015 I was honoured when my youngest daughter asked me to make her wedding dress, my biggest achievement to date.
Pursuing my love of sewing was always part of my retirement plan. In September of 2018 I started teaching evening classes at local schools and continued that until our lives were turned upside down by the Pandemic.
I am now really looking forward to a new start, to teaching classes and workshops alongside Jan, and to meeting you and sharing my passion for sewing.