About Alison
I am the second of five children. My father was a very hard working GP, who worked all hours, and I grew up very quickly helping my mother to look after my younger sisters and elder brother. It was back in the day when, as well as the morning and evening surgeries, GPs carried out house calls throughout the day and night. While the family slept it was not uncommon for my father to be out on calls three or four times during the night. He was still up before any of us and taking us to school before his morning surgery. He never went sick. My mother ran the household and answered the telephone for the practice as well as raising five children. As I grew older it became commonplace that I answered calls from patients whilst my father was on call and my mother was dealing with everything related to running a household with five children and numerous pets.
I have always loved sewing and first learned to sew on my mother's old antique Singer hand-cranked sewing machine. I really wished that I had been able to hang onto it and am envious of those who have located one, although I do now have at least one! My mother bought me my first electric sewing machine when I was still at school and taking GCE O level Needlework. I used to make some of my own clothes during that time and for a short while after I left school, but as always, normal life takes over and sewing was set aside.
Throughout my working life I have spent over 26 years as a police officer. Initially I was a police cadet, then a probationary constable in Kent for two years. I then had a career change working in other occupations, before becoming employed with the newly-privatised British Telecom in 1982. In 1986 I joined the Army as a Royal Military Police Officer, based at Bulford, Wiltshire. I was fortunate to be selected to cover the Edinburgh Royal Military Tattoo in 1987 before becoming a Military Police Drugs Dog Handler, with a very loyal four-legged partner, Kim, an 18 month old hyperactive English Springer Spaniel. I was on call for the entire UK for drugs searches on military bases. In 1990, I applied to join Avon and Somerset Constabulary as a Police Constable and in 1991, I began what was the start of a long police career: commencing at Trinity Road Police Station and then other Bristol stations in various roles until retiring in 2014.
Throughout my working life I continued my love of needlework, but for many years this was just knitting and cross stitch. I knitted many mohair jumpers, including picture jumpers, as was the trend in the mid 1980’s, and a large project of a double size bedspread of many different knitted squares. This project took me several years, on and off, and is still adorning our spare bed. I also completed many cross-stitch patterns, many of which I have framed, and some still to frame. One such favourite is a photograph of my old pet, Willum, a retired Avon and Somerset police drugs dog, that was converted into a cross stitch chart. This was also a labour of love and took around 2 years to complete. From a distance it looks like a photo and takes pride of place on my craft room wall with a pastel drawing of Rickie, my German Shepherd pet dog, created by my sister Hilary from a photo. It seems the creative gene runs in my family!
I did not return to sewing properly until much later when I decided to make some curtains and cushions for my house, as it needed updating. This spurred me on to try other things again, which was much more interesting than just the minor clothes alterations I was doing to adjust my police uniform as my weight altered over time. Following my retirement, Pete, my boyfriend (now husband) encouraged me to take up my sewing interests again and to take up a new venture, ‘Just Sew by Alison’. He invested in a decent sewing machine, a Janome MC5900, for me and I undertook several new projects. I have been attending various Craft Fairs to sell my handmade items at craft fairs, and to take on commissions for household items and clothing (mainly adjustments) for paying customers.
In October 2018 we got married, and with the help of a close friend I undertook a project I never anticipated; making my own wedding dress. This is the first real item of clothing that I had made for many years, and the first fitted dress I had ever attempted. 2018 was taken up predominantly preparing for our wedding day – wedding dress, dress for the evening, embroidered picture announcing the wedding for the Hotel Reception and last, but not least making the wedding cake! I did decide to outsource the sugar craft flowers for the cake and the silk flowers for the bouquet and buttonholes as these were skills I did not have time to learn. Well I couldn’t learn how to do everything, especially in the short time I had available before the wedding!
A few years ago, after seeing an embroidery machine in action at a Craft Show I had the urge to take up machine embroidery. I researched the machine options available and made my first purchase of a Janome MC9900 combined sewing/embroidery machine. This was a big learning curve, yet it really expanded the scope of my creativity, and I was able to tackle so many other craft items.
Like so many other crafters I was aware of the limitations of my machine, in particular the smaller hoop sizes, and so you can imagine my excitement when my husband offered to buy me an early wedding present of the top of the range embroidery machine. I had been admiring the Janome MC15000QC combined sewing/embroidery machine since I first saw them, and now I was able to have one. I decided it would be a real benefit to keep my Janome MC9900. I was in my element – larger hoops, lots of extra features, and the ability to have two machines running at once. I had the option of running two embroidery projects at the same time or sewing on one while the other stitched out embroidery work saving so much time. I also chose to keep my Janome 5900 which enables me to still have a back up sewing machine whilst either of the combined machines go in for servicing.
As my interest in machine embroidery developed I felt that the business name 'Just Sew by Alison' required a new identity. Quite often I would be engrossed with my crafting in my Craft Room and totally unaware that my husband had come in from work and was either standing in the doorway or behind me for several minutes without me being aware of his presence. He would then exclaim "A'hem!" to attract my attention. Hence the current business name 'A'hem Stitch and Design' was created. Not only did this name have a sewing pun, it was also a little 'personal thing' between us!
The digitising of my own designs has been very slow, partly due to other sewing and upholstery commitments, but also due to serious long term illness with one of my sisters requiring more attention. I am hoping however, that my learning curve with digitising will resume again soon.
