Over 20 years ago I inherited my grandmother's sewing box; it was a footstool which opened to reveal beautiful vintage haberdashery, wooden cotton reels and tins of buttons she had collected over the years. I loved this old packaging - particularly the cotton reels with their intriguing labels and I began collecting them myself. I left my arts admin job when I had young children, and The Industrious Maker developed organically as I started to make and sell crafts at local fairs. I had a lightbulb moment when I did a fabric printing course and used an image of an old cotton reel label which I framed in an embroidery hoop. It struck me it would make a great lid for storage and from there on I developed pin cushions and needle books as well as re-purposing other items such as brass plumbing parts into sewing weights and cotton reels into magnetic scissor holders.