Tea & Chat with Katherine Thompson Handmade
Hello! Great to have you here, the kettle’s just boiled – what would you like to drink?
Tea! always tea! preferably Earl Grey. On a cold day I do love a big mug of hot chocolate though – with cream and marshmallows of course!
So, tell us a bit about yourself and your business.
I’m married with two children and we live in rural Kent. My business is unimaginatively called Katherine Thompson Handmade and I make quirky themed makeup bags, wash bags and pencil cases which I sell via my website and through various online and high street shops.
What inspired you to start your creative business? How did it all begin?
Before children I was a UK Marketing Manager for a Danish Multinational. After having a few years off to spend with my children while they were young, I started to find I had more time on my hands. I didn’t really want to go back into a rigid work environment so I decided to set up a business involving my main passion – sewing! To start with I made personalised baby quilts and shabby chic style home accessories but then one day started playing around with a pattern for a wash bag. I decided to use a fabric with a strong single printed image on it – the size of the wash bag was a perfect ‘showcase’ for the image and so the idea took off – all my items have strong themed images.
How has your business changed and developed since it started?
The business has changed quite a bit since I started it – I started off very small with £50 that I invested in some fabric and sold on my own website. To start with, I made a lot of bespoke and personalised items but now that I sell through about 40 online and high street shops, I’ve had to pare down what I make as I couldn’t handle all the orders.
Where do you draw inspiration from for your designs and product range?
I draw inspiration from my shopping trips with my teenage daughter – I try to spot up and coming trends and then find a fabric that reflects the trend, for example foxes. I try to cover all bases – as far as the online sales are concerned most of my bags are found via search engines whereby people are looking for a very specific item for example a London themed makeup bag – I try to make all my designs search engine friendly!
What are you working on at the moment? Anything new coming up in your on-line shop?
I have a couple of new designs that I’m about to photograph. The first is a new London themed set, I sell a lot of my London bags overseas and there are so many lovely London fabrics out there that I’m constantly changing the designs I offer. This latest fabric uses large photographic images of London Icons such as red London buses and the Underground sign. The second new design that I’m about to launch is based around ‘Folk Art’ – I think this is an upcoming new trend and I wanted to offer something so I’ve made a matching makeup and wash bag set in a Folk Art flower design.
So, where does all this takes place? What’s your workspace like?
All my sewing takes place in my workroom which is at the top of our house and has lovely views over the garden to the cherry orchards beyond.
What do you like most about running your own handmade business?
The best thing about running my own business is the flexibility – we are currently getting our house ready to go on the market and I’m spending every day with a paintbrush in my hand rather than on the sewing machine. Because I’m the boss I’ve been able to rearrange my day so that I’m sewing in the evening instead.
What are your plans for your creative business for the future?
We are about to move to Yorkshire in the summer so my plans for the future will involve firstly setting up a new workspace and beyond that, contacting Yorkshire shops. I’ve always wanted to design my own fabric so I’m thinking of going on a course and then perhaps introducing some fabrics with a Yorkshire theme. I’d also like to introduce a range of bags made from Vintage and Premium fabrics. I’m not sure I want to grow the business too much though – I don’t really want to get into employing people.