Meet Penny – The Maker Behind A Keepsake to Cherish
Hi, I’m Penny, the person behind A Keepsake to Cherish.
If you’ve found your way here, you’ve probably got a box, bag or wardrobe full of clothes that you just can’t bring yourself to part with.
I completely understand that.
I’m a sentimental person, and I’ve always found it difficult to throw away things that have a memory attached to them. A piece of clothing can look like “just a shirt” to someone else, but to you it might instantly remind you of a person, a place, a special occasion or a time in your life that you wish you could hold onto.
That’s what I love about making keepsakes.
I get to take those precious clothes and give them a completely new life.
I love looking at a pile of clothing and working out how I can turn it into something special — deciding where a pocket should go, making sure a favourite logo or button is included, and finding those little details that make the finished keepsake personal to you.
I’m definitely a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my sewing. If I’m not happy with something, I’ll happily unpick it and do it again until I am!
But when you’re working with someone’s memories, I think that matters.
Why I make keepsakes
Every item I receive has a story behind it.
Sometimes it’s a wedding dress. Sometimes it’s a loved one’s favourite shirt. Sometimes it’s a baby's tiny first outfits or a football kit packed away because it means too much to throw away.
And sometimes it’s something belonging to a much-loved pet.
Whatever the story, I know that I’m not simply being trusted with fabric.
I’m being trusted with memories.
That’s something I never take for granted.
I work from my own workshop, making each keepsake carefully by hand. So when you send your precious clothes to me, they’re not disappearing into a factory somewhere.
They’re coming to me.
I’ll carefully look after them, work out how best to use them, and turn them into something completely unique — something you can hold, display and cherish for years to come.
And perhaps my favourite part is seeing the transformation.
At the beginning, there might be a pile of clothes sitting on my workbench and me thinking, “Right… how am I going to turn all of this into a bear?” 😂
Then, after hours of cutting, sewing, stuffing and finishing, there’s the finished keepsake sitting in front of me.
Knowing that it’s going back to someone who has such a special connection to those clothes makes every stitch worthwhile.
That’s why I called my business A Keepsake to Cherish.
Because that’s exactly what I want every keepsake I make to become.
Life behind the sewing machine
When I’m not sewing, life at home is certainly never boring!
I share it with my husband, Simon, four dogs — Kraken, Morgan, Diablo and Havana — and three cats — Oscar, Boudicca and Malibu. 🐾
Simon occasionally gets roped into helping with the business too, usually drawing and cutting out linings when I have lots of bears to make.
I’m not sure he realised when I started A Keepsake to Cherish that “husband” would occasionally become an unpaid member of the production team! 😂
Between the sewing, fabric, parcels, four dogs and three cats, there’s always something going on.
The animals are very much part of our family, and I completely understand the special place that pets have in our lives. They give us so many memories, funny moments and an enormous amount of love.
That’s one of the reasons I particularly love making keepsakes from much-loved pets’ belongings too.