Jen Hogg is number 20 in the Top 20 Countdown.

Jen was my first guest from the Great British Sewing Bee in November 2020 because Jen is a strong supporter of the SewOver50 community. In August 2021 Jen recorded a podcast about So50sustainable sewing.

Jen sent through a note about what she’s achieved since this podcast was published in November 2020. If you’re a Bridgerton fan, I’ll start her note with a Lady Whistledown vibe. The full version of Jen’s letter is below.

Jen’s full letter to listeners

Dearest gentle podcast listener

Well, an awful lot has happened since 2020!  I’ve continued to design tools and notions for my own use and then add them to my business. 

In 2021 I came up with the Jenerates Seam Circles, an easy and quick way to add or remove any amount from any shape.  These were a continuation of the drafting cut outs I’d included on my sewing rulers, and they’ve been featured in magazines and books all over the world.  An exciting moment was to see them in Threads Magazine, alongside some of my sewing heros!  They came about because I had a stash of pattern magazines (Fiber Mood and Burda, looking at you!) which I didn’t use because of the hassle of tracing the patterns off and adding the seam allowances.  I do HoggHacks on Instagram, and another idea about those patterns went viral – I realised I could mark the piece I wanted to trace with an iron-off pen onto the pattern sheet, then remove that marking after I’d traced the piece. 

In 2022 I invented the silicone hot hemmer.  That went crazy straight away, and I’ve sent them all over the world.  I designed that one because I was frustrated with the hot hemmers on the market.  I wanted something flexible, waterproof, with holes to let the steam through and mark a gauge, that doesn’t heat up when you use it and had a lightbulb moment that I could try making it in silicone.  As an added bonus it makes a fantastic thread grabber too.  To try them out, I took a small batch to the big London sewing show in London and I thought I could chat to people over the four days and gauge opinions: I sold out in the first three hours.  The Hemmers and Seam Circles became, and still are, my biggest sellers.

In 2023 I launched another popular tool, but this time something I’d made for my knitting and crochet.  The Jenerates Pattern tracker is in 2 parts, a wooden base and a clear acrylic top part.  You can put your pattern in between and move the tracker up as you work.  What I wanted was to see the row I’d just done as well as the row I’m working on, because of course the row below is vital information to make sure you’re in the right place.  I made this for my colour work knitting, but I sell a lot to people doing aran, lace, cross stitch, beadwork – anything you work from a chart.  It was lovely to add a strong design to do with my knitting because I’ve knitted for as long as I’ve sewn.

So, that’s one big idea a year…..and I do have a couple of things in the pipeline for 2024.  Watch this space!  Along the way I’ve also added my versions of existing tools like seam and yarn weight gauges, stitch markers, and so on.  My tailors wax is popular, and I’m in the middle of completing a wholesale order for over 2000 tins.  Everything I do is made locally to me in Glasgow, my production partners are another small business and I love that we’ve become friends.

All of the wood I use is FSC approved and the acrylic is 100% recycled and recyclable.  I package my products without plastic, and hand stamp my tins because I like the individuality it give and it avoids over-production.  I’m still a one-person business but I take on assistance when I need to – my daughter has just arrived back from a gap year in Australia so I’ll be roping her in.  Between my online sales, wholesale orders and selling at sewing shows and yarn fests, the business has become more than full time and I am having to think about how I manage expansion.  Oh, and I run sewing the Gather retreats 4 or 5 times a year, at a textile world heritage site in Scotland, just to use up any spare time!

Thanks Maria, for your podcasts, and for having me on. Congratulations on this milestone – looking forward to the next 440!

Until next time.

Jen Hogg – Jenerates