Historic firm still thriving in sixth decade

A sewing machine shop launched in 1958 had success all stitched up. Charlotte Cross?reports

Maybe it's the trend for make do and mend.

As major names continue to disappear from the High Street, a charming corner shop is continuing to thrive after more than half a century.

When the Brewers Sewing Machines store was launched in Dudley Road, Wolverhampton, as a sewing machine assembly business in 1958, 14 others in the city were doing the same thing.

Now it is the only one and its founder, great grandmother-of-eight Linda Brewer, is still going just as strong, having celebrated her 104th birthday last week.

Linda's daughter Kathleen Harvey, who is now at the helm, said more and more people were investing in their own sewing machine, while a weekly sewing workshop set up in July last year has proved so popular staff now hold five sessions a week.

"Sewing has been taken out of the school curriculum and it isn't taught at colleges any more, so people are looking for somewhere to go to help them get to grips with it and how to make the most of their machines," said the 69-year-old, who runs the business with husband Alan.

"We are quite unique, which means we get quite a variety of people through the door.

"They come from all over the place – some as far away as Ironbridge.

"People come in and say 'oh, I remember when your mum was in here', and they are always surprised when I tell them she's still with us. She is amazing."

Long gone are the days where a sewing machine was powered by a pedal, with simple stitching patterns and laborious methods of changing colours and stitch length.

Now, high-tech machines come with touch screens and pre-programmed patterns, which it measures out and embroiders with no need for guidance from a seamstress.

Some of the more expensive models even come with tablets which allow the owner to draw their own embroidery pattern to be downloaded onto the machine, which sews it into the material.

"You have to move with the times. It's a whole different world now," said Mrs Harvey, who lives in Common Road, Wombourne. Mum is amazed by it all as well – she can't believe how much everything has changed. Thirty years ago we were industrial, and now we are doing something completely different.

"If you don't move forward when the technology does, you get left behind. I think that has definitely helped us keep going."

And it's no longer the domain of the middle-aged woman making curtains or mending their children's clothes.

Mrs Harvey said they have several customers in their 20s coming to the workshops - and a couple of youngsters aged just 12 and 14 who have started attending as well.

"We've got a younger generation coming through. I do think the advances in technology have a lot to do with it," she said.

"It means you can do a lot more than you used to be able to do. It's incredible how much sewing machines have changed over the past 15 to 20 years."

The workshops are taught by expert Debra Harper, with five people going to each session. They are held on a Monday, Tuesday, Friday and two on a Saturday. Mrs Brewer has two daughters, Kathleen and Sylvia, as well as four grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.

She was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, and moved to the West Midlands with her family in 1956.They originally lived in Coseley and after a brief stint at Revo in Tipton, Linda and her husband Roland opened their sewing shop. It was located at 528 Dudley Road at first but moved to number 458 in 1972 because of a road widening scheme.