A SKILL passed down from mother to daughter is proving to be a small business success.
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Allansford mother of three, Suz Seniore, has tapped into a niche market by designing sewing patterns for girls, women and dolls.
Her Instagram page, sew pony, has attracted more than 11,000 followers and her patterns have been sold to sewers around the world.
The casual relief primary school teacher said her mother, Catherine, had taught her to sew at a young age and continued to be her go-to person for sewing advice.
"When I had the girls I started getting back into sewing and making quilts and teddies and clothes and that kind of thing," she said.
"Then a lady that I follow on Instagram created a sewing pattern and I wondered if I could do that."
Mrs Seniore said she drafted a pattern for a simple girls' dress and used computer software from a friend to get started.
"I did an online course and then just through trial and error I've been making them," she said.
There's always new things to learn.
- Suz Seniore
"Every design you make you have to get people to test it out. So through social media I created a form for people to fill out and to test it. You have all the sizes tested.
"I have about 20 patterns for girls, some are unisex and a few are also for women."
Mrs Seniore said about eight weeks ago she came across another market for sewers with people wanting sewing patterns for the popular Minikane doll. "It's proved to be very popular," she said.
Ms Seniore said social media had meant her products were available world wide. "Instagram means it's so accessible to everyone," she said.
She said a sewer in Belgium offered to translate one pattern and the response had meant a number of patterns have been translated. "There is a big sewing community speak who speak Dutch," she said.
Mrs Seniore said for people wanting to learn to sew there were a number of resources they could access.
"One of the people I follow has only been sewing a year and a half and she makes some amazing things," she said. "There is so much out there that can teach you.
"There's youtube videos, facebook groups and books from the library. I made myself a pair of jeans the other day and it took me hours because I've never done it before. There's always new things to learn."