Julia Fixes Things

Blinds wrapped, finished, and ready for their new home 🤍

I want to share something a little more personal today.

The reality of working after cancer treatment is very different from what you expect. You think you’ll bounce back. You think you’ll return to the same pace, the same energy, the same capacity.

But that’s not quite how it works.

Even though I’m incredibly grateful to have lots of enquiries, I often feel behind. Every single day. Some days, instead of a full day in the workroom, all I can manage is answering a couple of emails and ordering fabric. And that has been hard to accept.

I am so lucky to have the most wonderful clients — kind, patient, and understanding of my situation. No one puts pressure on me… except me. And learning to adjust my own expectations has probably been the biggest challenge.

Please bear with me. We are still very much here, still creating, still sewing, still wrapping up beautiful blinds like these. I’ll try to share more of what we’re working on — we’ve recently completed some gorgeous fabric curtains and blinds, thanks to Lena, who has truly been my rock through all of this. I just can’t show them yet!

I love my job deeply. I just don’t love that I can’t be as productive as I once was. But we keep going — steadily, carefully, and with heart.

Thank you for sticking with us 🤍

Exciting News for Julia Fixes Things!

First and foremost, I want to thank our wonderful customers for their patience and understanding. Many of you have been incredibly accommodating with deadlines, allowing me the flexibility to focus on my health first in the past few months. Your kindness and support have meant the world to me, and I’m truly grateful.

As many of you may know, my original plan for 2025 was to transition to full-time self-employment after finishing my job at The Fabric Mill. Life, however, had other plans, and with my ongoing cancer treatment, my ability to work has been unpredictable. But despite the challenges, I still want to keep going—just at a much slower, more manageable pace.

Thankfully, I’m not doing this alone! My wonderful friend Lena has been helping me for a while and now, as she is also facing redundancy, she will be joining me in the studio on a more permanent basis. Between the two of us, we’ll continue running Julia Fixes Things, creating beautiful, custom-made curtains and soft furnishings. While my workload will depend on how I’m feeling, Lena will be there to help keep things moving.

At the moment, we are working through a backlog of orders due to my illness, but we are accepting new orders for June/July. We might have a break in production closer to the end of July for holidays/surgery and back to normal in hopefully in September. If you’d like to book in for a future project, please get in touch via WhatsApp - and don’t hesitate to follow up if needed! Chemo brain fog is real, but we’re here and happy to help make your home even cozier.

We truly appreciate your patience, support, and kindness. Knowing we can still do what we love, even in challenging times, means everything. Thank you for being part of this journey with us! 💖

As I left the studio on December 31, 2024 (and no, I wasn’t working yesterday—just retrieving the wallet I’d forgotten last week!), I couldn’t help but reflect on the whirlwind this year has been.

2024 was busy and challenging, but also incredibly rewarding. It was a year filled with creating countless curtains, blinds, and cushions, along with many late nights spent sewing, planning, researching, and learning. If you ask me how I managed it all, I honestly couldn’t tell you—except to say that the incredible support I received from everyone around me made it possible.

Looking back, I can confidently say 2024 was my most productive year yet. What started as a side business in 2017, Julia Fixes Things, has grown so much. This year, I took a big leap by moving out of my home workspace and setting up a professional studio for curtain making. With lots of hard work and help from friends, it’s now a fully functioning space that makes me love my craft even more. There’s still a little work to do in 2025, but I’m thrilled to be gearing up to make the studio my full-time workspace soon.

2024 taught me so much, and one of my proudest achievements was completing my Diploma in Soft Furnishings and Curtain Making. It was a tough but rewarding journey and a step I needed to take to prove to myself that I have the skills, knowledge, and experience to make 2025 even better.

Here’s to what’s next!

It's been a long time since I had a business card....
Let's say this: on the last one, I had a completely different surname. In the past 3 years, I have relied heavily on people passing on my name to their friends and family, for which I'm beyond grateful.
However, many changes are coming in the new year, and it was time not only to update my branding but also my number and print business cards.

A bit of reality, if you know me you know I'm pretty open this is my side business. What does it mean, that sometimes it's late night and minimum days off. And it's tough but I love it anyway. So much so I want to learn more about my job. So guys if you are waiting for a quote from me from last week, please bear with me it's been crazy and my next unit for my Diploma is due today and I barely had time to study this past 2.5 weeks. Off me go to study more about Roman blinds and see what else I can learn :)

🌿 While I'm currently taking a well-deserved break after a busy summer setting up the studio and creating some fantastic curtains, I wanted to share a peek at one of the projects I'm especially proud of!

These stunning curtains were crafted with Prestigious Textiles Mayumi fabric - a beautiful combination of pink and teal that perfectly complements my client's interior. It took her less than half an hour to decide on this fabric, and the result speaks for itself.

I'm thrilled that I could help create a space she loves, and with the added blackout lining, she's guaranteed a good night's sleep too! 😴✨

Summer may be still here, but with this wet, dreary weather, it feels like autumn has arrived early! Luckily, I’m spending most of my time in the studio, where there’s plenty of warmth and creativity to keep me busy. I’ve got loads accomplished, and there's still so much to do before I head off on holiday. But we're nearing the finish line, and things are really coming together. Check out last night’s work: velvet curtains for the project. Tricky fabric, but so much fun!

Another chapter of my life/wee business is finished. Getting industrial sewing machines was a big step a few years back, but it wasn't ideal: working from my living room. Now that I have a studio, life will be different for sure.

As 2023 comes to an end, I wanted to thank all my customers for trusting me with their projects. It's always a pleasure to help to bring everyone dreams and plans to life. Happy and prosperous 2024!

Sometimes you know, that these small details wouldn't be visible. However you just can't do it any other way.

A very exciting project we finished up with yesterday in St Andrews.
Dress curtains and pelmet. How fantastic is this Richmond Denim fabric from 😍?
Lovely to work with, easy to match and looks lush together with an added layer of interlining.