10 Great Years of KHY Sewing School at The Mansion

After 10 great years calling The Mansion its home, Know How You are making the move to pastures new. Founder and Creative Director, Jane Doxey, has been a big part of the past decade at The Mansion, helping kids and adults to live out their motto, ‘Don’t Dream It, Sew It’ everyday.

Here are some of Jane’s Mansion highlights from over the years:

“The first one has to be the day we took occupancy of our studio at the Mansion and our first Kids Driving Licence course. Everybody in the building was excited to have a hub of community and activity.”

“Our first Christmas in 2017, when we were part of The Mansion Christmas. We had elves running around and Santa was in our workshops! We had hired Splatt Theatre to be the ghostly Lord and Lady of the Mansion and they spent the day scaring the guests. We were packed out and booked up and it was amazing. The Mansion had foliage and lights everywhere – it was the most magical Christmas.”

“June 2019, Catfest at The Mansion. I’ve never seen the building and surrounding areas so busy! We had workshops all day and people queuing out of The Mansion doors to get in.”

“July 2021, reopening to the public after the pandemic. Finally after limping along on and off for a year we relaunched our classes and had refreshed the business plan. Summer was a sell-out and we introduced more classes and evenings for adults – it was such a joy and a big relief too.”

“Finally, supporting students that have SEN has been something we have been developing for the last 5 years and a massive highlight in that process was the day we found out one of the students had been accepted into the Royal School of Needlework, which has a unique and very limited intake – quite an exceptional opportunity that we are so proud to have been a part of!”

From 1st November Know How You are moving out of The Mansion to a new location in Kingswood House, West Dulwich. “We have loved our time at The Mansion and are so grateful for the opportunity to develop this amazing community, but we are now ready for this new and exciting opportunity.”

As we move into the final few weeks of KHY at The Mansion, we’ll leave you with this parting message from Jane:

“We have loved lighting up the machines, the buzz of kids and adults making memories and the sewing therapy it exudes in the Mansion. We have been lucky to have attracted the most talented team of teachers and assistants, and have had an incredibly supportive team at The Mansion to help us build our dream and this community. It will not be forgotten and we look forward to seeing you all in the new location – and hopefully coming back to The Mansion for some fun pop-up activities!”

A big thank you to Jane and all the KHY staff from over the years for all the memories and for making that corner of the building such a special place!

KHY offers a range of creative classes for all abilities, from beginners to improvers, for kids and adults. Head to their website for more info.

You can also follow them on Instagram for all the latest news and updates.

From 1st November you can Know How You Sewing School at Kingswood House, Seeley Drive, Southwark, SE21 8QN.