A dental nurse apprentice furloughed during the pandemic has become a business entrepreneur thanks to a hobby that kept her busy during lockdown.

Phoebe Cosgrove, 19, of Beckenham in Kent, feared for her job prospects when the first lockdown started – and began to sew while on furlough.

A friend asked her to stitch a cartoon picture of her beloved pug to ‘wear it as a badge of pride on her jumper’ – and Pretty Paws By Phoebe was borne, with Phoebe creating embroidered images of clients' pets.

Now Phoebe, who had never embroidered before lockdown in March 2020, has quit her role at Gentle Dental Care Clinic in South East London and Kent to focus on her business venture.

She said: ‘I started to embroider when I was put on furlough and when I returned to practice, working on admin instead of nursing, my orders grew, too. It was at this time, I decided to leave my dental nursing job and pursue this embroidery business full time.’

‘I decided to pick up embroidery to keep myself busy during the lockdown. However, I did do textiles at GCSE and business at A-Level so I had a general idea of both the handicraft and the business world.'

Phoebe now sells her work on Etsy and also takes orders through her business page on Instagram, too.

She says: ‘At times, business can be quiet and then I can be overwhelmed with orders – the beauty of owning a small business, I guess. At Christmas time, the jumpers were very popular.

‘I take commissions and special requests. I am not restricted to just dogs on my pet jumpers. I have also done jumpers with rabbits, sheep, goats and rats. I have also done personalised embroidery for a wedding, I hand embroidering the bride and groom initials and wedding date onto masks for them to wear during the ceremony.

‘I have embroidery signatures, this was for a gift to remember a loved one who had passed away and this is a personal favourite of mine.

Looking back on her dental nursing, she said: ‘I had a lovely time working as a dental nurse apprentice and learnt so much from my course – skills to which I still refer in daily use. I felt a great sense of pride in my job and it was a great experience to have had.

‘To continue my apprenticeship and get my qualification, I believe I would have to start from the beginning of course. But I am very happy where I am at the moment with my career and am looking forward to my future in the business industry.’

To find out more about Pretty Paws By Phoebe, find her on Etsy at https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PrettyPawsbyPhoebe?re... or her Instagram page prettypawsbyphoebe.

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