I grew up in a little village in Leicestershire, and from a young age I always knew I wanted to work in fashion. I would watch The Clothes Show and be completely fascinated by the world of fashion and design. I went on to study Fashion Knitwear at Nottingham Trent University, where the course included a year-long work placement. It gave me the opportunity to experience what life as a designer was really like before I had even graduated. I spent six months working in London and six months in New York. It was an incredible introduction to the fashion industry and gave me a taste of two very different creative worlds. One of those placements led to a job offer when I graduated, the beginning of what would become a career spanning more than 25 years.
Learning the craft
My first job was in a knitwear swatch studio, and looking back, it was one of the most important parts of my career.
I was knitting every day and it was here that I really learnt the craft of knitwear, understanding yarn, colour, stitch and technique through doing, experimenting and making. I developed a real love for working with colour and, in particular, for Fair Isle and colourwork.
There is something magical about watching individual strands of coloured yarn come together to create a pattern. It is technical, creative and completely absorbing.
I was also incredibly lucky to work alongside some wonderfully talented people. I watched, listened and learnt from them, and many of the people I met during those early years are still friends today.
Those early experiences gave me a foundation that has stayed with me throughout my career. Even now, after more than 25 years as a knitwear designer, I still come back to those same fundamentals, beautiful yarn, interesting colour combinations, clever construction and the joy of creating something stitch by stitch.
A career around the world
From those early beginnings, my career took me much further than I could ever have imagined when I was growing up in Sileby.
Over more than 25 years as a knitwear designer, I have travelled extensively for work and had the opportunity to work closely with knitwear factories and manufacturers in China, Hong Kong and India.
I’ve been incredibly lucky to work alongside some amazingly talented designers, buyers and merchandisers, creating collection after collection of beautiful clothing.
Working in the fashion industry also taught me that designing beautiful clothes is only part of the job. There are always practical and commercial considerations, budgets, production, deadlines, minimums, yarn availability and, particularly when working for the high street, the constraints of creating something desirable at a price that works.
I learnt how to balance creativity with reality. How to find the most beautiful solution within a set of constraints. How to take an idea from an initial sketch, develop the yarn and colour, work with factories to perfect the details and eventually see that idea become a finished garment.
Those experiences have shaped me enormously as a designer.
I went on to work for some of Britain's best-known fashion brands, including Great Plains, French Connection, Boden and Joules. I also spent two years back in New York working for TSE Cashmere, developing knitwear across their womenswear, menswear and home collections.
It was another incredibly hands-on role. I was back to knitting every day, developing designs and then working with factories in China to translate those ideas into finished garments.
It was here that I got work on some wonderfully creative projects, including helping to design the now-famous knit worn by Cameron Diaz in The Holiday. I spent hours hand-knitting the now-famous cable design then driving the knitting factory nuts with the cable layout, anyone that knits knows that it is complicated!! And it cost a fortune.
The Faraway Gang
In 2018, after years working in the fashion industry and becoming a mum, I decided it was time to create something of my own.
And so The Faraway Gang was born.
I initially launched a children's knitwear collection, colourful, characterful pieces inspired by adventure, storybooks, nostalgia and the natural world. I wanted to create a joyful alternative to the sea of neutral colours that had become so prevalent in children's clothing. I worked with a British factory to create my first collection which was thrilling and terrifying in equal measures. Since launching, The Faraway Gang has been recognised with four Junior Design Awards, something I am incredibly proud of. For me, the awards feel like an affirmation of the idea that inspired the brand in the first place: that knitwear can be beautifully designed, colourful, distinctive and made with real thought and care.
Our Knit Evolution
Over time, The Faraway Gang has naturally evolved. What first began as a children's clothing brand is growing into something much broader: a knitting brand for everyone.
The common thread being my love of knitwear, colour and making.
I’m going back to my knitting roots and returning to the thing that first made me fall in love with knitwear all those years ago: making.
Going forward we are phasing the ready-to-wear part of the business out to make room for bigger, broader collections that can be made by you. The same Faraway Gang ethos, the same attention to detail and colour, but in an accessible format for everyone.
I believe that knitwear is having a real moment right now, but for me, it has never been just about the clothes.
There is something incredibly mindful about it, as a hobby too.
When I’m not designing or running the business, I’m juggling the school run, family life and all the everyday things that come with working as many others do. Knitting gives me a reason to slow down. It’s a chance to switch off from the constant to-do list in my head and focus on something simple: one stitch, then another, then another.
Watching something slowly take shape in your hands is extremely satisfying.
But there is something else I think is really important: the sense of achievement that comes from creating something yourself.
We spend so much of our lives consuming things that have already been made for us. There is a different kind of satisfaction in starting with nothing more than some yarn and a pattern and, over time, creating something tangible with your own hands.
You can see your progress. You can hold the finished piece. You can look at it and think, I made that.
I think that feeling matters.
And it should be fun.
“By making instead of mass-producing, we are embracing a slower, more sustainable way of dressing the family. And a handmade jumper? It’s more than clothing, it’s a keepsake, an heirloom, a story passed down with pride and stitches full of love.
I believe clothing should tell a story, and what better story than one you’ve made yourself? Every stitch holds your time, your energy and your creativity. I believe this to be incredibly special.”
Sally Jackson
Founder & Designer, The Faraway Gang
I’m not the world's best hand-knitter, and that is actually part of the reason I want to make these patterns accessible. I know how daunting knitting can feel when you look at a beautiful finished jumper and think, I could never make that.
But here’s the thing: I know how to design beautiful knitwear, and I know how to teach you to make it.
My job is to take all those years of experience and turn them into patterns that are clear, approachable and achievable. You don't need to be an expert. You don't need to knit perfectly. You just need to be willing to have a go.
Because the joy is in the making.
That is what I want to share through this new collection of patterns, not just beautiful things to wear, but the joy, creativity, mindfulness and sense of achievement that comes from making them yourself.
The design is mine. The making is yours.
For me, this new chapter brings everything together.
My love of colour.
My fascination with knitwear.
My years of designing.
The incredible people I’ve met along the way.
The places I’ve travelled.
My belief in natural fibres and making things to last.
And that simple joy I discovered all those years ago, taking yarn and turning it into something beautiful.
Because ultimately, I don't just want to design clothes.
I want to help you make them.
