A life altering illness meant Glynis Edwards had to change direction. KERRY ANN EUSTICE talks with a seamstress who made a market from miniature pieces...

Qualifications: I completed a business course at Greenwich University. I saw they offered a course for young entrepreneurs and approached the university to see if they would do something for older business people. They liked my idea for the Doll's House accessories and offered me a place, where they teach you the basics of setting up a business, how to book keep and market your idea.

Place of work: Glynis' Treasures, which is my shop in Eltham.

Earning potential: I invested £25,000 pounds in starting the business up and I have tripled the figure since. Doll's Houses are very popular.

What hours do you work? I open up the shop at 9.30am and I close at 5pm. When I get I home I spend lots of time working on and making the pieces I sell.

What is your typical day like? I open up the shop in the morning and throughout the day I like to work on the miniature furnishings such as curtains and tiny bedspreads to show people I really do make them all myself.

I am obviously serving customers who come in and sometimes offering them advice if they want to make accessories for their own dolls houses. I especially like to help older people and children with this.

I do the majority of my sewing when I get home and make 90 per cent of the goods I sell myself, including hand-made cards. Why did you decide to become a seamstress? I have been sewing since I was three-years-old and it is something I really enjoy. I was regularly making full-size curtains for people's homes and dresses for weddings but I was recently diagnosed with arthritis and it became to hard to make the things which I used to.

When I found out I knew I needed a change of direction. My husband gave me the idea to carry on sewing and making curtains and dresses but on a smaller scale. I loved doll's houses as a child so it all just fell into place.

Where do you want to go from here? I'd like for the business to grow and perhaps move into a high street location. I'm tucked away in the arcade at the moment.

I'd also like to get a website up and running. I'm getting help from my family but I need to master computer skills myself.