Guest Blogger Week 85 Pure Craft

I would like to say a huge welcome

to Pure Craft

Hello there,

It is Pure Craft from Newcastle, the North East of UK.  

I have been living here for 4 years with my husband and daughter, Little M. 

I always remember my mum knitting, 

sewing, tatting or doing crochet.

 She always has some craft items in her bag wherever she goes;

 she crafts while chatting with friends and having some tea. 

I remember myself playing with the yarn she was knitting and thinking 

`how long it will take her to knit that long yarn and counting the seconds. 

When I was 6, I asked her to teach me how to knit.

 I remember my first knitted yellow washcloth. 

I wish I still had it with me. 

She bought me short needles that were for kids and small yarn balls. 

I knitted lots of washcloths in garter stitch for grandma, aunties and neighbours. 

When it was summer, she helped me with some knitting or crochet projects. 

It was a relaxing thing to do for me. 

When I was preparing for the university exams, 

I remember knitting or sewing to relax and forget about the stress of the preparation.

I studied computer programming at the university 

and worked at some companies as web designer, programmer for a while. 

I kept away from all sorts of craft at that time. 

After I got married and moved to UK, 

I realised that I didn’t want to write codes on my computer anymore.  

I was alone when my husband was at work. 

I needed something to do to keep myself busy. 

Knitting, crochet and sewing were always my passion 

and I found myself in the city library with craft books. 

I didn’t have my mum next to me to ask what to do 

on the next row so I had to push my boundaries. 

I read almost all craft books in the library 

and learned more about patterns, reading charts, 

choosing yarn and etc. 

I didn’t have any yarn or needle with me 

and I didn’t know where to buy in the city. 

Luckily, I saw some yarn at local shop, 

it was not in best quality but it made me busy for a while 

and I looked for better yarns around. 

My mum sent me all leftover pieces she had, 

lots of scrap fabric and yarn.

 I made bathmat, tried to make amigurumi baby. 

It is a funny doll that makes me laugh whenever I see her. 

I used all sort of yarn I had at that time; acrylic for doll and its clothes, 

and some leftover mohair yarn for hair. 

I didn’t have peachy colour for her skin so she is a little yellowish :-) 

One day I heard about Etsy.com. 

It looked really scary to me at that time. 

All shops looked so cool and nice that having a shop on Etsy was a huge thing for me. 

I didn’t have good quality materials and yarn, 

which are really expensive here. 

I was thinking to have an Etsy shop one day, 

but told myself not at that time. 

My husband always supported me to do it but I didn’t have enough courage to start.

When my daughter was born, I was busy with her. 

While she was sleeping I was relaxing with knitting. 

I made for her blanket, skirts and jackets. 

Then, I realised she can’t wear everything I knit as there were too many. 

If I kept knitting for her she wouldn’t have enough space in her wardrobe. 

My mum and some friends also knitted for her, 

so I decided to make a move and open an online shop. 

I convinced myself, if my items didn’t sell, 

I would give them as a gift to my friends and family or use it myself. 

Etsy was still scary for me, so I tried another website that sells to UK only. 

I added a few items to that website to see how things would go. 

Then, I thought: 

`Why I do not open a shop at Etsy and list the same items there?`. 

I had a problem; I needed a good name for Etsy. 

My plan was to sell baby items and I wanted to add `craft` to the end of the name, 

so I could knit, sew or do crochet.

 Then, the idea came: Pure Craft. I think, 

Pure is the one of the best words to describe babies and item qualities. 

I opened my shop on 4th Jan 2011 with a few items to list 

and the photos were not really good. 

I had a long to do list in my head. I read some articles about Etsy, 

its promotions and taking photos. 

I realised it is a huge world but I wasn’t scared anymore :-) . 

I made some baby items in the first year but I found it was difficult to continue. 

There are too many things to deal with; size, colour, material. 

At that time I also had enough time to practice on knitting lacy mohair shawls, 

wraps and scarves. 

So I started making knitted accessories for women and men. 

I had sales, even though the shop had some issues, but it was very slow. 

I had a chance to take a course at my local community centre on setting up business. 

I also asked for advice from an Etsy friend and she made me to see the truth. 

I needed to make the same item with different colours and focus on one thing at a time. 

I started making the scarves using different colour yarns 

and realised how easy things could go. 

:-) I didn’t have to think about different pattern to produce different scarf. 

I focused on the items in my shop and made same ones. 

I had more and more items and sales came more with that. 

From the beginning when I see a pattern, 

I ask myself: `Would I wear it?` or `Would I give it to someone I care as a gift?`. 

If the answer is yes then I decide the material and start making it. 

If I have a doubt about it, I don’t start making it at all. 

Because, I make things that I really love. 

I still make clothes, skirts, toys for my daughter, 

sometimes she asks for me to do something. 

My husband convinced me that I can write patterns of these. 

With the inspiration and support I had and still have from them, 

I have many patterns for sale on my shop and still more to come.

In September 2013, we had a mentor month in Etsys UK group. 

I always knew that I had to edit some tags, 

instructions and I needed better photos. 

I read some more articles and with my mentor`s help I made a plan for September. 

I had a mannequin that my husband brought that I didn’t use her 

until the beginning of this September. 

I decoupaged her using music book and retook all photos in my shop 

(her story is in my blog with details for you to read).  

I edited tags and rewrote some item descriptions. 

I think my shop looks more professional and my photos can tell its best quality. 

Thank you Sue for this opportunity to tell about myself and my shop. I wish everyone happy sales :-)

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 Thank you ever so much!

What a fantastic inspirational story!

Please check out Pure Craft sites.

I love her crochet patterns: