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 :-)
Thank you ever so much!
What a fantastic inspirational story!
Please check out Pure Craft sites.
I love her crochet patterns:
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 :-)
Thank you ever so much!
What a fantastic inspirational story!
Please check out Pure Craft sites.
I love her crochet patterns:
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