A Call for More Self- Employed Crafters
A well-established community of self-employed crafters and businesses is one that is sought out for.
Being a businesswoman of a self- run crafting business of handmade crotchet items as well as being a mother of 2, Clare Gordon knows about this particular field all too well.
Gordon hopes for this movement of self-crafting businesses to continue throughout other areas of Birmingham.
Clare explains: “Most mums in Harborne are professional women, particularly doctors, so I think I am probably in the minority as a self-starter.”
“Other areas of Birmingham such as Moseley and Kings Heath have well-established communities of self-employed crafters and it would be great if this were to spread to Harborne.”
Clare Gordon started up her own business, “Clare Gets Crafty” back in 2014 where she started to create beautiful handmade pieces for babies and children as well as other homeware items.
Clare says: “I always knew that I would like to run my own business at some point in my life. I have an events management background and toyed with the idea of becoming a wedding planner before I had children.”
“Once I had my first baby, I returned to work part time and taught myself to crochet. I soon became completely addicted to it and my friends suggested that I should start to sell my work.”
Clare adds: “I then opened my online Folksy shop in July 2014, shortly after I had returned to work following my second maternity leave.”
“It was really difficult to juggle both my part time job and business but I had to wait until we were financially secure before I could resign.”
Her crocheting business was something that Gordon was really passionate about and wanted to pursuit so she carried on pushing towards that dream.
“My grandfather died in December 2014 and left me some money which really helped me to make the decision to give up work in September 2015 and have a go at making a successful business out of my passion.”
Gordon explains the impact that her late grandfather had made on her decision to keep pursuing her business goals.
“He was an artist and he loved that I had discovered my creativity so I felt reassured that he would have approved of my decision.”
In regards to crocheting and self- crafting businesses, Clare says: “I think there is a demand for crochet lessons, especially in Harborne where the majority of residents are families and parents who want to create handmade items for their children.”
“More and more people are starting to appreciate handmade items and the love and care that goes into making them. They are also beginning to appreciate the uniqueness of a handmade item as well”
Clare adds: “Crochet is also becoming much more popular as a hobby, fuelled by the popularity of the granny chic aesthetic (think Cath Kidston and vintage clothing).”
Whilst most mothers in Clare’s local area have more professional and corporate occupations, she chose to follow her gut and go the self-employed route in something that she loves.
Clare says happily: “Working for myself means that I can spend more quality time with my boys (aged 4 and 2) and I am much happier and less stressed”
“It is pretty much a win-win situation! To this day, I have never regretted quitting my job to go self-employed.”
To find out more information about Clare’s company and to look at some of the items that she offers, visit: https://claregetscrafty.wordpress.com/ and her online shop: https://folksy.com/shops/claregetscrafty.
A well-established community of self-employed crafters and businesses is one that is sought out for.
Being a businesswoman of a self- run crafting business of handmade crotchet items as well as being a mother of 2, Clare Gordon knows about this particular field all too well.
Gordon hopes for this movement of self-crafting businesses to continue throughout other areas of Birmingham.
Clare explains: “Most mums in Harborne are professional women, particularly doctors, so I think I am probably in the minority as a self-starter.”
“Other areas of Birmingham such as Moseley and Kings Heath have well-established communities of self-employed crafters and it would be great if this were to spread to Harborne.”
Clare Gordon started up her own business, “Clare Gets Crafty” back in 2014 where she started to create beautiful handmade pieces for babies and children as well as other homeware items.
Clare says: “I always knew that I would like to run my own business at some point in my life. I have an events management background and toyed with the idea of becoming a wedding planner before I had children.”
“Once I had my first baby, I returned to work part time and taught myself to crochet. I soon became completely addicted to it and my friends suggested that I should start to sell my work.”
Clare adds: “I then opened my online Folksy shop in July 2014, shortly after I had returned to work following my second maternity leave.”
“It was really difficult to juggle both my part time job and business but I had to wait until we were financially secure before I could resign.”
Her crocheting business was something that Gordon was really passionate about and wanted to pursuit so she carried on pushing towards that dream.
“My grandfather died in December 2014 and left me some money which really helped me to make the decision to give up work in September 2015 and have a go at making a successful business out of my passion.”
Gordon explains the impact that her late grandfather had made on her decision to keep pursuing her business goals.
“He was an artist and he loved that I had discovered my creativity so I felt reassured that he would have approved of my decision.”
In regards to crocheting and self- crafting businesses, Clare says: “I think there is a demand for crochet lessons, especially in Harborne where the majority of residents are families and parents who want to create handmade items for their children.”
“More and more people are starting to appreciate handmade items and the love and care that goes into making them. They are also beginning to appreciate the uniqueness of a handmade item as well”
Clare adds: “Crochet is also becoming much more popular as a hobby, fuelled by the popularity of the granny chic aesthetic (think Cath Kidston and vintage clothing).”
Whilst most mothers in Clare’s local area have more professional and corporate occupations, she chose to follow her gut and go the self-employed route in something that she loves.
Clare says happily: “Working for myself means that I can spend more quality time with my boys (aged 4 and 2) and I am much happier and less stressed”
“It is pretty much a win-win situation! To this day, I have never regretted quitting my job to go self-employed.”
To find out more information about Clare’s company and to look at some of the items that she offers, visit: https://claregetscrafty.wordpress.com/ and her online shop: https://folksy.com/shops/claregetscrafty.