What do you make?
I make hand knitted wrist warmers and hats, soft toys made from recycled fabrics, and paper mache items such as mirrors, wall hangings, bowls, fridge magnets, and brooches.
Why would you buy something handmade? So many things in our world are massed produced and commercialised. Many of my gifts to family and friends are handmade partly out of my frugal tendencies, and also because I know that something handmade has something intrinsic and well loved about it.
Where else might we see your work? At the moment, I have a limited selection on Felt. My other commitments are coming to completion soon, and I plan to use the extra time to build up my Felt store over the next few months. Watch this space.
How did you get into your craft?
I grew up in an migrant family, my parents escaped a civil war and came to New Zealand as refugee immigrants. I grew up in a family who didn’t have a lot of money, but after surviving a civil war, they had lots of creative ways to make the most out of what little they had. Newspaper and paste was cheap, so paper Mache was a popular past time of mine as a child. My grandmother lived with us when I was growing up, and she was a mentor in a lot of my crafty endeavours. She taught me how to knit and crochet. She used to make us soft toys out of recycled old jerseys.
Do you have formal training or qualifications in your craft? No. I learnt everything from books, on the internet and through trial and error. For everything that you see at my stall, was a lot of things that didn’t “quite” turn out.
Is there a philosophy behind your work? I like the idea of recycling and reusing materials where possible. This is why I like working with pre-loved fabrics and recycled paper.
What are your favourite materials, tools and/or processes? I don’t think I have a “favourite” material, tool or process. I use wallpaper paste for my paper mache and love the feel of glue squishing between my fingers. Applying layers of newspapers to a bowl or mirror can be quite therapeutic. I enjoy knitting and crocheting, and try to use pure wool when I can.
podflower.felt.co.nz
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