48 Modern making Stephanie Carswell, Founder and Creative Director of Hawthorn Handmade talks to Craft Focus about her expanding business and her upcoming stint on the BBC’s Make it at Market For those that are new to the scene, tell us a little backstory about Hawthorn Handmade Launched in 2013 from the back room of my old gallery, Hawthorn Handmade began with a small range of needle felting kits and wool bundles for budding felters, and we’ve since grown into a wellknown and loved craft kit brand selling over half a million kits. Some of those original designs have proven so popular they’re still going over 10 years later! I still design about 90 per cent of the kits, and everything is made here in the UK using the best materials we can get, whilst still making the kits accessible. We’re known for our super detailed instructions for beginners and our beautiful modern and cute designs. The company has evolved over time – what are the main changes? The business grew quickly, and over the years we’ve expanded our crafts into crochet, embroidery, weaving, cross stitch and felt craft, welcoming hundreds of stockists and thousands of happy crafters around the world. We now have four core ranges including our original needle felting range, still made with British wool. We’ve come up against many challenges over the years, but as a small dynamic team, we’ve always been able to pivot and keep innovating. The last few years have seen a lot of growth in the US and we really enjoy our trips there each year to meet up with our American customers. And we’ve recently made some key changes to the business to ensure its ongoing success, despite the recent tough times for small businesses. Talk us through the current themes or designs you’re particularly excited about. Do you have a favourite? We’re really enjoying making more seasonal designs, with Halloween kits being a new area for us. And a favourite would definitely be our Happy Ghost who launched last year – it’s possibly the cutest kit we have and it makes me smile so much! I am also in love with our new felt craft pennants and can’t wait to bring more out next year. What designs are currently very popular? All of our mini needle felting kits are continuing to be super popular including the Baby Sea Turtle and Fox Cub in particular. The projects aren’t intimidating and can be finished pretty quickly (for needle felting!), which really appeals to
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