Category Archives: The New Shop

Celebrate 1 year of Website

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Sitting here today at the computer working on upcoming projects for the business and thinking about how this weekend (Sunday to be exact) marks the one-year anniversary of when our new website was launched. It is hard to believe that it has been a year (and what a year) and you have to wonder, just where has the time gone.

It is also a good opportunity to reflect back on how the website came about and what I have achieved in the past year and how to mark the special occasion of having the website for a year. It is funny how the website was borne due to COVID and that 18 months on, COVID still plays a huge part in how we continue to go about our daily life. It has been a hard time for us all and at times I feel we all wonder if we will ever get back to pre-COVID. What I have learnt is that we all need to take life day by day and be grateful for the positives in our life. It can be hard at times to remain positive. However, I take those small positives and focus on them – I have several community workshops booked and while feeling slightly nervous, I am also excited to be out again amongst others doing what I enjoy – crafting and sharing skills. It will almost be like being pre-COVID, except for the masks, vaccines and social distancing. But there is no harm in hoping for ‘normal’ workshops.

Community workshops

I am sitting here today thinking about the new website and how it came about. I have to be thankful for the virus and government restrictions, as I may not have achieved what I have done in 2020, if the world had not dramatically changed. Without the Saturday zoom sessions with my ‘crafting’ buddies and spending a relaxed afternoon crafting, chatting, laughing, (drinking) and putting the world to rights, the website may never have been created. From those zoom sessions, came the idea and birth of an online shop and new improved website. Months of hard work (from everyone in the new ‘Nifty Needles tech/management team) followed – research, compiling a list of stock, patterns, deciding on categories and what goes where, taking photos, inputting the products onto the website and writing up descriptions for everything – to get the online website that we now have. Sometimes, sharing your dreams and aspirations out loud to friends, and with support, you can achieve your dreams.

As a team, we discussed on the ‘right’ time to launch the new website. We agreed that it was a special day to remember and celebrate. So, with it being my birthday, I thought it would be appropriate to launch the website on my birthday to mark the occasion. Not that my birthday is anything that I wish to remember, another year older (& hopefully wiser) but it would be an easy date to remember when we launched the website.  So with my birthday looming up (ever so quickly) it means that the website has been up and running for a year. I think I would just prefer to think of the date as Nifty Needles birthday.

It is also a good opportunity to reflect back on the past year. It has been a rough year for us all, but it is best to focus on the good and achievements. The start of the year became with a long and hard lockdown, the attitudes of people changing. It was hard at times to see just how society/people changed but it was heart-warming to know that there was always that positive network of support when it was needed the most.

When I look back at what has happened this year, I am amazed that one of my dreams come true, the purchase of a longarm machine and the ever-growing need to practise and use the machine. I love being creative on the machine and seeing quilts, etc., come to life under the needle of the machine and my hands. There is still so much I want to learn and achieve on the machine. One thing I have come to realise, you are never too old to learn a new skill and extending our techniques and abilities.

I still have so much more that I want to learn and achieve, while Nifty Needles grows and blossoms.

So, I felt that the best way to celebrate the birthday of the Nifty Needles website is to have a 20% discount on everything in the website – notions, patterns, kits, clearance and so forth – from today through to midnight Thursday 30 September 2021. Just use the code – BIRTHDAY – at the checkout. I will also have some free giveaways to celebrate the anniversary of the website, so stay tuned for those.

Giveaways

Finally, I want to thank every one of you for being here with me (virtually) throughout 2020/21, supporting and encouraging me. Hopefully I have helped in some way to keep you all sane with crafting and my designs/kits.

Sheepskin Slippers

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Many of you know that I moved here to Northern Ireland from New Zealand. I spent most of my life in New Zealand, and my children were born in New Zealand. We all see Northern Ireland as our home and love it here. However, there are a few things that I miss about New Zealand, that you can’t get here in Northern Ireland.

I miss Pineapple Lumps (sweets, but kiwis call them lollies), Lemon & Paeroa (a lovely fizzy drink that is unique). Onion dip (made from a packet of dried onion soup and a tin of reduced cream) which you have with potato chips (crisps), Milo (a hot chocolate drink) and amazing marshmallow centred chocolate covered Easter Eggs, Oh, and not forgetting the Chocolate Fish (pink marshmallow cover in chocolate, shaped like a fish). My taste buds are going into overdrive as I am writing this. Thankfully, a few years ago, I discovered a London based company that stocked all the Kiwi speciality food (along with Australia and South Africa) so all of us ‘imports’ could buy our fav foodstuffs from home. So once (or twice) a year, I treat the family to all those favourites.

 

Sorry, I got a bit side-tracked in explaining the true Kiwi items that we grew up with and miss as they are not available here. It was the mention of the pineapple lumps and marshmallow Easter eggs. There is one other item that we grew up with and I forgot completely about until my oldest daughter reminded me when she was expecting Lucas last year.

She asked me to make Lucas some of the sheepskin slippers I made for the girls when they were babies and toddlers. These slippers are very much a Kiwi icon and very popular. They are so warm in the winters and cool in the warmer months. Being made from sheepskin means that the outer soles are nonslip, which is great for when they were learning to walk. This meant no slipping on wooden floors. They were warm and cosy on their feet as the sheepskin was inside. The upper part was either knitted or crocheted which meant that the entire slipper was soft and pliable on their feet, right from birth. I had completely forgotten about these slippers, as it had been over 15 years since I had made them for Alyssa.

Sheepskin Slipper

Being New Zealand – the land of the sheep (& the long white cloud), it was easy to go down to a local tannery and get some sheepskin offcuts or even buy the kit with the soles ready cut and with holes to make the slippers. However, being in Northern Ireland, the task of finding suitable sheepskin offcuts was slightly more difficult and there was nowhere to buy the sole kits (other than buying direct from New Zealand). I had long since lost my original pattern and could not find a pattern for the knitted slipper uppers.

Sheepskin Slipers

So last year, I made up a couple after doing a few experiments in the designing process. Suitable sheepskin proved to be harder to find but I got some which I could make a couple of pairs. Lucas lived in the slippers.

Fast forward to October this year (and Lucas’s first birthday) – Latisha asked if I could make some more slippers as he had grown out of the ones I had previously made. So I really got my thinking hat on. I needed to be able to source a good reliable place to obtain suitable sheepskin, which I did, the bonus being that the skins have been treated specially to be used next to babies’ skin. I then had to work out, write and test suitable patterns for the slipper tops (after input from Latisha about what was the best design for the babies’ feet) and be able to have several sizes available. So I have finally got a pattern written for knitted slipper tops from sizes new born through to 2 years old. I will be doing a crochet version as well.

Full Range

These slippers are amazing and so practical and stylish, while being cosy and pliable for babies’ feet. I knew that I wanted to share this Kiwi tradition and product with everyone here. These slippers really work well with the tops being made from handspun yarn – it truly makes these totally natural and all from the sheep (so to speak). I have used both hand dyed and natural handspun in my samples and love how rustic they look.

So, I then got to thinking on how it would be great to offer these in kit form – pair of soles (with holes ready to use) and the corresponding size pattern to make up a pair. I decided to leave out the yarn, mainly to keep the cost down and also to leave the option to you, so you could either buy handspun yarn or use your own. I am also thinking of offering ready-made slippers as well which will be packaged in a lovely linen bag which would make a lovely gift for that special baby ….

Where did it all begin

Status

A New Start

So, where did it all begin? Well, after all of the discussion on Facebook, my new site is finally live. On reflection, this has been a difficult few months. The fantastic team that has helped me with the site and the shop have kept me focussed, and I can admit that it is not easy. Within the current Covid-19 restrictions, they have built kits, fed me, bullied me, tidied my stock room and kept my dream alive. They do not want to be named as they feel this site is about Nifty Needles, my family and me. I hope over the next few months they may change their minds and I can introduce them to you all.

Go Live


On the last weekend of testing the site, we made the decision that we were ready to go live. This decision meant no more work on the site. Feeling drained, and with time on my hands, I started to think about the journey that has taken me to where I am now. In this, my first real Blog Post, I would like to share some of my thoughts and feelings.

The Past


Going back a few years, I was in a very stressful job with no job satisfaction, office politics and no prospect for promotion. I am sure some of you know what I was experiencing. I was also a single mum with a young daughter with autism. Now, I know being a single mum is not easy, but getting time off for childcare and appointments was a significant issue.

Crafting


OK, that is enough about that. So, crafting then. I have always enjoyed crafting; actually, all arts and crafts in general. The satisfaction we get when using our hands to produce a piece of artwork or craftwork is addictive in the best possible way. What is even better is being able to pass on those skills to other people. I was fortunate that my mother was a dressmaker. When I was seven years old, she taught me cross-stitch and how to use a sewing machine. I started knitting and crocheting when I was twelve years old.

More Crafting


You may be surprised to hear that I do not have a particular craft that I love above all others. Over time this may have led to a surplus of unfinished projects that I am always just about to finish. I do know that I am not the only person in this situation. If I had to pick something, it might be needlework and applique on quilts over machine pieced quilts. I am not overly fond of foundation paper piecing. I must admit I am not too fond of sewing up seams in knitted garments; for that reason, I taught myself top-down knitting. Finally, I do prefer knitting over crochet.

The Present


So, this is where I am now. I love that I earn a living from doing what I enjoy. Crafting is a great stress reliever, and I want to share this with others. I like to encourage mental wellbeing by running classes and workshops. Taking the journey into designing and writing patterns was a leap of trust in my ability, but one I have enjoyed. The biggest compliment I can receive is somebody buying one of my designs and making it up.

Maybe The Future


If you have read this far, thank you. Please take time to look at the whole site. I will welcome feedback and suggestions for improvements.

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