During the pandemic, small businesses boomed. In London alone, the sector grew by 22% and in North-West England even 29%. Small fashion crafts businesses are letting their creative juices flow to create unique items that make you stand out from the crowd. In this series Stitch Up! highlights some of our favourites. This week, meet Molly, who spends her free time crocheting made-to-order tops.
Many of us used our spare time in lockdown to pursue new hobbies or rekindle old ones. Molly, a 23-year-old science and communication masters student, spent her summer getting back into crochet, turning it into a small business called Made by Molly a few months later. Through the direct messages on her Instagram page, people can choose a design, pick out multiple colours of wool, tell Molly their measurements and order a custom-made piece for £28-£42.
When did you first get into crochet?
I started when I was about 12 years old. I went to a lesson and really enjoyed it, so I stuck with it. Back then I was making scarfs, decorations and toys for my little cousins. I stopped during my undergrad because I couldn’t find the time to do crochet. Then over the past summer I was extremely bored because of the Covid situation and I picked it up again. It was definitely more of a hobby and I didn’t sell my first item until around February this year.
What do you need for crochet?
So it’s just this one hook in crochet, and then you’d need some bolls of wool in different colours. It’s hard to explain how to do it, but for the heart-shaped tops for example I just start in the middle and then make my way around it, making the top bigger and bigger with each round. It usually takes me about five hours to finish a top. Now I only do tops and I’ve been getting quicker at those, but at some point I want to try a skirt as well.
How did Made by Molly come to life?
I was making a lot of crochets over the summer and thought I’d put them online, so I made an Instagram account and started posting. People liked them, I sold a few tops and sent one of my tops to an influencer. That same night I got about 15 to 20 orders from people who’d seen her wearing it, which was kind of crazy. I closed my commissions to work through those orders and have been opening them up for new requests every four or five weeks ever since. I aim to take on 20 to 25 commissions each time, because I’m still a full-time student and just do this in my free time.
Why crochet and made-to-order?
I just love crochet, I think it’s great: it’s fashionable, it’s sustainable and all the tops are handmade. I also think there’s a movement towards small businesses at the moment and I like that customers are involved with their orders, I’ve been having really nice conversations with them. On top of that, it’s more challenging for me to work with different colour combinations each time, and I enjoy seeing what people come up with.
What role does sustainability play for Made by Molly?
I’ve been making an effort to be as sustainable as I can. I went with wool made from cotton rather than acrylic wool, because acrylic wool has a lot of plastics in it. I purchase wool from charity shops when I can and I’m looking for better packaging at the moment. I want to be as eco-friendly as possible, but I can still make progress. You can even get recycled yarn for example, so I definitely want to look into sustainable materials more.
What advice would you give to people who want to stay away from fast fashion?
I think to just try and shop from small businesses and personally, I think charity shops are a great place to look. Also, you can always upcycle stuff, there’s loads of options. And for anyone who’s thinking of starting to crochet, I’d definitely recommend it. It’s such a nice hobby to have and it’s quite rewarding and fun to be able to make your own things.