#MakerMonday – Makepeacemade

Joanna Coombs blog avatar

By Michelle Makepeace

14th October 2019

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Hello! It’s my turn for a #MakerMonday post (thanks Jo for asking me, I’m honoured 🙂). I’m Michelle, a 36 year old mum to two very energetic boys, a chatty and sassy little girl and two crazy cats. My eldest is in his final year of primary school and my youngest is 2 and at home with me full time.

Visit Michelle’s Made By Mums Shop

I’m the maker at Makepeacemade, also the admin, the cleaner, the social media manager… running a small business and being a mum to three is full on.

How I Got Started

Baby and toddler quilt/play mat – Tap the image to view product

Like a lot of people, I got into crafting through my Nanna. She was a very skilled craftswoman and my first memories of her are of her sitting at her sewing machine – a machine that has since been passed on to me. I would sit and avidly watch her as she sat and created or repaired her various projects and beg to be allowed in the cupboard next to her chair where all her ‘treasure’ was stored. I remember summers spent sorting buttons into piles according to colour, size and shape and winding ribbons up that had become tangled; halcyon days indeed.

Despite doing little crafting in my teenage years – I mean, who does anything except hang out with friends and spend time on the phone – my love of fabric and yarn and all things crafty never dissipated. After getting married and falling pregnant with my first child, the bug hit with force. I wanted my child to have things that were created with love, but my sewing skills were incredibly rusty, my knitting was a little patchy and sadly my Nanna was no longer with us to help and guide me. Needless to say, the advent of YouTube, along with some very useful books and craft magazines got me going again.

Craft as therapy

Pretty crochet coasters – Tap image to view product

After going through 4 restructures in 4 years whilst in employment and ultimately losing my job, my confidence and self belief was at an all time low. I threw myself into crafting as that is my ‘happy place’ – who doesn’t love surrounding themselves with fabric, yarn and all the associated pretties – and started to blog about the things that I made. The blog fell to the wayside when I fell pregnant with my youngest (morning sickness is NOT fun) and then I had to give up my craft room. I’ve just about forgiven her for that. So now I crochet and knit on the sofa and sew on the dining room table whilst my craft room stealer (sorry, daughter) plays next to me or when all children are in bed.

I kickstarted the blog again in November 2018 and thoroughly enjoyed coming up with new items to make. In a conversation with my fabulously supportive big sister, discussing the blog and how I was starting to need some more recipients for the things I was creating, she gave me a big kick up the backside and told me I needed to start selling them. I thought about it – for a good few weeks! – and decided to take the plunge and Makepeacemade as a business was born.

Taking it to the next level

Purple crochet blanket – Tap image to view product

Over the last few months as people outside of my family and friends have started to tell me how good the quality of my work is, my confidence has started to grow again. There is a lot of talk about how crafting can be good for your mental health and I wholeheartedly agree with that. I’ve gained the confidence to try new patterns, new methods of crochet and knitting and have also started to write my own patterns – something I never imagined I would be able to do.

When I sew, crochet or knit, I often think of my Nanna, and I hope that she would be proud of me and the small business that I am trying to build. The dream would be to be able to continue to grow the business to the point where I don’t need to return to employment, but for now I’m happy creating beautiful, unique pieces of nursery and home decor and bringing joy to my customers when they receive them whilst being here for my children (and husband!) when they need me to be.

Visit Michelle’s Made By Mums Shop