We caught up with the lovely Steph from Oh Sew Bootiful, let’s see what’s been happening!
Hi Steph, thanks for chatting with us today! Let’s get started…
Tell us a little bit about yourself – your background, general day to day life, hobbies (other than crafting).
Hi, I’m Steph and I live in Lancashire, UK with my husband and 2 sons. My background is in Art and design and I have a degree in Product Design. In my spare time I love to do various types of crafting, drawing, reading, going for walks in the woods, sea glass hunting on the beach and swimming when I can.
When and why did you start crafting?
I’ve been crafty since I was tiny and have always enjoyed trying my hand at anything creative. It’s been a passion for as long as I can remember and would spend a lot of my free time as a child experimenting and playing about with various materials and colours.
What was the inspiration for Oh Sew Bootiful?
I started struggling with my mental health in my late teens and it got to the point that I couldn’t leave the house alone or really live a ‘normal’ life. I’d always found crafting had helped calm me down and give me peace while I was working on a project but it was during this time that I discovered embroidery.
It was love at first stitch and I found it so therapeutic. Embroidery really helped me to switch off the ruminating thoughts that had weighed me down, I had something creative to focus on; learning new stitches, choosing colours and materials and I felt a real sense of achievement when I completed a project.
I’m not suggesting embroidery solved all of my problems, I put a lot of hard work into improving my mental health but it definitely helped me during some difficult times and I still find it does. I’ve always enjoyed coming up with ideas and designing my own patterns and designs so I went straight into coming up with my own ideas and designs.
Once my mental health started to improve I decided to start an Etsy shop to sell my finished embroideries but after my first son was born I realised that designing kits and patterns would be a great idea… I’d still get the joy of designing and stitching the samples but could also share the love of embroidery with others who might have been in a similar boat whilst being able to work around him.
If you had to choose, what’s your favourite kit you’ve designed so far? Tough question, we know!
Can I pick 2? I really like the Wildflower Meadow as it brings together a photographic background with the texture of the stitches. I’m also really pleased with our Advent Kit as it has lots of fun motifs and it was lovely to see customers really enjoying prioritising a little bit of crafting time each day in the run up to Christmas.
Do you have any specific inspirations behind your projects?
I find inspiration in lots of places really from childhood memories (my lavender kit was inspired as the smell always reminds me of my Nana), quotes, flowers, colour pallets and being in nature.
Sometimes I just get a random idea pop in my head which I think would make a great idea. I think those are my favourite designs to work on as they just seem to come together so easily!
If there’s a day where you’re facing a creative block, what are some of your go-tos to get your creative juices flowing again?
Stitching. I find if I’m having a creative block it really helps to pick up my latest embroidery project to stop myself over thinking and get me back into creative mode without any pressure.
What are three essentials you need in order to have a successful day designing?
The iPad, a mug of tea and a good documentary series.
What does a typical day in look like for you in the business?
Due to our family circumstances we’re quite flexible in the way we work but we generally start each day with replying to emails, making kits and packing orders.
Then depending what else we have on, either focus on new designs, social media, wholesale orders or website maintenance.
What inspired you to begin creating and designing your Bargello kits?
As I’ve a love for all things crafty, I wanted to branch out from embroidery kits whilst keeping the needlecraft theme for our brand.
I love how bold and striking Bargello designs are and how the colours pop. I felt it’s a good needlecraft to introduce people to stitching or getting their mojo back as each design uses just one type of stitch and can be completed in a shorter period of time.
We love your Phenology wheel kit! What was it about this medium that inspired you to create your own kit?
Going back a few years when I was having therapy, it was suggested that I keep a journal each day of something positive that had happened or that I’d seen. It didn’t matter how big or small it was, it just had to be something that made me smile so I was focusing on good things. I still have them and it’s nice to look back on.
So when the idea of thread journal came around it was an instant spark. It combined my love of embroidery with something simple but so positive. It can be hard to notice the positives some days so stitching a journal, looking out for the simple pleasures to record is a great way of staying present.
You then get to pair that with the joy of having a little creative time to stitch that up and at the end you can look back on the year and the collection of little moments you’ve had.
I wanted to make thread journalling more accessible as it can be overwhelming to start so put the kit together. I like to inject a bit of colour wherever I can so I played around with ideas to make it more fun whilst not distracting from the stitches! What’s more fun than a rainbow!?
A truly lovely way to reflect. What would you say is your proudest achievement thus far?
Workwise it’s definitely my book, 365 Days of Stitches! It was a wonderful opportunity and I’m really proud that I managed it. I’d underestimated quite how much work would be involved (designing and stitching 1000 motifs should have been a clue!).
I have ADHD so big projects can be really overwhelming and difficult to complete but the publishers were amazing and really helpful. It was such an amazing feeling to see it all come together and see it in print.
What are your future plans with Oh Sew Bootiful? Are there any other disciplines you’d like to include, such as Cross Stitch etc.?
Well, that would be telling! We’re currently exploring a couple of options but still very much in the research phase.
All sounds exciting! Finally, do you have any tips for readers developing a passion for crafting?
Be patient with yourself, enjoy the process and try not to focus too much on creating a perfect finished piece in the beginning. As will any skill, crafting takes some practice and that’s all part of the fun!
Thanks for taking the time, Steph! We can’t wait to see what you do next!