Between 2011 and 2024 I established, led, and then wound down a small creative business. For much of that time, Patchwork Castle was the market leading provider of bespoke baby clothes patchwork memory quilts, keepsake quilts from adult clothes and a tutorial for those who wanted to make their own.
In this strand on the blog I’m going to walk you through that journey. It’s not often people take the lid off their experiences warts and all, and I hope doing so might offer some solace to fellow micro business owners, especially in the crafty or creative space that you are not alone! I also hope that it might provide some tips, tricks, things to avoid etc that might help others in their business journey, or in avoiding some pitfalls.
Whilst Patchwork Castle was never huge, we held our own in what was a niche market, with an emphasis on high quality products and fabulous customer service. It provided me with a decent income while my children were in primary school, and created earning opportunities for several local women.
It was a crazy journey, involving product design, building manufacturing processes, navigating online trading, engaging wonderful local freelancers to create the products, setting up a studio and then converting our garage and moving it back home, moving from sole trader to a partnership, and not least working with brilliant customers (including some celebs) and having the huge privilege of being trusted with some heartbreaking stories and beautiful memories woven into irreplaceable clothing.
It also involved some really huge challenges – two periods of acute and severe ill health, financial challenges with a changing marketplace and the huge growth on online crafty businesses, the unexpected loneliness and vulnerability of being a solo business owner and, let’s not forget, the pandemic.
If there’s anything you’d particularly like me to explore, or you have any specific questions please drop me a note using the contact form below and I’ll do my best to cover them.
Here’s to the journey!
Chris
