Little Spools

  Saturday, 26 June 2021 (posted on a muchhh later date) I bet you're wondering what efficacious means...so was I but I was running low on 'e' words so I had to find a new one!  Efficacious means "someone or something that produces a desired result", so I thought it would be a perfect word to describe stall 11, which was all we ever hoped for and more :)   it was actually the coolest day ever! we had a simply amazing crowd today full of great customers, including plenty of superheroes celebrating supernova! thank you to everyone who supported us today - you mean a lot to us and we appreciate you all so much :) apart from the great business we had today, we also enjoyed many fantastic moments catching glimpses of “superheroes” in the crowd: deadpool, Wonder Woman, obi wan, the mandalorian, baby yoda, and of course kylo ren (to name a few)!  swipe left for an amazing memory that I managed to grab with my all time fav Star Wars character! #kyloren thank you @perthc...

Saturday, 22 May 2021 (posted on a later date) Well, this post is long overdue - sorry about that!   As of 22 May 2021, we  finalllllyyyyy  hit our  BIG 10TH!!!!  Little Spools has reached its first major milestone since the start of our business journey. This market stall was an amazing day out in the city as usual, with lots of friendly customers and helpful fellow shopkeepers.   I (Ash) had to leave straight after setting up in the morning to get to a piano competition (the Fremantle Eisteddfod), so it was up to mum and my little sister to manage the stall for the day. The division I competed in dragged on till the afternoon, so I only got back to the stall at closing time. A big shoutout and thank you to mum, dad and Alyson for making that day work as smoothly as possible! We closed many sales and got a few new followers on Insta too!   This market stall was a special occasion for a number of reasons: firstly it was our 10th stall ever, and secondl...

  Thursday-Saturday, 15-17 July 2021 (posted on a much later date - sorry :/) these last three days have been hands down one of the best market stalls we’ve ever done. We’ve enjoyed great conversations with all our customers and the chance to showcase all our locally made treasures again!  To everyone who came by today, thank you so much for supporting us and we hope your Little Spools product serves you well  Well, stall #12 is done and dusted: we will be back next month on the 28th of August (Saturday) at Perth City Market! Come down for the chance to grab some spectacular handmade products 

Note: The full descriptions and more photos of the following Baby Dolls are all available on our Instagram page (@littlespools.byash). Each doll has limited stock available so get your order in quickly to avoid a long wait! Prices range from $12-$20 depending on the doll. Discounts apply when multiple orders are placed. For more information, please email or message us on Instagram.  Guess what guys, I got busy during the holidays and crocheted a whole new range of baby dolls! 😁 They're pocket-sized, fit snugly in your hand and best of all they're mini versions of some of the best-loved Disney, Star Wars and Marvel characters! (With more to come) These original designs are now up for grabs and there's no need to wait till our next stall in August - more individual info is available on our Instagram page! The dolls below include: 1. Belle from Beauty and the Beast 2. Groot from the Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Ariel, the Little Mermaid 4. Loki, the God of Mischief, and  5. Pr...

Hey guys!  This blog has been up and running for a while, but up till now we haven't really talked about who and what we support as a business. When Little Spools was first set up, we agreed that every year we would donate 10% of our proceeds to a charity or not-for-profit humanitarian organisation. We decided to support Tearfund Australia's mission of empowering communities through project-led initiatives in developing countries, together and alongside with our own church.  Tearfund focuses on promoting "useful gifts" which may include anything from a chicken, goat, school, or water supply system, to Australians, encouraging them to "give the gift of ___" to a family or community in a specific country across the world. Their website is packed full of information about how to donate and support this mission work financially and spiritually, together with ways to get involved with working in the targeted communities to improve the quality of life there.  Tear...

 Hip-hip hooray! It's the moment you've all been waiting for...long overdue. But better late than never and our Instagram account is finally up and running.  We're slowly building a follower list from friends, family, and our fellow stallholders and some of our customers! This is where we will post new updates and announce any special deals we might have.  Here is a fast link to our account (@littlespools.byash). If you have Instagram, scan the QR code and give us a follow! We'll be introducing new promotions exclusive to our followers - join the party now! 

Friday-Saturday (16-17 April 2021)  GUYS!  Remember how we said in our last post that we were gonna do a double-day stall for #9??  You guessed it - we did!  And we are so excited to share our experience with you all! There were so many new things we achieved and we even introduced an amazing new aspect of our business which we are already very grateful for. What is it? Well, you'll just have to read on to find out!  We've written a mini entry for each day below - happy reading!  Friday (16th April) Okay so we've added a new feature to our stall. Since Little Spools is all about reducing the impacts of fast fashion/consumerism by considering our clothing and accessory choices, we put a stand at the front of our stall where we hung some barely-used, outgrown dresses from our (my sister and I) childhood. They are still stunning and in perfect condition, so we figured they would be great to pass on down to the next generation of (wannabe) princesses! (P.S. the...

Saturday, 20 March 2021 (posted on a later date) Ooh-la-la it's March!  And we're proud to announce that Stall 8 was a roaring success 😍 Take a look at our fantabulous display!  This time, due to several vacancies, we were actually able to move up closer to the entrance of the market - space no. 3 (a big jump from #15 at the baaaaaaack of the room!) - which was a big win-win for us! Our neighbouring stallholder, a lovely lady selling jewelry, told us in the morning that February and March were typically the slowest months of the year for business. This helped us to understand why last month's sales didn't quite match the flow. However, we still looked forward to the day with hopeful hearts.  Our positivity (and prayers) paid off - we were bombarded with business from start till end. It was a wonderful day and we were able to meet so many awesome people (and gathered suggestions about our products too!). We were also able to witness a large organized protest going past ...

  I'm preee-ty late to join the crowd, but I've just finished all the Star Wars movies!    And lost no time in grabbing my hook alight with a new inspiration... So here's the first of the lot! Say hi to Rey! She was really fun to make and super easy for beginners. I only used one working stitch (single crochet) along with a few chains and slip stitches at intervals. My favourite bit was her little bag. She looks so cute from the front, as if she is off to save the galaxy! Below is the side view (notice her huuuuge buns, I didn't expect they would be that large!):  Here's the link to the pattern I used if anyone feels like they need a Rey for themselves!  http://www.crochetwithmelanie.com/2020/02/rey-crochet-doll.html  Rey took about a week to make (with pauses and stop-starts) so this wasn't too bad! I loved the details included in this pattern, like her tiny strands of hair at the sides (super easy and fast to make) and the little wristcuffs (which I chose...

Hello my friends!  I've been meaning to put this up for awhile, but didn't get around to doing it just yet. This project came about in a rather funny way, actually, so I'll tell you the whole story. I was about to dump a whole bag of stuff at the local op shop when I noticed a pair of still almost-perfect jeans sitting on top. The jeans were silently screaming, "save me pleeeeeeease". Then I remembered a tutorial I had found much earlier in a craft mag about how to turn jeans into cute overalls! So I heeded the call of the jeans (very happily!), rescued them, and brought them back home. What a great moment of inspiration! Here's a "before" picture: They're pretty basic, just a pair of dark blue denim mens' jeans from Rodd and Gunn. The overalls I mentioned actually have a skirt bottom instead of pants, modelled on the one from the Great British Sewing Bee's book Sustainable Style. However, due to a trifling discrepancy in the instructions...

Saturday, 20 February 2021 (posted on a later date) First of all, Happy Chinese New Year!  We can't believe how fast the days whizzed by - February's nearly over, and our second stall of the year is over!  (P.S. Do you like our lantern-and-fairy-light bunting? It was a special decoration piece for the occasion, as well as our outfits!) Looking back, this stall was rather slow paced and business dragged a little, despite being in the CBD, but we still came home feeling like it was worth it. And bonus points for the aircon which wasn't blowing in our faces this time round (like the previous time) since we moved up a couple of slots! We managed to escape the heat of the day and even took a couple of trips around the market to stretch our legs. It was a full house and all the stalls were incredibly unique and filled with amazing stuff! A favourite among them all: the one opposite us, selling handmade macrame decor.  As some of you might guess, our masks did make an appearance...

Hey friends!  This is another small post to record a memorable experience we've just gone through. As most of you know, especially those in Western Australia, it's been a pretty worrying week! A snap lockdown for a week with barely a day's notice is definitely not something I'm used to. But throw in a mandatory mask rule, and suddenly a creative pathway has opened. Thanks, Mr McGowan! I've been sewing masks for a while: they were recently introduced as a new product at Little Spools' market stalls. We found a free pattern on the Spotlight website and tried it out in three different sizes. It worked pretty well for the first round of samples so we made them an official product!  On Sunday night we posted a reply to a Facebook post that was asking if anyone in the local community was selling handmade reusable masks. With a minimal-profit goal to support as many people in the area as we could, we decided to sell each mask for $6. Since so many people had replied to...

 Hey guys! This is a really short post, but I just wanted to show you two little dolls I made a while ago using Sweet Softies' Baby Bean Doll crochet pattern. It uses the amigurumi method to whip up a fast, versatile and beginner-friendly doll base. So far it's my favourite and each doll took about a day to make.  I borrowed some tips she gave to make the girl doll (Anne of Green Gables), then decided to wing it and improvise on my own design for the guy doll (Gilbert, from the series too). They turned out better than I expected, haha! Here's a closeup of them: Aren't they adorable? His legs are a little wonky but I'm surprised at how well her apron turned out.  The hardest part was braiding her hair because it was so fiddly. I also added a neckscarf to jazz his outfit up because the shirt and pants looked a bit basic.  (P.S. I also skipped safety eyes and did the embroidered versions instead because I didn't have any on hand. In my opinion safety eyes look way ...

  Saturday, 23 January 2021 (posted on a later date) The day certainly rushed by at Perth City Market today! We were welcomed back with open arms into our previous stall No. 15 and quickly set up with minimal hiccups. The only grievance was the unfortunate positioning of the giant air-con that was blowing right on our heads all the time: even one of our customers remarked that we had snagged a "nice cool spot" and were fortunate to be indoors all day! What she didn't know, coming in from outside which was relatively hot, was that the "nice cool spot" turned freezing if  you sat in the same place for too long! Due to the fact that both stall spots on either side of us were vacant  we were situated all by ourselves at the back of the market. This was a bit of a setback, as we realised after half an hour, since most customers made a round of the stalls on our side and completely bypassed us, instead cutting across to the opposite row. So we did have a rather slow s...

We're thrilled to announce that we've added a new line of products to Little Spools! Up till now, we've stuck solely to sewing and focused on expanding that way. But what could be cuter than a basket full of crocheted pocket toys sitting proudly in our stall and earning squeals of happiness from our smallest customers?  That got us thinking, so here we are!  Look out for these beauties at our upcoming market stalls, or you can hop on to our website and order them online!  Plus, we're working hard to grow this line, so look out for more little critters! ~ Little Spools 

Saturday, 16 January 2021 We went back to the great outdoors for the Yangebup Progress Association market last Saturday! It was a very windy change from Perth City's indoor hall, but still was a fun-filled day throbbing with local families and great business.  We were prepared for the forecasted strong winds this time (haha!), with a bag of pebbles and extra gear to keep things from unexpectedly blowing away. The newly introduced pocket amigurumi toys were also instant hits, earning much attention from little kids as well as adults who were craft-loving enthusiasts!  This was a wonderful experience to tuck away in our journal and it will be our last outdoor stall for awhile...as we're going back to good old Perth City Market's air-conditioned venue for the next few months! Look out for Stall No. 6!  P.S. A special thank you to all our customers who supported us on the day. You mean so much to us and we look forward to seeing you again! :) 

Saturday, 19 December 2020 Today was an awesome day right in the heart of Perth's amazing city life! We set up stall at the Perth City Markets in Murray Street Mall. It was a different experience from previous times as all our past stalls have mostly been in an outdoors or makeshift setup. This round, we didn't need to bring our own marquee, as the organisers provided wooden beams for us to use (yay!), aaaannddd we were indoors in a wonderful air-conditioned space (double yay!). Plus, we got to enjoy a splendid Christmas performance by a brass band. Our customers loved our stall's festive decor and bright summery vibes. The shopping traffic we encountered was definitely heavier and more rapid than our laid-back crowds in the bush and suburban markets. Being in the city meant that loads of people were out and about spending their weekend getting Christmas gifts and doing retail therapy! We had tons dropping in and checking out our stall, and many of our customers got our pro...

  Saturday, 12 December 2020 (published day after)  Phew! Stall Number Three was an experience we won't forget in a hurry! So many aspects of this stall made the day a memorable one. This time, we were part of the Port Kennedy Twilight Festival - a whole new experience for us as our previous two stalls had been in the daytime only. The market opened a little before 5pm and ended promptly at 8pm. Those four hours were a whirlwind (literally, since it was so windy and everything blew everywhere) of good fun and new challenges.  We would say that the two most important things we took away from this stall are: Don't underestimate the wind! We had more than a few struggles with this powerful force of nature as we set up and packed down. Even while manning the stall as the market progressed proved to be a challenge as everything was lightweight, increasing their tendency to be blown about. We learnt to adapt, however, and made the necessary adjustments to the arrangement and la...

Saturday, 5 December 2020 (published on a later date) We kicked off the start of December 2020 with roaring sales at our second market stall ever ! This was held at the Bedfordale Bush Markets, on a classic summer day full of fresh air, fun, (and yes,) heat. The setting of this market was the total opposite to our first stall. We were smack bang in the great bush outdoors and enjoyed the atmosphere of the nature all around us, even if it meant getting everything (yep, everything) coated with a thick layer of red dust. As always, thank you to all the wonderful people who visited Little Spools today. We are so glad to have had this second chance to showcase what we're passionate about to the local community! Look out, cause Stall No. Three is coming up on the 12th of December at Port Kennedy!

  Saturday, 28 November 2020 (published on a later date) Hooray, we opened our very first market stall! This momentous occasion was held at Blackmore and Roy's Sewing Bonanza 2020 in Bentley. We joined with others from the local sewing community to provide a fantastic day for all our customers. All in all it was a wonderful time and we enjoyed every moment of it, right from the setting up to the packing down. The location of our spot was also Heaven-sent as we were allocated a space indoors, out of the hot sun and stifling heat! Plus, we got to observe a free demonstration of dyeing silk scarves at a stall near us. A big thank you to everyone who found the time to drop by and make our first stall an official success. Look out for our next one coming up on Dec 5!

  Monday-Sunday, 5-10 October 2020 (posting on a later date) What better place to launch a baby business than home? We set up a little stall on our front lawn for a week during the spring school holidays displaying all that we had made so far, and let all our friends know about it. It was a huge success and well worth the effort. We're looking forward to doing it again - look out for the next announcement for the summer hols!