Behind the scenes
Nothing here comes out of a box
“Handmade” gets used fairly loosely these days. So here is exactly what happens between you asking for something and it arriving.
It starts with a conversation
Somebody asks for something. A name, an occasion, a colour they love. Annie writes it down on whatever piece of paper is nearest, which is usually the back of an envelope.
Then the materials come out
Yarn gets pulled out and held against itself until the colours agree with each other. A few get put back. This part takes far longer than anyone expects.
The making itself
Worked in rounds, one stitch at a time, over several evenings. A small gonk is a few hundred stitches. Occasionally the tension goes wrong and the whole thing gets pulled back and started again.
The fiddly finishing
Stuffing pushed into the corners so nothing sits lumpy, pieces seamed together, features attached and checked twice. The bits nobody notices unless they are missing.
Wrapped, with a note
Packed by hand, with the name written on the tag rather than printed. Then it goes to the post office like everything else.
Worth saying out loud
Handmade means slightly imperfect
If Annie makes two of the same thing, they will not be identical twins. Hand tension shifts from one day to the next, so one comes out a little taller, or a little rounder, or with a slightly different expression.
This is not a defect and Annie will not be apologising for it. It is the visible evidence that a person made it rather than a machine, and it is the reason it does not look like the eleven thousand identical listings next to it.
What she will absolutely fix is anything genuinely wrong, a misspelled name, damage in the post, or something that simply is not what you asked for. Just tell her.
What you can expect
- Made after you order, not before
- A photo before it is posted
- Careful, hand-wrapped packing
- A real person answering messages
What you will not get
- Next-day dispatch from a warehouse
- Machine-perfect, identical copies
- Print-on-demand from a third party
- An automated reply to your question
Fancy something made for you?
Now you know exactly what you would be paying for. That is rather the point.