Hi, my name is Karen and I’m the owner/creator of Neddynibbles. I make a wide range of colourful aprons and have recently added photo greeting cards to the last couple of Montage stores.
It is hard to
believe that Neddynibbles is now in its 5th year. It has been a very interesting journey and
I am very proud of where I am now.
Since I was a
child, I have always been into crafts of all shapes and sizes, and have always
wanted to make a business out of what I love to do. I can’t remember a time when I haven’t been creative. My mum taught me to knit and crotchet
before I’d even started school and I have always had many crafty things on the
go at once. It is just a part of
who I am. I have done everything
from making hand-stitched teddy bears, paper tole, macramé, paper crafts,
jewelery, polishing rocks, cross stitch and embroidery, but have built my
business with my love of sewing.
I was one of the
founding members of Montage so have been involved right from the beginning in
our first shop in Fremantle. Being
a part of Montage is like being a part of a family who understand my passion
for creating. I have met some
wonderful people who I now call my friends. It is also lovely to have my items on display for people to
enjoy and purchase.
I’ve found that my
greatest challenge has been finding the time to sew. I have recently made the decision to work my business
full-time instead of a hobby, and am really looking forward to expanding my
range of aprons and getting all the new ideas out of my head and onto the
sewing table.
Out of all the
styles I make, my favourite is my little girl’s apron which has box pleats
across the bottom. There are so
many cute fabrics for children and these aprons always look beautiful. I have also just made myself an apron
and I chose a style that I designed just before Christmas, one of my plus-size
styles which is a great apron for me as it gives me more protection when I’m
cooking.
What sets my
aprons apart from others in retail shops is that they are made to last, each
item is individually cut out and sewn with the best quality fabric and thread
and as I usually only purchase small quantities of each fabric, they are all very
unique.
The thing that
surprises me most about my business is that so many people still wear
aprons. I have sold almost 800 in
Australia and around the world and it makes me very proud every time someone
buys one.
Hand-made items
are made with love and it is wonderful to see there are so many clever people
still making beautiful things and I always buy gifts from craft markets and
Montage.
I am very excited
about what is in store for Neddynibbles in 2013. Being the first year I will be working full-time on my own
business, I will have more time to work on new designs, new Montage stores and
would love to get my aprons into some little boutique stores. I am also just starting to experiment
with a range of coin purses, wallets and little girl’s handbags.