Handy craft from childhood

CHENNAI: Gomathy Rajesh had her first tryst with crochet when she was in school. Looping yarn through a hooked needle and creating unique items kept her busy. But academic pressure forced her to trade the needle for the pen. After years spent at an engineering college, and later, a software firm, Gomathy found herself in the US after tying the knot. Unable to work due to visa restrictions, she decided to rekindle her first love. Today, she specialises in making baby clothes, hats, accessories and bags, and markets them through her Facebook page, TinnyKnots.

Many women, like Gomathy, who learned art and craft way back in school, are now returning to their passion years later. And they have their hands full during the holiday season, creating personalised gifts for clients.

They comb local markets for raw material, ideate, and customise it according to the client’s need. Their unique selling point is the personal touch and thought invested into each gift item. The products are also cheaper than those available at stores.

From handmade Christmas or New Year’s greeting cards and fridge magnets to holiday-themed caps, purses and dresses for infants, you can get these shipped across the world.

YouTube videos and craft ideas on Pinterest inspired Gomathy to start off. Despite having a two-year-old and limited time due to household chores, she is committed to delivering her orders on time, even if it means staying up the whole night.

"When I started out, my friends would place orders. But, through word of mouth, my network grew. My clients love that even the tiny details such as the buttons are crocheted and not bought. Once I get an order, I estimate the time required and give the date of delivery to my client," says Gomathy, who charges about `30 for hair accessories and up to `1,500 for larger items such as bags.

Jyotthsnaa Sharma, a Bengaluru-based digital marketing professional, sometimes even personally delivers the gifts to her local clients at their doorstep to save them the cost of shipping. She comes from a family that is passionate about embroidery and is planning to help her mother market her creations through her Instagram handle, Doodle Media. She also collaborates with Tanvir Kaur, another digital marketing professional in Bengaluru, and her cousin Gunneet Kaur, a Chandigarh-based lawyer who runs the Instagram handle CraftWings.

Together, they are delivering Christmas gift boxes, which include bookmarks, greeting cards, a banner and handmade fridge magnets. They can be bought as a set for `1,200 or individually. Prices start from `50 and go up to `3,000 for other gifts such as customised albums.

CraftWings started as a venture between cousins when they set up a stall at a pop-up in Gunneet’s college. Besides gifts, they also specialise in decor and accessories, illustrations, lettering and ship worldwide. Tanvir says she plans quit her job to one day and take up crafting full-time.

DoodleMedia and CraftWings have got about 40 orders this season, which shows that customers prefer personalised gifts to readymade ones.

"Crochet dresses online are quite expensive and we don’t know whether the quality of thread used is good. But Gomathy makes sure she uses the best and sends pictures while crocheting so that she can tweak the design in case I change my mind. She also suggests colour combinations and designs which work better," says Shripriya Suresh, a customer from Chennai.

Though the women don’t have thousands of followers yet, their mission is to bring back the idea of giving hand-made gifts in the age of greetings in the form of WhatsApp forwards.

While CraftWings wants to provide a platform to collaborate with handicraftsmen such as basket weavers, Jyotthsnaa wants to collaborate with international players like Neko boxes — New Year good luck charms from Japan.

"The idea is to exchange quintessential Indian handmade charms with those artists and help market their products here. With the help of social media, a lot is possible," she says.


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