My business, Charlie Moo's is primarily handmade fabric party bags which I machine sew myself.
It was born out of my need for stimulation that I missed running a nursery and thus Charlie Moo's was born.
I was disheartened by the rubbish party bags, Charlie, had received at parties.
Not only did it break straight away, it was either very age inappropriate or made of plastic.
One party he received near enough a whole bag of chocolate. It became a slightly stressful experience.
Charlie would wander out of the party tightly clutching a plastic bag in his hand and we would either fight with
him to get rid off the bits he could not have or have him hand us stuff as we said no, in most cases he would be
left with a balloon and some bubbles.
I took the plunge to build and start up my website after Megan was born in August 2008.
I became very adept at typing with one finger whilst breast feeding at 2am.
How & when did you get started designing & making?
Charlie Moo's was my first foray into designing and making. I'm slightly backwards – I love unique and quirky items and love handmade products.
I knew handmade fabric bags was the way forward so I had the first 100 made for me by a crafter and they were gorgeous.
I decided to give it ago myself, it made more sense at that stage for my business.
I took apart a bag and using an old pillow case and battery operated tiny machine gave it a go.
It was easier than I had imagined so I started making more.
I now sew all the fabric bags myself and I'm so much better at it now a year on.
I'm very proud of my achievements, the bags themselves have won awards,
Best TGF Rated Review Award and runner up for a local Green Business Award & I recently won Dorset Business Mum of the Year so it certainly has been a busy year.
What venues / websites do you sell from?
I sell from my own website www.charliemoos.co.uk and am stocked at the following:-
- Cambridge Party Bags
- Gift Wrapped and Gorgeous
- Daisychain Baby
- Topsy-Turvy Childcare
- Sweet Pea Parties
What / who inspires your work?
My children, and now that Charlie is 3 he enjoys picking out fabric for me!
What are your plans for Charlie Moo's for the next 12 months?
This year I've spent quite a bit of time focused on my networking group called
www.networkingmummies.com which is a networking group
for mums in business. It started as a Dorset based group but has now grown to Hampshire & Warwickshire.
The next few months I want to focus on Charlie Moo's and developing my range of handmade items – I've been looking at making some bunting as I think it would really compliment the fabric party bags.
Who’s handmade shop are you loving right now & why?
I currently have 4 favourite designers, they are:
