Craft Focus - February / March 2021 (Issue 83)

Flying the f lag Customers love shopping local, using their local high street and buying goods made in the UK HAWTHORN HANDMADE Ever since her first needle felting kit launched in 2013 Hawthorn Handmade founder and creative director Stephanie Carswell has been dedicated to supporting British companies, and in turn, making everything here in the UK. Some 98 per cent of the wool used in the company’s needle felting kits is British, supporting the local wool industry, alongside 80 per cent of other components across its ranges being sourced within the UK including all the packaging, embroidery fabric, needles and looms. All of the kits are produced by the in-house team in Dorset, carefully picking and packing every ingredient to create each high-quality kit. Stephanie says “working with British companies and suppliers not only reduces the shipping times and the carbon footprint of Hawthorn Handmade, but also reduces costs, especially with Brexit having heavily impacted prices from overseas businesses.” info@hawthornhandmade.co.uk www.hawthornhandmade.com GROVES Groves is a family-owned business and for more than 50 years has been providing sewing, knitting, quilting and needlecraft products to the retail trade. Featured is the Trimits Macrame Accessories Starter Pack which has the basic accessories to get you started with macrame projects. It includes ideal elements for creating macrame wall hangings, home décor projects, plant hangers, decorations and accessories. +44 (0)1844 258 100 www.grovesltd.co.uk CRAFTER’S COMPANION This new range features quintessentially British Gemini stamp and die sets, including city scenes such as rose gardens, beach days and high tea. Also launching with the stamp and die sets are four 5.75in x 2.75in embossing folders, to create beach hut, picket fence, London skyline and postcard backdrops, in addition to a best of British 12in x 12in paper pad. The Best of British collection has been perfectly designed to coordinate together and work for a variety of different occasions, meaning they can work all year round. Crafters can use them to create cards, gifts, decorations and much more. +44 (0)1388 660 930 https://www.crafterscompaniontrade.co.uk/ SELECTED YARNS Erika Knight has gathered her favourite designs in a pattern collection ‘Best of British’, which is available on Ravelry (https…/ /bit.ly/erika_pattern ). The collection shows three designs for each of her yarns. All her yarns are available for stockists in UK from Selected Yarns (www.selected-yarns.com), a German-based distributor. Selected Yarns is happy and prepared to supply to UK retailers no matter what Brexit negotiations will bring. “We ship ‘duty paid’ which means that all paperwork and custom clearance will be done by us before shipping and we have very competitive shipping costs”, states Britta Kremke, managing director of Selected Yarns. kremke@selected-yarns.com www.selected-yarns.com 70