Meet the Maker: Helen of MisHelenEous

Well aren't these adorable?! So so cute. I know we shouldn't be thinking about Christmas (…or should we? It IS September) but these would be a great little stocking filler. Shall we meet the maker behind them?

Hi there! First up, most importantly, Tea or Coffee?
Black decaff tea, no sugar. Don't judge me! (We'll try ;-) )

Biscuit or Cake:
Cake every time. I love baking and use the legendary Be-Ro recipe book. (I'll be looking that up!)

Tell us a bit about yourself.
My name is Helen Rogers and I live and work in Manchester. My business is called MisHelenEous and I’m a self employed Designer Maker.

What item are you sharing?
I’m sharing my first ever doggy bag charm designs with you as they were what started my Felt Breed Kennel off. I adapted these designs recently to have Yellow bandanas in honour of the Tour De France leaving from Yorkshire in Le Grand Depart. They are completely designed and hand sewn by me and are made from felt filled with polyester stuffing.

They really are lovely. How long have you been crafting?
I have a BA Hons Fine Art Degree in Painting & Photography but I’ve always had crafty genes. My business has been in existence since June 2013 and I am pretty much self taught in the sewing and knitting techniques I use. You can learn a lot from a book!

When did you start your business and why?
I started my business after years of serious long term illness meant holding down a conventional job was impossible and finally became self employed after getting many custom order requests via Twitter and Instagram.

What inspires you? 
My dog, Border Terrier Whiskey, is my main inspiration and part time model for my business. Her main contribution being her birthday on St. Georges Day which was the creative theme behind the National Flag, Patriotic Dog Bandanas. But I don’t just make handmade gifts for dogs and dog lovers I also make a wide variety of miscellaneous hand knitted, hand sewn and machine sewn items. And it's this fact that gave rise to my shop name MisHelenEous (miscellaneous/MisHelen-thats me!). I’m a Punny Business but not everyone gets it first time. I offer a lot of personalised and bespoke items in my shop and have also completed several small trade orders to the pet product industry.

So who are your crafting heroes?
My grans, my mum & mum in law, my aunties, and my sister!

Do you have a special crafting space or studio?
Its basically a corner of the kitchen table for my sewing machine and a box room upstairs. But when I’m busy or have a big order on, eg: 40ft of terrier bunting for a barge, it can take over the house!

Any big plans for the rest of 2014?
To build a local presence for my business as despite shipping goods to 18 countries since starting, no one locally knows what I do!

What has been your biggest achievement?
Having my Etsy shop chosen to be in the recent EtsyUK TV Advert, (unfortunately I couldn’t attend the filming day) and being published in September’s Issue of Crafts Beautiful in the feature: Made In Britain.

So where can we find you online? 
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/misheleneous
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/misheleneous
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/misheleneous

I am also a proud member of the Made In Britain Campaign and also the Manchester Craft Mafia.

Great stuff. So some random quick fire questions to round up.

Favourite colour?
Green

Best Season?
Autumn

Favourite food?
Curry & chocolate but not together

Best word?
Love

Favourite Place?
The Lake District

I really do like these charms and it has been great finding out more about Helen. It makes the items all the more special and unique don't you think? Head over and visit this maker in her various virtual spaces and a huge thanks for chatting with us Helen!

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