Each month Glad Green warmly welcomes a creative business to take up residence in our pop up shop on East Street.
This month, Gracie from Gracie Bobbins has come to visit. Gracie is the creative-genius behind some of the most beautiful crochet dolls we have ever seen. She specialises in using the more traditional DK yarn to make highly-detailed patterns bursting full of charm.
Obviously we're not ones to shy away from a chit chat over a ball of yarn, so armed with some of Poppy's delicious pastries, we popped by the Little Shop on the Green to spend some time getting to know lovely Gracie.
Hi, Gracie! It's lovely to see you in the village. Obviously we have been following your work on Instagram for years, we love your cute style and how detailed your amigurumi designs are. If you could bring one of your creations to life, which would it be and why?
I think I’d bring Maisie the manatee to life. I have such a soft spot for manatees - I think they’re the sweetest animals so I’d love to see a real version of Maisie. Plus she has the most perfect little shell-shaped bag that I’d LOVE to have a human version of!
Ooooh we completely agree, that bag is so cute. So what's the strangest place you've ever crocheted?
I don’t think I’ve ever crocheted anywhere that strange - I’m a bit of a homebody 🙈 You’ll often find me crocheting in a cafe or on the bus though!
There's nothing wrong with a bit of bus crocheting! Just don't do what I did once, and knock my bag over, so all my balls of yarn went rolling down the bus... oops! Your characters are full of details, there's no doubt that they must take a lot of work. Which of your characters was the biggest headache to design?
I think Otto the Otter took me a long time to get just right. I had a vision in my head of how I wanted his body to look and I just couldn’t get there for ages! I’d also planned to make him a diving helmet as his accessory and I’d hate to admit the amount of yarn and time I wasted on it! Then I went with his little raincoat and hat and everything slotted into place thankfully.
As you know, Glad Green villagers all really embrace the joy of making. What's something you've made just for the fun of it?
Honestly, my burtle design. My nephew always comes up with animal hybrids he wishes were real and he asked if I could make a turtle/bunny hybrid. I knew he wouldn’t be a huge hit but I loved coming up with something so unusual and fun, plus I got huge auntie points for making it.
If you had a permanent shop in Glad Green Village, what would you call it?
Oooh maybe something like bobbins corner or the little critter shop.
Thanks so much for your time, Gracie! It's been lovely having a catch up. Just before we go, what advice would you give someone who feels their handmade creations aren’t good enough?
The first thing I’d say is that you don’t have to be good at something to enjoy it - remember that creating is fun, it’s an experiment and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t - that’s part of the joy! I’d also add that we are always our own worst critics - where we see things that have gone wrong, nobody else notices, so take the pressure off yourself to be perfect. Don’t let the fear of being the best or perfect stop you from trying.
Catch Gracie in the Little Pop Up Shop on the Green throughout October. Her gorgeous patterns are on Etsy here, and don't forget to follow her on Instagram too @graciebobbins
Yep, we also need Maisie's shell bag!
Gracie's Burtle was a huge hit with her nephew.