DaWanda Backstage

Without further ado, I present one of our super duper DaWanda members, Sara Millis. Sara is a fashion designer based in the UK, with a beautiful selection of textile-inspired jewellery in her DaWanda store, SarasTextureCrafts . She describes her style of texture decoration as coming from combining both conventional and unconventional disciplines. I spoke with Sara recently, here’s our interview!

Tell me how did Saras Texture Crafts start?

I started in June last year when I became a freelance fashion and textile designer and then got an idea of maybe starting something up on my own, a way of allowing other people to enjoy crafts and learn new crafts by supplying different crafts and equipment. In January 2007 I opened Sara’s Texture Crafts. I started originally on Ebay, selling the craft kits and equipment and decided to launch my own range of jewellery and hand crafted items. I have a range of kits covering different skills and I also created my own fabrics and that’s what people could use for their embroidery. I work for UK fashion designers working on their ranges including textile designs which sell worldwide.

Glass Heart Pendant by SarasTextureCrafts

Do you remember the first piece that you ever made?

I remember making things as a child; my mother was always keen to show me new techniques and crafts. So whilst I don’t remember the first item I made, I do remember always working away at something and selling pieces of jewellery or doll clothing at school fairs or to my friends. 

Is there a family tradition of creativity behind your work?

My mum’s always been creative, she’s the one who taught me how to knit, do all the basics – how to use the sewing machine. So she’s been the real inspiration behind my work, she’s always pushed me to learn different things.

Where else do you find inspiration and ideas? 

Lots of different places! I could be walking in the park and see a great floral display. I could get some great ideas for colour and texture from those, or it could be going to the museum. Also, I try to do a lot of courses to learn new techniques, I find that meeting fellow crafters is also good, they have lots of ideas I can bounce off of. I’ve met quite a few people on DaWanda, the flickr group has been quite useful and also just meeting in the forum, I found that people have started to message me outside of DaWanda, where they found my store. It’s been quite useful to meet different people and ask their advice and they do the same for me. Its becoming quite a nice place to be really!

Newly added to SarasTextureCrafts, Afternoon in Paris Earrings (part of collection including “Morning” and “Evening” pairs!)

What do you find is the best part about running your own business?

The best part about working for myself is the freedom to make and sell items I create and although I do sideline in selling craft kits and equipment I feel as if I am doing something I believe in. It’s still early days for me, so SarasTextureCrafts is yet to be full-time but I am getting there!

Do you have a favourite designer who influences your work?

I don’t favour any one designer in particular; my design whims are too impatient and varied for that! Instead I admire designer’s abilities, for example when looking at clothing I love Vivienne Westwood’s work for it’s technical juxtaposition and I admire Zandra Rhodes’s colour and pattern combination.

Is inspiration an instantaneous moment for you, or is it a slower more thought out process?

I would say that inspiration is often instantaneous, coming from whatever I have been exposed to be it in art form, or nature, or maybe just a new technique I’ve learned. This one moment of inspiration will often then be drawn out to create a mini collection of items that work well together to show a line of thought, or an idea to my customer.

An Affair to Remember Necklace by SarasTextureCrafts

What are your current projects at the moment for Sara’s Texture Crafts?

I am currently working on promoting each of my shops (I sell on Etsy and eBay as well) and creating the first ideas for my autumn/winter collections. I’m also very into writing my blog at http://sarastexturecrafts.blogspot.com/ which I have called ‘Crafts of Texture’. I want to share my craft guides and finds with readers, as well as explore craft news and events. 

Do you use other platforms similar to DaWanda?

I’m still on Etsy which I started the same month as DaWanda. I find it’s a different market, because it’s US based, there’s a lot more US customers. They’re much more internet friendly so they’re used to it a bit more. I think DaWanda is a younger site so it will take a while for people to know that it’s there and understand what it’s about and learn things like what Paypal is for. The main difference for me is that it’s a completely different market on DaWanda than Etsy. I’ve met so many different people and I can target people that are a lot closer to home on DaWanda, I think that will be in the long term easier for me sell. I also like different small details, like how you can view items and how you can shop. It’s a different shopping experience. I think Etsy at the moment is saturated with sellers and not enough buyers, so it becomes very difficult to sell on there. Whereas I think, although I haven’t sold anything on DaWanda yet I feel it would be easier to sell.

What improvements would you like to see on DaWanda platform?

Well, in the Edit Shop area there is a code where I can show my items on my own personal website. It would be quite nice to be able to show more items here. Other than that I really like the way it’s really easy for me to upload items and I’m finding it easy to use.

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Thanks alot to Sara for this great interview! Make sure you take a visit to her DaWanda store and have a look at her work. Especially as she has some very tempting special offers for her customers at the moment!

Sara is full of inspiration and has created a DaWanda sellers blog group, which you can find out more about if you visit her Crafts of Texture blog. Also, on Sara’s DaWanda profile, you can check out a special pinboard she has created which features items from members of the Sellers Group. Hat’s off Sara!

It’s really great to hear from you, so do say hello if you stop by to read the DaWanda blog!

See you back at DaWanda!