Jenny of Little Brown Bird Co.
Have you always been a maker. If not how did you get here?
I've always enjoyed the outdoors and initially spent 7 years as a climbing instructor. I only learnt to knit in my early 20's and became fascinated by wool and creating my own clothes. I developed my little brand in 2013 after discovering knitting machines and their practicality. I initially started creating garments for friends to pay for my wool addiction and it escalated from there!
I am proud to say I am a full time maker and have been self employed for 6 years this summer! I spent the first 5 years developing my brand along side my full time job. I think this is important to have time to play around with different ideas and work out where you want your business to go while having the safety net of regular employment.
What does a typical day look like for you? I work from a small potting shed in the bottom of my garden. Surround by my ducks and vegetables in the summer, I wouldn't want to work anywhere else... (despite the minus temperatures in the winter!). My days vary drastically depending on the time of year. In peak season, my morning normally starts with packing online orders ready for my village postman followed by many hours of knitting! It's a 3 day process to create an item of knitwear as they need to be washed and dried to remove the lanolin from the sheep wool before finishing. I try to make everything in batches to keep time costs down. I could spend a day knitting, a day linking/washing and a day labelling/finishing. Later in the week, you can normally find me packing for the weekends events, stamping business cards and generally making sure I'm ready to go!
I have an exciting new product that took 18 months of development - naturally dyed, Welsh wool. From learning about natural dyeing, to growing the dye plants and sourcing the wool, it was a dream come true to finally reach the stage where they are ready for sale.
What’s your favourite part of the making process? My dream as a child was always to become a farmer. By introducing the natural dyed wool to my range, it has brought together two big passions for me - growing food and working with wool. Using locally sourced wool and sitting in the greenhouse while the pots simmer away is my special place. Natural dye can be unpredictable so you never really know what colour you will get next. I still have a lot of learning to do but I'm really enjoying the process.
What sets you apart from other makers in your category? I take a great interest in all things woolly in a hope to expand my knowledge on the industry. From visiting mills, sorting facilities and local wool events. While knitting is my bread and butter, I'm developing my skills in the back ground to include weaving and spinning to gain a better understanding of fibres, sheep breeds etc. By incorporating the natural dying with the locally sourced wool, I genuinely believe I have something unique to offer.
Working with old and discontinued machinery can be a real challenge. My domestic punch card knitting machines are made in the 1980's for example and there is no current day equivalent so sourcing parts can be unpredictable and pricey. I normally make sure I have at least one spare machine ready to go for emergencies and have a whole shed dedicated to spares... just in case!
What have you got from being a part of the Crafty Fox community? I really enjoyed taking part in the winter market in Kings Cross. I love meeting fellow makers and interacting with new people. It can be isolating when you work from home so winter events are definitely the highlight in my calendar.
What do you have planned for 2024? Expanding my range of locally source wool is at the the top of my to do list. I've taken up spinning and weaving to hopefully increase the versatility of what I can offer. Soon there will be undyed, hand woven, Welsh wool scarfs along side the naturally dyed snoods and hats. I genuinely believe in supporting UK farmers so I want to do more to incorporate local wool into my business.
See more of Jenny’s work at www.littlebrownbirdco.co.uk
