Kelly

Weaving gifts for kids

You’ve seen the Weavers Gift Guide for this year, but how about sharing the joy of weaving with the next generation?

I have never met a child who was not interested in having a go at weaving. It may start with them looking over your shoulder to see what you’re doing. Or they see a loom and just have to know what that is and how it works.

Children are the perfect weaving students because they are so naturally curious (how about we learn from that and remember that curiosity that lead us to discover so many wonderful things as a child?)

Kids also learn really quickly! Have you noticed that it’s more difficult to learn new things as you get older?

If you are a parent of a younger child, a grandparent, a relative, and educator or you just happen to have children in your life, don’t deprive them of the joy you experience from weaving – share it!

Here are some gift ideas to get the kids in your life interested in weaving or to help introduce them to weaving concepts:

Lacing toys or cards

My kids absolutely loved lacing activities when they were young. Lacing may not be the first skill you think of when thinking about weaving, but it makes perfect sense.

Lacing is wonderful for helping develop fine motor skills, hand eye co-ordination and problem solving. It also helps a child to gain confidence when they can finish a lacing. They can start with a super simple one and move their way up (only if they enjoy the activity, of course!)

There are so many fun lacing toys available now. I wish that these cute little sets were available when my kids were young!

As well as wooden toys, there are also lacing cards available. I found this Hungry Caterpillar set which looks really fun and who doesn’t love Eric Carle’s Very Hungry Caterpillar?

2. Potholder/Pin loom

These little looms are great for kids as they are a very simple set up and come with everything you need to weave squares or potholders. A kit like this one has plenty of ready made craft loops to start weaving right away as well as a box to keep all the pieces in.

If you’re not a fan of plastic looms, there are also metal potholder looms available and these obviously would be longer lasting.

If you enjoy hand making gifts, you may be interested in making a potholder loom. This is a very basic and affordable project, check out my instruction project here.

Speaking of hand making a loom, did you know you can weave with some basic cardboard? Learn how to do that here.

3. Simple frame loom

Simple frame looms make a great gift for kids. They are usually small, portable and affordable. The size of a loom like this can make it feel more achievable for a child.

Projects are limited to the size of the loom, but pieces of woven fabric can always be joined. A child could make small projects like doll blankets, mug rugs and bookmarks with a loom like this.

My girls used a simple frame loom and they loved digging into my yarn stash to see what colours and variety they could find.

An older child can learn to warp a loom like this on their own quite quickly.

4. Large standing frame loom

This is a slight step up from the simple frame loom already mentioned in that it is larger and comes with detachable feet so that the loom can be used upright.

I recently purchased the Melissa and Doug Multi Craft Weaving Loom to try out and let my Youtube audience know my thoughts. You can view that video here:

The main advantage of a loom like this is the versatility, it can be configured to weave smaller or larger items. I like the grooves set into the top and bottom of the loom that hold the warp in place really well – no jumping off the pegs as you’re trying to warp or weave. The grooves also allow you to tension the warp better than with some other frame looms I’ve used.

This loom kit is really geared towards children as it comes with some bright and soft rainbow yarn, extra warping yarn and printed cardboard strips for picture weaving. There is a large wooden needle for ease of weaving.

5. Lavievert toy loom

The Lavievert toy loom is a super fun option for the older child weaver. The younger child could also use it, but would need help with a number of aspects.

This is a really cool little loom and is still very much in the affordable weaving category. You can make a longer warp and there are 2 rigid heddles that are manipulated easily at the top of the loom.

The construction is still simple with this loom (it’s actually pretty ingenious!) but gives the child a more realistic loom weaving experience.

You can check out all the resources I’ve made using this loom here:

I bought a toy loom! Was it worth it?

I wove a blanket on a toy loom!

6. Rigid heddle loom

A rigid heddle loom would be perfect for the child who has shown an ongoing interest in weaving. It is a larger investment, so it would need to be a well considered gift.

I purchase a Sampleit loom for my girls when they were younger as they were always seeing me weave on my rigid heddle loom. Because my loom was always busy I thought it would be great fun for them to have a smaller version they could use whenever they wanted to.

They had a great time with the Sampleit and wove all kinds of smaller pieces with it. They loved thinking about what they wanted to weave and then designing a project from scratch.

A Sampleit would also be a great option for a weaver who has grandchildren visit. It can be tucked away without using up too much space and you have the added bonus of using it yourself when it’s not needed 😉

This post contains affiliate links. For further information, please see my disclosure policy.

While this weaving gift guide is aimed at children, these tools can also very much be used by adults or anyone who is interested.

I hope this has been helpful to you and if you have any questions about my gift recommendations, let me know in the comments below!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

5 easy rigid heddle weaving projects for beginners

by Kelly Leave a Comment

Getting your very first rigid heddle loom is such an exciting experience! There are so many possibilities but at the same time, so much to learn.

It’s important to choose projects that are going to be suitable for your weaving level. Be realistic, we all start as absolute beginners and it makes sense to start with an easy project.

This will help you to start to get to know your loom without the stress and pressure of needing to weave at an advanced level.

Here is a list of 5 easy rigid heddle weaving projects for beginners to get you started.

A SAMPLER

A sampler is not necessarily a finished, functional object but it will teach you so very much! Not only does it give you a chance to get familiar with your new loom, it also allows you to try out yarns, practice your weaving and get a better idea of what to expect.

Yes, you do need to use a bit of yarn to warp up a sampler, but I look at it the same way I would look at purchasing a weaving book or class. It’s an investment in my own weaving journey.

Very early on in my rigid heddle weaving journey, I warped a fairly long warp (for a sampler), grabbed my copy of Jane Patrick’s The Weaver’s Idea Book, flipped through until I found something I wanted to try and just went for it!

This was such a valuable project for me, just look at the variety of designs, yarns and colours I got to try! Many from the book, many were my own experiments. I still think of this project, all these years later, as one of the most fun I’ve undertaken.

A sampler can also become a useable item if you wish – a small purse, a mug rug, a notebook cover, there are lots of possibilities.

2. PLACEMATS

Placemats are such a perfect beginner’s project. They look great in plain weave and if you want to jazz them up you can always use a fun variegated yarn. Placemats are also a great opportunity to practice finishing techniques, whether that is by knotting, hemstitching or hand hemming and machine stitching.

In my beginner rigid heddle class we complete some simple but beautiful placemats. This is my most popular class as it shows you how to take a bare rigid heddle loom and complete a woven project. You are guided through, step by step on warping, threading, weaving and completing the project as well plenty of tips and encouragement along the way.

3. TOWELS

Towels can be a little like an overgrown placemat, and can be a simple project for newer rigid heddle weavers. I do have some advice though, as not all towels are created equal!

As a beginner, I do not recommend that you try to launch into your first towels with a thin and light yarn, like 8/2 cotton. It is better to get some experience and practice under your belt first, as generally a lighter yarn is more challenging to use with a rigid heddle loom.

However, weaving towels with a thicker cotton yarn can be a wonderful experience. Again, you can make it as simple as plain weave or you could incorporate either warp or weft stripes (or both!)

A thicker cotton will result in a light hand towels rather than a kitchen/dish towel.

My free project, the Wash Your Hands Towels pattern could be just what you’ve looking for. While some of the techniques may be considered a little more advance (like pick up sticks and colour placement) the weaver has the option of weaving both towels in plain weave if not ready for other techniques.

Some of the cottons that are suitable for this kind of towel would be:

Bendigo Woollen Mills 10ply cotton

I Love This Cotton

Sugar n Cream

Knit Picks Dishie

4. NOTEBOOK COVERS

Notebook covers in their most simple, low sew format are just a rectangle. The fun thing about a project like this is it can really be customised to reflect your own tastes. You can use a variety of yarns in plain weave and it just looks fantastic.

If you wove a sampler that was large enough, you could repurpose that as a notebook cover too!

If the thought of sewing with your hand woven fabric is a bit scary to you, rest assured that it can be a very simple process. If you have a needle and thread, that is enough!

Check out my free Notebook Covers project which guides you through the full process, from weaving the fabric to fitting and sewing it to an existing notebook, all the information is there for you.

5. FREESTYLE TAPESTRY

Oh boy, is this fun! The idea is similar to weaving a sampler, but this time you are weaving a weft faced item.

What on earth does that mean?

It just means that you’re going to use an additional beater (a household fork works just fine!) to beat your weft down to cover all the warp threads.

So, all the colour, texture and excitement happens in the weft threads.

What I really love about this kind of project is you need very little pre-planning and all the designing can be done on the loom, if you want to.

You get to use a variety of yarns from your stash and you have pretty free reign, as long as the weft packs down and stays down, you’re good to go!

Your design could be planned and pictorial or completely abstract and “made up on the spot”.

My free Freestyle Tapestry series was designed on the loom, just by building colour, bit by bit. My Van Gogh inspired tapestry was a little more planned but followed very similar principles.

I even have a Tapestry on a Rigid Heddle Loom online class that shows you basic tapestry techniques to get you started.

I hope you feel super inspired by these 5 easy rigid heddle weaving projects for beginners!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for further information.

Gift Guide for Weavers 2024

by Kelly Leave a Comment

It’s that wonderful time of year again, which means it’s also time for a new gift guide for weavers!

Welcome to the Gift Guide for Weavers, 2024!

This year I’m ordering the guide from lowest to highest price so you can jump to where your budget is currently at. Gifts most definitely do not have to be expensive but for some of you it may be the right time to purchase that upgrade or tool you’ve been wanting.

I don’t think I can every begin a new gift guide without making this one the first item:

The Clover Jumbo Bent Tip Tapestry Needles are one of my favourite and most used tools in my weaving studio! They are perfect for hemstitching or embellishing a piece on the loom and weaving in ends off the loom.

I use them for hand sewing pieces of hand woven fabric together too. They are also super affordable, making them the perfect stocking stuffer.

2. That Purple Thang

I never knew these things existed until one of my students (hi Sandy!) very kindly sent me one. Yes, I had to read the label to find out what it was and now it’s an indispensable tool in my studio.

If you enjoy sewing your handwoven fabric with a sewing machine, you will love this low cost tool. It is a multi purpose tool but what I love to use it for most is to help run my fabric through the machine and press down seams as I go over them with the machine.

Sounds simple, but I used to use my finger for the job this tool is now doing for me! I’m happy to have my precious fingers much safer now.

3. Lavievert Toy Loom

I bought my first toy loom as an experiment. I was curious to know, firstly – would it work and secondly, what could I weave on one?

Well, after playing around with my toy loom for some time I have been very pleasantly surprised!

A toy loom like this is a great way to get into weaving for a small financial outlay. It is simple to learn how to use, it tensions a warp very well and pleasant to weave on.

It is a small loom, so it does have it’s limitations but it’s such a fun way to get started.

I have a number of resources available for this loom:

I bought a toy loom! Was it worth it?

I wove a blanket on a toy loom!

4. Weaving Books

I am a huge book lover and my weaving book library is quite extensive (but there is always room for more! 😉) Weaving books are really invaluable to weavers and make a wonderful gift too.

My favourite rigid heddle books can be found in this post. And my favourite multi shaft books can be found in this post. I have many weaving books listed in my Amazon store too.

5. Ashford Table Loom Shuttle Race

This product was just released recently and is very popular with the table loom weavers! The shuttle race prevents the shuttle from diving through the warp, which can be so frustrating! Available for new and older Ashford table looms in a variety of sizes, this will be a game changer for some table loom weavers!

6. Ashford XL Boat Shuttle

Another new and wonderful product from Ashford is this larger sized boat shuttle. I am absolutely loving using this with my larger countermarch loom and will definitely be utilising it with my Louet David loom as well.

7. Ashford Inkle Loom

An inkle loom is a great gift for so many reasons. It’s one of the most affordable and portable looms. It also allows the weaver to have a dedicated band loom without taking up space on another loom. You can be weaving a project on one loom while weaving a band to match on the inkle loom!

For an even cooler gift opportunity, Ashford has an inkle loom available as a kit that includes the loom, some cotton yarn and a wonderful inkle weaving book to get started with.

8. Ashford Rigid Heddle Loom

My very first rigid heddle loom was given to me as a gift from my husband! So of course, I’m a huge advocate for gifting RH looms 😊 This loom is still constantly in use in my studio.

There is a huge variety of sizes available to suit every budget and size requirements. I have a guide for new rigid heddle weavers here.

9. Louet David Floor Loom

It’s no secret that I love my David floor loom! It’s compact, modern and gives you a true floor loom weaving experience. I have a review of this loom here if you want to find out more.

10. Online Weaving School Gift Voucher

The weaving school is the perfect place to get started in your weaving journey. There is a huge variety of classes available as well as memberships. Classes include rigid heddle, inkle loom, table loom and floor loom, so there is something for everyone.

To purchase a class as a gift, you simply choose “send as a gift” at checkout plus fill in the name and email of the recipient – this is how it looks:

The recipient then receives an email with instructions for how to use the gift link.

Well, I hope all of you have a wonderfully happy Christmas and maybe even receive some new weaving goodies!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

*This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

I wove a blanket on a toy loom!

by Kelly 8 Comments

I’ve been weaving on my toy loom for some time now and thought it was a good time to challenge myself (and the loom!) to see what we could do together.

I love to encourage weavers of all levels and circumstances to think outside the box when it comes to weaving and to make the most of what you have, what is available to you or what you can afford.

I also wanted to prove to those who might say “you can’t really weave fabric on a toy loom” that you definitely can! And what better way to do that than to show you how to produce something rather large from something rather small.

I have more resources available on this toy loom. In this article and videos I unbox and set up the loom, give my first impressions and then do some replacements to improve it. Then I warp it myself rather than using the pre-made warp plus show you some things you can do with the loom, including pick up.

Now, onto the lap blanket project!

My idea was to weave strips of fabric to join together later. The weaving width for the toy loom is around 6″ and once you allow for draw in and shrinkage, the actual panel width is even less than that.

I wasn’t sure what length of warp this little loom could handle, so that part was a bit experimental. I’m pleased to say that it handled the 83″ of warp length very nicely.

My plan was to direct warp the loom by clamping the loom to one end of the table with spring clamps and achieving the length of warp I desired by using the pegs on my warping board (also known as hybrid warping).

I used an Aran weight (Australian 10 ply) wool and doubled it because the heddles that are built into the toy loom are sett at about 5 ends per inch – that is quite an open sett.

I used Bendigo Woollen Mills luxury 10 ply in Coastal Blue and Shadow. I used 2 balls in each colour (they are large, 200gram balls).

For and quick and easy doubling of the warp I simply took one loop through every hole and every slot using my double ended threading hook so that the loom width was fully warped.

For the blanket, I did a total of 4 separate warps for 4 panel pieces. Each panel piece would then be divided in half to make a total of 8 panel pieces.

I wanted to have stripes on my blanket, so for warps 1 and 3 I warped with the lighter coloured wool and used the darker colour for weft. For warps 2 and 4 I warped with the darker colour and used the lighter colour for weft.

You might think it fairly time consuming to work with 4 separate warps but with the small size of the loom and the ability to direct warp, it did not take long each time. I also skipped the threading step by warping in every hole and slot, so that was a definite time saver too.

Once I had all of my panels woven I wet finished them (secured the raw ends first by serging) and allowed to dry completely, then pressed on the wool setting.

When I laid the panels out in order to check the look and sizing, some of the panels were shorter, some were longer so I had to cut and serge to ensure the sides would be uniform.

My next job was to stitch the panels together. I decided to do this by hand using mattress stitch, again because I know not everyone has a sewing machine and so I wanted to show an alternative. I have a video tutorial on how to do mattress stitch here.

I used my much loved bent tip tapestry needle, which makes this type of stitching so much easier. The stitching by hand does take time but I wanted to ensure that my stitching was very neat and a bit of a feature on the blanket.

To finish off I could have hemmed the serged sides of the blanket by hand or on my sewing machine but I wanted to give it just that little extra bit of oomph to make it special.

I decided on a single crochet border all the way around the edges of the blanket. I used the darker yarn to complete this and won a game (only just!) of yarn chicken with the very last of my dark blue wool.

The total blanket used almost 600 metres of each yarn colour for a total of 1200 metres of yarn.

I hope that by sharing this project I have inspired you to consider what you might be able to do in the wonderful world of weaving!

If you would like to see the video that goes with this article, please visit my Youtube channel:

*This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

My 11 income streams

by Kelly Leave a Comment

If there is one important thing I’ve learned in the 8 years of running an online business it is that you must diversify your income.

That is a fancy way of saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”. Relying on just one source of income is risky because you don’t have anything to fall back on if needed.

Today I’m going to talk about my 11 income streams (yes, that’s right – 11!) I’m not going into any figures because numbers can be misunderstood (for example, I get to keep approximately half of my actual revenue once taxes and running expenses are paid).

But I will outline my 11 income streams in order from what makes the most to what makes the least amount. The order is still a generalisation as most of my income streams are fluctuating from month to month.

Online courses

The Online Weaving School was started back in 2017 and supplies the largest part of my income (by a long shot!) The weaving school is hosted at Teachable, which works very well because I, as the creator have my own space on the internet and I’m fully in control of how the school runs, the type of content available there and the pricing for my students.

There are two models on which the school operates – single purchase classes and memberships.

A single purchase class is just what it sounds like – the student make a one time purchase and then has permanent access to the class. They can come back, log in to their account and re-watch the class as many times as desired. They also have the ability to receive feedback, share comments and photos on the platform.

Memberships have been a huge part of my success as an online business. The student chooses a membership tier and then has access to a full class library, including member’s only classes until their membership expires (at which point they can choose to renew or cancel). A membership also gives a student access to the private member’s community. A membership model is excellent because it provides the creator with recurring and somewhat more predictable income.

Premium Membership

Access to full class library for one annual fee. All prices are in US dollars

1796 students enrolled

Last updated Apr 8th, 2025

Select a Pricing Plan

Premium membership$157/year

Buy now

2. My Design Store

For many years I have also been designing weaving patterns. These are usually project based and provide the buyer with step by step written instructions, colour photos and often video links to complete a weaving project.

I sell my designs in digital format at Kelly Casanova Designs using the Shopify platform.

I have also branched into writing ebooks to provide even more information to weavers and these are also available in my design store.

Digital downloads are an excellent source of (mostly) passive income as much of the work is done up front in the designing and writing. There is often some follow up needed in the form of support for purchasers but this is relatively minimal compared to the weaving school.

Very occasionally I also make weaving/yarn kits available to my audience and these are based on existing patterns.

If you are interested in trying a Shopify store for yourself, you can get 3 days free plus 3 months for $1 each when you sign up for a trial, just use this link to take a closer look at that offer.

3. Youtube

Income from Youtube is made through Google Adsense. The ads are place on my videos and I get a cut of what the advertisers pay to Youtube (about half). This type of income is fluctuating and not very reliable and because I’m in the “craft” niche, advertisers pay much lower rates than they would for videos in something like the business or finance niche.

The beauty of Youtube when it comes to online business is that it can act as an audience funnel for your existing business. It allows you to build and audience that can get to know and trust you. It can be a way for potential students to sample your teaching style before investing in a course or membership.

My business has grown from my Youtube following, so it has been an absolute essential part of my success.

4. My blog

Income from my blog is also made through Google Adsense. This is not ideal, and some readers do complain that there are too many ads when they read articles. Having ads enabled on my blog does cover my hosting fees though, and gives some small compensation for the many hours I’ve spent writing informative articles.

Similar to Youtube, the blog also acts as a funnel or advertising space for my paid products.

5. Affiliate income

Affiliate income is when you recommend a product, service or company to your audience with a special referral link. If someone clicks on your link and makes a purchase, you receive a small percentage of that purchase as a thank you from the company.

Affiliate income is an excellent way to make money, but certainly not the easiest (at least, that has been the case for me!) Affiliate commissions vary a huge amount from as little as 1 -4% of the sale (hello Amazon!) to 30-50% (I don’t have any affiliates that pay that much but I know they’re out there).

It takes a lot of time to insert links and write them into content in a way that provides value to your audience. No one wants to feel like they’re being spammed so it’s important to use affiliate links properly and respectfully.

You can do this by only recommending products/services that you use yourself or that you have sufficient knowledge of in order to recommend with confidence.

Some months my affiliate income now surpasses my blog or YouTube income but this is not a frequent occurrence.

6. Paid newsletter

This year I started my very first paid newsletter through Convertkit (now known as Kit). I have been sending out a free newsletter for many years but the paid newsletter is separate and covers different topics.

7. Magazine work

This income stream involves writing articles and submitting projects. I have completed quite a bit of this type of work over the last year or so and continue to receive requests and proposals.

Submitting projects takes a great deal of work and time and I don’t feel the compensation is high enough for the amount of work required. So, for the near future at least I will stick more to the article writing, which I find enjoyable and rewarding.

8. Public speaking/ presentations

This is another income stream that I just started this year. I receive invitations to speak or present for weaving guilds or groups. So far, these presentations have been online, which is brilliant as it allows me to reach people that live in different locations to me! I prepare a presentation ahead of time and then give the presentation live.

9. Handmade items

This is a very, very small stream as I only sell handmade items occasionally. Before I started the Online Weaving School, I was a handmade seller, but I have very little time now to actually make something physical to sell.

10. Facebook

This one is kind of a surprise. I logged into my Facebook analytics one day and found that I had made a little money! I didn’t even know that was a thing 😆 Since then, I’ve made small amounts every month. It’s really only pocket money but I certainly don’t mind earning money for posting on my Facebook page, which is something that I would be doing anyway.

11. Merchandise

I have tried merchandise with Society6 and Spring. I have closed the Society6 store and will likely do the same for the Spring store in the future. This has not been a good source of income for me, so I have stopped promoting it in order to focus more on the streams that do work well for me.

Being an entrepreneur is such a journey of learning, adapting and pivoting when needed. Having more than one stream of income really helps you to try things out, see what will work and what won’t and then maximise the things that work the best for your business.

If you are starting out with online business, you will find these articles helpful as well:

Should I start with Etsy or Shopify?

Handmade Business Beginner Essentials

3 ways to start selling online for free

Do you want to start selling your weaving?

This article is also available in video format here:

I hope you enjoyed reading about my income streams and I wish you all the best with your online business!

Corn Flake Slice (easy recipe!)

by Kelly 4 Comments

Corn flake slice is one of those absolute classic grandma recipes.

I got my corn flake slice recipe from my mother in law and have used it so many times. It’s a real hit with children of all ages and was often featured in shearing sheds at smoko time.

One of the great things about a recipe like corn flake slice is that it’s so quick and easy to bake up with ingredients you are likely to have in your pantry already – no special shopping trips for fancy ingredients.

If you don’t have corn flakes in your home supply already, they are easy to come by and one of the most affordable cereals.

You will also want to have a basic slice tin (you might know it as a brownie pan). I find it well worth having this specific tin size, I use mine all the time.

Corn Flake Slice (very, very easy!)

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

125 grams butter
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup cornflakes
1 cup desiccated coconut

Method

Preheat oven to a moderate (around 180 degrees celsius or 170 fan forced).
Melt butter and honey together.
Add to mixed dry ingredients.
Place in a shallow slice tin, press to even and flatten out a little.
Bake in the oven until golden brown (about 15 minutes) and leave in tin to cool.
Turn out and cut into squares.

It’s important to let your slice cool completely before cutting so that it hardens and holds together. Store in an airtight container.

I hope you enjoy this vintage recipe that was handed down to me.

Happy Baking!

This post contains affiliate links. For more information please see my disclosure policy.

Soft White Sandwich Bread

by Kelly 3 Comments

Jump to Recipe

I’ve been making bread for a very long time now but there is one thing that many of my loaves were lacking – lightness and softness.

My loaves were often on the dense side, not in an unpleasant way, actually in quite a substantial way, but I did have the desire to be able to make a lighter bread if I wanted to – more like a bakery style sandwich loaf.

So I started testing ingredients and methods and investigating bakery methods.

There are a few things I stumbled upon that led to the formulation of this recipe:

A higher yeast proportion for a faster rise plus using sugar for taste and fast rising
The addition of butter
A long mixing time with the mixer

Using a mixer with a dough hook takes a lot of work out of it for you and just kneads up the most beautiful dough.

I have an older model Kenwood mixer, it does the job OK, but if and when I have to replace it I think I would be leaning towards a Kitchenaid or something similar.

The bread is quite sweet and you could definitely reduce the sugar (though each batch does make 2 loaves) or you could also substitute honey. Other sweeteners I’m not sure on as I haven’t used them.

Personally I don’t use fancy bread tins, just something similar to these rectangle loaf tins and I line them with parchment baking paper on a roll that I then save a reuse many times, this really cuts down on dishes to wash.

Soft Sandwich Bread

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Cook Time 35

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

1 kg White baker's flour
620 ml Warm water
3.5 tsp Instant dried baker's yeast
3 tbs White granulated sugar
2.5 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Butter (room temperature)

Method

Place yeast, sugar and warm water in a mixer bowl. Allow to sit until the yeast froths (5-10 minutes).
Add flour and salt and mix on low until ingredients start to incorporate. Keep mixer going as you add softened butter, a couple of cubes at a time.
Turn mixer up to level 1 and allow machine to knead dough for 10 minutes. Dough should be smooth and soft and pull away from sides of bowl.
Oil bowl lightly, cover with plastic wrap and leave in warm place until dough has doubled in size (may take 45 minutes to 1.5 hours or even longer if placed in a cool place).
Divide dough into 2. On a lightly floured surface, press each piece out with your hands into a rectangle shape. Roll the rectangle starting at one short end, tucking in ends a little as you go. Pinch the seam lightly. Place in baking tin lined with parchment paper with seam side down. Do the same to the other loaf. (Don’t fuss over this part, just try to get a seam at the bottom)
Cover lightly with plastic wrap and leave until risen, this can take 20 minutes to 1 hour, depending on room temperature.
Preheat oven to 200C (fan forced) or 210 conventional.
Bake loaves for 35mins.
Allow to cool on a rack before cutting.

The bread is freshest when eaten on the same day but it makes wonderful toast for days after that!

I love eating it toasted and topped with eggs from our homestead. The bread also freezes well, I leave the loaves whole to freeze, or you could cut into smaller pieces if you need less bread at once.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. If you try it out I would love your feedback 😊

Would you like to see just how I make this bread? Check out my instructional video:

Until next time…

Happy Baking!

This post contains affiliate links. For more details please see my disclosure policy.

Handmade business beginner essentials

by Kelly Leave a Comment

Starting a handmade business can be a big step in your life but it doesn’t have to be complicated.

My own business is a shining example of how a handmade hobby can organically grow into a business. The funny part is that I had been trying to make a living from my handmade goods for around 10 years when I shared my first weaving tutorial on Youtube that ultimately saw my business develop and eventually take off.

Many people in the business niche will tell you that the formulation of a business plan is an absolute must before starting a new business. While it can help you to plan and gain clarity around what you want to do or what your vision for your business is, it is not essential.

I never developed a business plan for my online business and I have no regrets about that.

However, there are aspects to a handmade business that I do think are really important. Some of these can develop over time and others are better to be put in place as soon as possible.

DETERMINING PRODUCT DEMAND

Basically, without demand, you don’t have a business. You could make something that is really cool and that you love to create, but if no one wants to buy it that can be a harsh reality to face.

My initial Youtube tutorials showed me very clearly that there was a demand for the product I was able to provide. Again, this happened organically for me and wasn’t planned but if you are wanting to sell your handmade products, actually having an idea beforehand whether or not there is a demand for them is super helpful.

You can get a basic idea of demand by googling your intended product or search terms associated with it. Let’s take an example here. I will use a handwoven scarf as our guinea pig.

Determining demand for handmade products is a little different from more commercial products because handmade is often unique and doesn’t “fit in a box” or typical niche. There are more factors involved than just looking at trends and what is selling well right now. Handmade is more nuanced than that.

When I google “handmade scarf” it comes up with a myriad of results. Some are local, authentic hand woven by usually a single person owned business (sole trader). Others are made overseas, woven on hand looms but by groups of people and marketed by an organisation. Some are commercially woven (you can always recognise these are they are much cheaper and usually more generic in appearance).

Googling is useful though, to see what is out there, where they are being sold and what they are charging. These factors can help you not only to find where potential customers might be looking to find hand woven products, but also what kind of pricing is realistic for the type of scarf you’re selling.

A terrific way to help determine demand for a handwoven scarf is social media – Instagram in particular is a very visual platform. I use Instagram not only to sell my products (you can read more about how I do that here) but to gauge interest in new products/ colours/ styles. It’s a simple and free way to get public opinion but in a more targeted way because all the people who follow you on a social media platform and potential customers – their opinion matters!

THE PRODUCT

You do need to have a good quality product and ensure that it meets quality standards, but if you tend towards perfectionism, please do not overcomplicate it! Next time you buy an item of clothing, a towel, whatever from a commercial source, I guarantee that if you inspect it carefully you will find small faults.

Handwoven is beautiful and unique, but it’s made by a real person often in a home or studio setting. It needs to present well and do the job that it’s made for – it does not need to be perfect.

PRICING

This is a non negotiable. You do not have a smooth running and profitable business without correctly priced items. Handmade creators are notorious for under pricing (I know, in my early days I was definitely guilty of this!)

While it is fine to price a bit lower when you’re just starting out, you need to know when to raise your prices and how low is too low. Price your handmade products too low and you don’t have a handmade business, you just have a hobby (and often an expensive one at that!)

Pricing is very tricky and often a fine balance of cost of materials, how much you want to be paid and how much the customer is willing to pay. In this article I talk about this more in depth, based on my personal experiences and I include a helpful formula for pricing handmade items.

WHERE/HOW TO SELL

Again, you really don’t have a business until you have a way or location to sell. To begin with, this can be as simple as selling to friends and family and gradually growing your brand by word of mouth. This is an excellent way to sell initially. It allows you to get a feel for it, you don’t have to pay for advertising, hosting and processing fees and as already mentioned it can help you to determine demand.

I’ll put in a little caveat here that some sellers find it a negative experience selling to family and friends. I have heard quite a few people say that those who are closer to them expect heavily discounted prices, free products or just to pay for the cost of materials but not your time.

On the other hand, those who are familiar with what you do may have a better understanding of the time, skill and quality of materials you put in to your work.

This is something you can explore for yourself and hopefully it is a positive experience for you!

It is quite simple to get started selling online these days. The main avenues I recommend are Etsy and Shopify. Which one suits you will depend on a number of factors and for that reason I have provided a comparison between the two here.

Personally I am moving away from Etsy to focus more on my Shopify store as Etsy is changing and not for the better, in my opinion. Shopify does offer a trial where your first month is only $1, plus you actually earn credits on your own sales to help your shop pay for itself – this is a great deal if you’re curious as to whether it would be a good fit for you.

MAILING LIST

Start a mailing list from day one. No, really!

This will become one of the most important aspects of your business as it allows you to not only contact your audience in a reliable way (you can’t necessarily rely on social media platforms for this) but they are also qualified leads. People sign up to your mailing list because they are interested in what you do.

I use Convertkit for my mailing list and have for many years because they have the best functionality and are constantly improving. Yes, it does get more expensive as you gain subscribers and as you start using automations but for those starting out it is free way to start growing a list.

You can get subscribers to your mailing list in many ways. The first way is to just ask them to sign up if they are interested in your work and provide a way for them to do that (with Convertkit you can make landing pages).

You can also provide an incentive for sign up. Examples could include a discount to purchasing your products, a free guide, downloadable PDF or some other small incentive that provides value to your audience.

TAXATION

Ew, the unglamorous side of business no one wants to think about! So you stow it away and not think about it. Until it comes back to bite you!

How do I know? Because I didn’t keep records to begin with in my business and that was a big mistake. To be kind to myself, because my business grew so organically I didn’t keep records initially because I didn’t think of it as a business.

Then it started making money!

No, record keeping is not glamorous, but trust me folks, you need to do it or you are making a big headache and a lot of extra work for yourself down the track. Make it a habit from day one and it becomes a part of your routine and it’s easy.

I started out by just using a spreadsheet to record sales and expenses, it was very simple. As your business grows you definitely want to look into account keeping software.

The beauty of doing this is you can set up automations (or have someone set it up for you if you have no clue – this is what I did) to make the process really simple for you. I use the online accounting software Xero to automate my record keeping. All of my transactions filter through Xero so when it comes time to submit my Business Activity Statements and end of financial year tax return, all the information is there and ready. Doing this has reduced my stress levels significantly!

BE PATIENT

Building a business takes time, and so does learning business skills. I’m 8 years in and still learning, but that’s ok, you tend to learn what you need to know as the business grows.

Be willing to try new things as the same methods won’t necessarily work for everyone.

A slow growing business, in my opinion is advantageous as it allows you to learn and adapt as you need to. It will teach you a lot about yourself and what kind of business owner you want to be – embrace the slowness!

I hope this article has been helpful to you and given you some ideas for getting started. I have some additional resources here in case you want to do some more research:

3 ways to start selling online for free…

Do you want to start selling your weaving?

What would I do differently if I started selling now?

Selling for weavers online class (members only)

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

*This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.

Lost your creative mojo? Read this!

by Kelly 10 Comments

Every creative person experiences a loss of mojo at some point.

You know that feeling when you really want to be creative but you either can’t figure out what to do, or you simply don’t have the mental or physical energy to begin?

Thankfully there are some concrete steps you can take to make your way out of this uninspiring headspace and regain that creative mojo.

Here are the tips that always get me back on track:

HEALTH FIRST

An absolute essential is to take stock of your current overall health status. Have you been looking after yourself physically and mentally? Are you getting adequate sleep? Is your loss of mojo a result of over tiredness? If you have a chronic illness are you getting correct treatment or doing all the things you know you should be doing to avoid flare ups?

Although it’s not something that you can necessarily get on top of right away, it’s something that needs your attention first. If you have been neglecting any aspect of your health, start taking steps right now to improve that situation!

MESS IS STRESS

Cleaning up your creative space when you’re lacking energy may not sound like the best advice, but for me this is one of the best ways for me to feel inspired again.

I find that a cluttered space can also make me feel cluttered mentally, which is stifling to creativity. I never regret having a good old fashioned clean up as it allows me start afresh and start to feel like so much is possible again!

Another side benefit of cleaning up your space is you often rediscover lost materials, ideas or even partially started projects. Sorting these things will help you to prioritise and decide on what to do next. Sometimes that will be working on a project to get it finished and sometimes it could be more ideal that you get your creativity flowing again by starting something brand new.

Once you start cleaning you may not feel like stopping. Perhaps you will come up with a new layout or more ways to organise your creative stuff for the future too.

RESOURCES FOR INSPIRATION

Inspiration is actually everywhere, we just don’t always see it.

When I’m lacking mojo I love to flip through some of my favourite books. It can remind me of ideas I’ve already had or weaving drafts I’ve been wanting to try, or it can give me an idea for a new project.

It can be helpful to search on Pinterest and grab some new pins for your inspiration boards.

Youtube is an amazing resource for learning and inspiration where you can find almost anything you want to learn. Did you know that I have almost 400 videos on my weaving channel now? I also have a second channel, Providence Ridge that is a great source of inspiration.

Premium Membership

Access to full class library for one annual fee. All prices are in US dollars

1796 students enrolled

Last updated Apr 8th, 2025

Select a Pricing Plan

Premium membership$157/year

Buy now

You can find more online inspiration in the form of podcasts, Facebook groups and other online communities. When you have a membership with the Online Weaving School you gain access to a wonderful members only group.

GO AWAY

Here is another idea that seems counterproductive but actually works – get away from your familiar surroundings for a little while!

You know what they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder. By removing yourself from what you’re accustomed to seeing and doing you can come back to it with fresh eyes and a new appreciation.

Not only that, but often you will find new inspirations in a different setting. Whether it’s a nature hike, a visit to the beach, a road trip, visiting galleries or so much more, you can be inspired by nature or things you don’t see everyday.

TRY SOMETHING NEW

Perhaps you’re feeling bogged down by your craft. How about trying something new? I have done this frequently over the years and what I have discovered is that, rather than take me away from my main craft (in my case – weaving!) the more skills you learn the more you can contribute to that chosen craft.

And if you do try something new and feel that is the right time for you to move away from what you have been doing into this new endeavour, that is also a good thing. As an artist/craftist/maker we often feel compelled to be creative and to use our hands to make things. We don’t need to restrict ourselves in this and there are so many ways to achieve artistic expression.

I hope this article has been helpful to you!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Should I start with Etsy or Shopify?

by Kelly 4 Comments

Opening your first online shop is such an exciting experience!

When I first started out as an Etsy seller in 2008 there were really only a couple of options for handmade sellers. Etsy is the one that has stood the test of time, but in 2024 you have a lot of choices when it comes to selling online and it may be difficult to choose one that best suits you, your products and your budget.

I sold my handmade goods on Etsy for many years and in the past 5 years I have moved almost exclusively into selling digital products. For me, digital products looks like hand weaving PDF patterns and ebooks.

This year, for a variety of reasons, I decided to open a Shopify store. This store contains the same patterns and ebooks as my Etsy store and the customer experience is quite similar. For now, I am keeping both stores open, and I will explain why as you read on.

Etsy has changed considerably since I opened my first shop there 16 years ago. Many of the changes (in my opinion) have not been for the better and that is why I have started my own store, on my own terms elsewhere.

I still do recommend Etsy for absolute beginners though, and we will have a look at the reasons why.

I’m going to take you through what I consider the pros and cons of Etsy and Shopify as well as how much my monthly fees cost.

Etsy Pros:

It is still a great option for absolute beginners. It’s easy to make an account and start listing products. All payments are processed for you and the templates are simple. Basically, you don’t need a lot of tech knowledge to get started.

One of the main attractions of Etsy for newbie sellers is the tiny financial outlay. The only initial cost you will pay is 20 cents to list an item.

If you don’t make any sales for the month all you will be asked to pay is the 20 cent listing fee, so this is great for beginners as there is very little risk.

The other huge benefit to having a shop on Etsy is that it is a marketplace. This is great for those who are just starting out and may not have a customer base already.

Etsy Cons

Once you make a sale you must pay fees. Any you may be unpleasantly surprised by how much those fees add up to!

Yes, you start out with your very low 20 cent listing fee, but once a sale is made there is a transaction fee of 6.5% (this is even charged on your shipping amount) followed by payment processing fees. The payment processing fees will vary according to your physical location.

I mentioned in the “Pros” section that Etsy is a marketplace, and that can really help to build a customer base. Conversely, that marketplace can work against you because you have so very many competitors and it can be hard to be seen and found by new customers. There are many things you can do to optimise your listings but if you want to increase your reach Etsy will expect you to pay more for that in the form of offsite (which you can’t opt out of!) and onsite ads.

Now, another way in which a marketplace on Etsy can be a disadvantage is that when someone clicks on your listing to take a closer look, Etsy shows additional listings below your listing from other sellers. Effectively, they are using your page space to advertise other sellers!

Here is a screenshot example: I clicked on a knitted rabbit pattern listing from the wonderful Little Cotton Rabbits. When I scrolled down the listing page a little, Etsy had lists and pictures of similar items from other sellers and then underneath that there are more listings from other sellers under “You may also like”.

Underneath that, there are even more collections of other products to browse and related searches to explore.

OK, I get it, Etsy is a business, they exist to make money and they don’t care if they make a percentage of your sale or from another seller. But it certainly doesn’t help me, the seller, if my page advertises other sellers and I am not compensated for that.

On Etsy, you can’t collect emails in an automated fashion to be able to build and contact your customer base. This means that If anything happens to your Etsy shop you can’t get in touch with existing customers and you also can’t use Etsy to build a mailing list (an essential part of any business startup).

You also don’t own your shop and can be removed from Etsy at any time without warning. This has happened to many sellers who inadvertently or mistakenly breached copyright and had their shops removed. It can be a laborious and time consuming process to get a shop back and results in lost revenue while you’re trying to sort out the issues with Etsy customer service (which can be frustrating, to say the least).

I understand why Etsy does deactivate or remove shops, as copyright can be a huge issue in the selling field, but they seem to throw everyone into the same pool without carefully looking at individual circumstances. An example of this would be if a seller had made a short product video for one of their listings, and in the listing the seller is wearing a branded t-shirt. This can be seen as an instant copyright breach and the seller can be penalised, meanwhile the seller is wondering what on earth happened, as they were just wearing what they were wearing that day when they filmed the video!

A beef that I personally have with Etsy is that it is unrecognisable from back when I started, when it was a truly handmade marketplace. It felt niche and special in those days. Now they allow “vintage”, “supplies” and even print on demand. It feels more like a commercial shopping centre.

Shopify Pros

Shopify has a professional, clean and customisable look. Even if you don’t customise anything it still looks great and is easy to navigate.

It’s easy to setup and use and payments and ordering are simple processes

One of the best and most important part is that your own shop on the internet, you own it and can collect emails of your customers. You set your own parameters and no one can take the shop from you.

You can have a domain name of your own choosing for your shop, so it’s easy for customers to find.

Shopify Cons

You need to have a way to get eyes on your shop, Shopify is not a marketplace. If you already have an audience (especially in the form of a mailing list) it won’t be hard to share your shop link. But if you’re starting from scratch it’s going to be much harder for potential customers to find your shop.

The monthly fee that Shopify charges as hosting fees is charged whether you make sales or not. This can be a big disadvantage to a newer seller unless you get a lot of sales right away.

In addition to the monthly hosting fees, there are other fees that you will likely have to pay for customisation. This is not something that I realised when I first signed up for Shopify – I assumed that everything would be covered by the monthly fee. I use some apps for things like displaying customer feedback and social media icons.

Speaking of fees, I’m going to share some of my financials for both Etsy and Shopify to give you an idea of what to expect. Please note that my sales for both can vary immensely from month to month, this is particularly relevant to the Etsy figures considering they take a percentage of earnings.

FEES – Please bear in mind that these are my figures. Yours may look quite different.

Etsy per month -For me, the monthly fees range from $50 – $1600 (yes, really!!)

Shopify per month – $42 per month plus apps of around $20 = total of $60 a month

When you compare these figures you can probably see why I started the Shopify store. Overall, for me as an established seller with a very healthy customer base (over 12,000 sales on Etsy at the time of this article) Shopify fees work out at a much more affordable rate and are not dependent on my total sales for the month.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON SHOPIFY-

I wanted to share my thoughts as a newer user of Shopify. My sales in my Shopify store have been slower than I had hoped, but that is business in general in the present climate. I’m seeing slow sales in the Online Weaving School, my Etsy store and my affiliate links. There is a lot of economic uncertainty and inflation remains high, this is all having an impact on my business.

Also, having been on Etsy for 16 years, customers are comfortable with seeing and buying from me there. They are familiar with the process and they know where to find me. Not everyone likes change and I completely understand that.

Hopefully people will start to use my Shopify store more as time goes on as I would prefer to continue moving away from Etsy.

If you are interested in starting your own Shopify store, be sure to use my link to sign up! You can get your first month for just $1 when you sign up for a free trial, which is a great way to try out Shopify and see what you think.

Or if you are wondering about different avenues you can take for getting started selling your handmade products, check out there articles:

3 ways to start selling online for free!…

Do you want to start selling your weaving?…

3 Etsy essentials…

My 11 income streams…

What I would do differently if I started selling now…

I hope you found this article helpful in making a decision for yourself and your own needs as a seller or potential seller.

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my disclosure policy.