FAMILY AFFAIR

After deciding to turn her crochet hobby into a business, Jo Bunclark of Marlow and Chestnut began collaborating with an unlikely partner - her own five-year-old daughter!

- Joanne Hunt

After being introduced-and re-introduced-to crochet by her mum, Jo Bunclark honed her skills and now runs her own crochet business, Marlow and Chestnut. Her children are her main inspiration and her designs reflect that-she's a master designer of cute and quirky amigurumi stuffed animals, all worked in a muted and stylish colour palette. Jo has juggled a lot in the last few years, with the pandemic affecting her main source of income, but she's remained determined to see this as a chance to live her dream of running a successful crochet business.

Jo's crochet journey has been a long one. She recalls struggling away at her childhood hooky projects under her mother's tutelage. "To say I was useless is an understatement," she laughs. "No matter how many ways she explained it, I honestly couldn't work it out!"

Fast-forward to 2016, and a pregnant Jo decided to give crochet another go. "I was already in a state of shock, as I'd been previously told I couldn't have children. I was desperate to make a baby blanket. My mum suggested trying crochet one more time, and I did. She deserved a medal for her patience! My passion grew and grew from there. This time it made a whole lot more sense. Perhaps it was having someone to crochet for."

And once daughter Evie - now five arrived, with son Teddy later joining the family, Jo took to crochet like never before. Already a keen artist, she developed the skills to sketch, design and then make her own toys. This grew into Marlow and Chestnut on Etsy, a place to buy patterns and toys handmade by Jo. "Marlow and Chestnut originated from two illustrations I did - one of a Red Panda and the other of a Monkey. We just put a load of names in a hat and picked two out. Quite random, really, but the names suit them really well," she explains.

PASSING IT DOWN