FAMILY AFFAIR
Afterdeciding 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!
Jo’s daughter, Evie, helps her mum come up with all of Marlow and Chestnut’s amigurumi characters
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.