Valley fiber artist stitches the community together
BY KADIE TAYLOR
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
VALLEY — Bambie’s Crochet Corner fiber artist, Amber Hartzog, said she has been crocheting for 14 years and loves to share her creations with her community. Hartzog said her grandmother taught her the basics in her youth, but rediscovered her love for the art through YouTube tutorials that taught her how to make plushies in her early 20s.
Hartzog said she turned her crochet crafts into a business during the COVID-19 lockdown, a time that connected her to customers and gave her time to work on her products.
“During COVID, I was, as everybody was, down and depressed about having to shelter in place, and I wanted a way to connect with my community through my crochet,” she said. “A couple of my family members asked me if I could make something for them, and they would pay me for it. I was like, well, I could probably turn this into a business if I got on social media and started putting my stuff out there. So, during COVID, that was an outlet for me.”
Since opening her business, Hartzog said community support has grown, and she enjoys selling products to locals.
“I get quite a few orders now, especially local orders,” she said. “I get a lot of local orders because they don't have to pay for shipping, so it's grown quite a bit. I've sold well over 200 plushies since I started selling in 2020.”
Selling soft and colorful gifts, Hartzog said most of her products are made to order, and some of her best-sellers are popular children’s movie and show characters.
“My products are mostly for little children and gifts for babies,” she said. “I sell a lot of loveys, like the blankets with the heads on them, and Winnie the Pooh items are really, really popular. I sell a lot of Winnie the Pooh loveys.”
Made with time and care, Hartzog said she enjoys the calming art of crochet, but each plushie she makes takes hours of work and dedication.
“It's relaxing, and it calms my mind,” she said. “I find it challenging sometimes, it's very mentally stimulating, and it keeps my hands busy, but I like to stay busy… It depends on how big a plushie is, but it can take up to 10 hours to make a plushie. I don't do it all in one sitting if it takes that long, I usually do it over a few days, so it takes quite a bit of effort and time to make a plushie, and people don't understand that because people don't really see how long it takes to make these things, and how physically demanding it is with your hands.”
Along with the time and dedication to make the plushie, Hartzog said she will sometimes even write a pattern to make a customer’s dream a reality.
“I do a lot of custom orders,” she said. “Someone will send me pictures and be like, ‘Can you crochet me something like this?’ And I'll find a pattern, or make my own pattern. I offer customizations for most of my plushies, so if they want a different color or something different, then I give them that option… Making my own patterns is a lot of work, because you have to write everything down, take notes and take pictures. So, it's a lot of work, but it's really rewarding. I really love to make my own patterns.”
With the growth of her business over the past six years, Hartzog said she is thankful for the community support and encouragement she has experienced.
“The local support is just amazing, especially coming from such a small town,” she said. “I grew up in Sampson, Alabama. Coming from such a small town, where everybody knew everybody, and nobody really wanted to pay to get a handmade plushie. Now I’m here, where there are so many more people, and everybody's just so supportive. I absolutely love it here.”
To purchase a product from Hartzog at Bambie’s Crochet Corner, visit Facebook, Instagram and Etsy and search for Bambie's Crochet Corner.
