When sophomore Claire Quesenberry started crocheting, she never imagined where it would take her.
Quesenberry started crocheting as a hobby. But when her dinosaurs, penguins, desserts and more became popular, she started a crochet business which she calls, “Stitches of Love.” It operates on Facebook Marketplace, where she advertises her creations through posts and where people can order from her.
“People would be like ‘Oh I want to order this, can she make this,’” Quesenberry said. “That’s how I run my Facebook Marketplace business.”
Quesenberry’s other way of advertising her creations and running her business is through craft fairs.
“I do craft fairs two times a year, normally during Christmas time,” Quesenberry said. “I usually do one at Mallow Run every year, and then the other one [at a school], my first year I did Center Grove craft fair, then my second year I did Perry Meridian, and then this year we are trying to do Greenwood High School.”
Quesenberry is now heading into her fourth year of her crochet business, and she has come a long way.
“It started out as me just wanting to learn how to crochet,” Quesenberry said. “It was probably around November 2020. I watched a short YouTube video and taught myself.”
As soon as Claire learned to crochet, she knew it was for her.
”I just enjoy watching the process—When you start off with nothing, and then you end with this creature animal that you can bring to life by giving features, and giving it some sort of characteristic really,” Quesenberry said.
Claire not only does crochet for her personal satisfaction, but also for the joy of others.
“My favorite thing about crocheting is watching kids when they see my booths because I do craft fairs,” Quesenberry said. “They are just so happy when they see my booth. They love all the animals and playing with them and touching them. I just really liked the idea of creating something and it being something that someone might find comfort in, like creating something that would go in someone’s home, or that a child might have as a toy or a gift or something.”
Given that Quesenberry’s typical buyers are kids, at her booths you will normally find animals, something she really enjoys making.
“I enjoy making like any type of animal because most of the time they go to kids and it’s really fun watching their reactions,” Quesenberry said. “Some of the animals I do are penguins, dinosaurs, stitches and octopuses.”
All these animals sold helped Quesenberry to reward herself as she used her earnings to go to Europe.
“I went to five countries: London, Paris, Germany, Switzerland and Austria,” Quesenberry said. “It was a singing ambassador trip through Indiana ambassadors of music. I went with a group of about 50 and about 10 from our school. We got to eat new food and see amazing and breathtaking places. We learned 13 different pieces of music and we were in Europe for about 15 days.”
Despite all the rewards and benefits Claire has received from her business, the perks are not what motivates her to keep going.
“Seeing the reactions of kids or even adults as they look at my creations is enough to keep me going,” Quesenberry said. “Every year I am inspired to try new things and create something even better than the year before.”
Quesenberry said her experience has led her to have her own advice for other high schoolers interested in starting their own business.
“Start small so you can get bigger as you grow,” Quesenberry said. “Be ambitious. Figure out a way to promote your stuff and figure out a good way to get started. Figure out if this is something that will actually work out in the long run and something that people will be interested in.”
Quesenberry’s stitches are profitable, but according to her, they are made of love.
