MY STORY

Hi, my name is Aldiana vd Merwe and this is my story...

In 2015 I started working at a new company, JWR, where I still work, & I saw one of my colleagues crocheting in her lunch time. I have started noticing crochet items in shops & found it to be really beautiful, so I asked her to teach me. She took me to a yarn shop to buy supplies. She showed me how to do it & at first I really struggled, especially with the thin yarn. I then went back to the yarn shop & bough t-yarn (t-shirt material). I can still remember that it was a dark navy blue colour.

I started to crochet with the yarn, without a pattern or an idea in mind. After a while it was the shape of a rectangle. I then folded it, stitched the sides together, took a few strings of yarn and tide it to each side & then, just like that, I made a handbag! It was the rugby world cup & I took the bag with when we want to watch a game with friends. My friends really liked it & asked me to make bags for them too. 

I then created a Facebook page, called it Alles wat Mooi is, & started posting photos of my bags & other items I crocheted. I started to get more & more orders & later shops started ordering bags to resell. My single biggest order for one shop was 40 bags. I was so excited & grateful, but also a bit stressed, as I still had full-time job & busy studying part-time towards to my Bcom degree.

  

I was approached by a baby boutique to supply them with various baby items, which allowed me to explore new ideas & expand my range. I made pillows, rugs, poufs, blankets, mobiles, wall decor, as well as baby shoes, dungarees, dresses & dummy clips. As I made it, I posted it on Facebook & from there orders just kept coming in. I had to put together a crochet roster to plan when I should make what &how long it is going to take so that I could tell my customers when their orders will be ready.

Please note that the little crochet animals were not made by myself - someone made it for me and then I used it to assemble the final product

I was making everything in our little study room at home & then packaged the orders in the garage for the courier to collect. We no longer had a cupboard for towels and linen, as I needed it for all my t-yarn balls. When went on holiday, my t-yarn had to go with & husband was always very concerned about how we are going to fit everything in the car, with my t-yarn taking up most of the space.

When I made the poufs, I stuffed it with foam chips & that made such a mess! It was all over the house, all over me & even the dogs. I started stuffing it the bath tub to try & make less of a mess - it looked ridiculous, but it worked. Fun times!

  

August 2017 someone asked me to crochet a big stuffed sheep for them. I finished it & sent her a photo, but then she said it is too big, she does not want it. Obviously I was disappointed as I worked really hard to make & I personally loved it. Luckily, someone at Home (Tuis) magazine loved it too & asked if they could use it for a photo shoot of a baby room. They also wanted to do a little article about me. I was beyond excited!

 

Dec 2017 I made my first basket - an owl basket. It was a massive hit, especially for baby rooms & this also featured in the online Chirstmas catalog of Home (Tuis) magazine.

 

2018 was the start of many new & exciting things, the most exciting, our little baby boy, Aldu, who was due in June. I registered the company, trademarked the name and launched a website which I created my myseIf. I expanded my product range & started stocking products from various local & international suppliers. This included jewelry, bags, shoes, clothes, home decor, planters, jams, nougats ceramics, body & bath products etc. (all still in our little study room). 

For the next two years things were great and I even had to get someone to assist with my crochet orders as I could not keep up. I however also faced many challenges like doing markets and not selling a single item, approaching stores to stock my products and being rejected - there were moments I wanted to give up, but kept on keeping on & my husband, Phillip, never stopped encouraging and supporting me.

Then Covid struck...

People were only allowed to buy essentials and my products were not, so I had to improvise. I put together gift boxes and gift baskets with essential items in it, like lotion, body wash, sanitizer, masks, baby products etc. People loved it as they could have these gift baskets delivered to their family and friends for their birthdays and other special occasions, as they were not able to go to them in person. 

 

Ps. Just keep in mind that at that stage, I also had a full time job and a 2 year old boy... luckily my husband is a very hands-on dad.

  

 

October 2021 I upgraded my website to a e-commerce store were customers could buy online. In 2022 we moved into a new house where I got my own very spacious area which I was able to convert into a shop. That allowed me to stock much more products and expand the range to offer customers a greater variety.

The demand for crochet items has declined a lot over the past 2 years and today I barely stock any crochet items. The art of crochet will however always have a special place in my heart, as it is the reason why Alles wat Mooi is was created & got to were it is today.

In the meantime, our second baby boy, Duan, was born in April 2023. I multi-task next level & do everything myself - source products & suppliers, do quality control, photograph products, upload new products to the store & write content, package & ship orders, handle customer queries, create marketing campaigns & manage the Facebook and Instagram pages. It is a lot, but my passion and love for Alles wat Mooi is and the joy it brings me and my customers, make it so worth while. I am extremely grateful for how far Alles wat Mooi is has come and I still have lots of dreams, ideas and goals for the future.

I want to end off with my little boy Astro, who passed away in March 2023 at the age of 12. He has been part of the journey, always at my side, and I miss him every single day.