This week’s Friday Feature is the talented Charlotte from Cloth & Clay. With a background in costume making in the West End, and a growing love of creating pottery, Charlotte had the creative skills and passion needed to start her own business when the pandemic struck. Since then, she has focused on creating sustainable homeware pieces with a touch of luxury. Elevating everyday essentials (from tea towels to tablecloths) by using high-quality linen.
Let’s get to know more about the lovely woman behind the small business…
Being creative is definitely a big part of my identity. I’ve always loved making things, but I’ve also always enjoyed finding solutions to things by using creativity and thinking outside the box.
My earliest memories of being creative are being sat at my grandma‘s kitchen table painting as a young child. However, there are records of me being arty way before this – as you can see from the photo I’ve included of me painting in my high-chair as a toddler!
I’ve worked with fabrics my whole adult life in my career as a costume maker, but I started working exclusively with linen during the pandemic. I was searching for a creative outlet when the theatres closed and I had no work. I decided to start making items for my home, using my favourite sustainable natural fabric. I actually began dabbling in pottery a year or so before that, when looking for an alternate creative outlet to sewing that would be good for my mind, as the hectic freelance career I had built sometimes felt overwhelming.
I had a lot of free time during lockdown, and I was trying to distract myself from the worries of no work and no income by keeping my hands busy. I began by making homeware items that would be useful around my own home, but as each lockdown was extended, I was left with a growing pile of handmade items! I started an Instagram account, recording my makes and processes, and found that people were interested in buying the things I’d been making, so I trialed an Etsy shop, and it continued from there.
The hardest parts of running my own small business are keeping the momentum going when life gets busy, and having to wear all the hats. I’ve always been a maker, and sometimes a designer, but having your own business, you have to also learn photography, accounting, marketing, and much, much more! I find I always end up doing lots of the things I love (making), and a lot less of the things I’m not so good at (marketing!)
I think it would be really exciting to collaborate with other small businesses to run regular supper clubs, using Cloth & Clay linens. I love the community aspect of the small business world, and I think this would be a really fun way to bring creatives together.
I’d love to have grown the business to be super stable, with steady sales throughout the year, and to explore wholesale, being stocked in some well known stores.
Given all the challenges that women and small businesses face in today’s world, being a creative, female, person of colour running their own small business, I feel even more of a drive to strive for change and success. I don’t see the potential success of my own business or my own life as something that is just for me, but a small paving stone for the whole community, and for anyone who wants to pursue a similar path.
I’d say that my small business journey and experience so far has been quite a steep climb, but with each challenge comes amazing rewards – whether it’s a small sale, a large order, or the opportunity to collaborate with other inspiring creatives.
If I were to win a large sum of money for my business tomorrow, I would spend it on all the parts of running a business that are not my strengths! Getting some support with the admin and marketing side of things would mean I could focus on the making side of things, as that’s the part I’ve always loved doing most!
It’s wonderful how creativity can not only be a great escape from life’s stresses, but also the solution to a problem (such as needing an income when the world goes into a lockdown!). To see more of Charlotte’s beautiful linen creations, and her progress with clay, take a look at her Instagram: @clothandclayltd – and be sure to check out her website for her currently available pieces: clothandclayltd.com
If you haven’t already found us over on Instagram – why not come say hi and give us a follow. We would love for you to join the conversation and help spread the movement by liking and sharing our content.
Any and all opinions expressed by third parties in our content are not necessarily the opinions of FCS. All FCS content, including content provided by third parties, is intended for general guidance and inspiration. Third-party products and services mentioned in content have not necessarily been tested by FCS. Any content feature, mention of a third-party product or service, or link to a third-party business and/or external site, does not suggest an endorsement from, or affiliation with, FCS. FCS is never paid (or directly compensated) for any features, opinions, or information provided in our content about any third-party services, products, sites or miscellaneous topics – unless clearly stated otherwise.
