Business Focus:
When Carmen Taljaardt found herself thinking that her birthday gift could be improved upon, she never imagined the thought would lend itself to a fully-fledged handcrafted hair accessories brand based in her hometown of Gqeberha.
The company name, Stitched PE, comes from Taljaardt’s love for sewing and crafting.
“It’s pretty simple, I wanted something associated with sewing. Every time you sew you are creating a stitch,” she says.
Her business is fairly new but demand for her products which range from scrunchies and hairbands to Alice bands and clips which boast comfortability, style, and affordability is high.
“I started in January 2020, after I received scrunchies as a gift from my sister for my birthday in December. When I wore them I wasn’t happy with how they pulled on my hair, how uncomfortable they were and thought why not create your own? Three years down the line, we are still sewing,” she reminisces.
Stitched PE started as many businesses do, a side hustle, but when Taljaardt found herself unexpectedly unemployed due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
“I was teaching entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills to young kids in and around Port Elizabeth.
“In November 2020, I was retrenched due to COVID-19 and thought let me give this a go 100%.”
What started as occasionally selling scrunchies at markets has grown into a full-time business that includes various ranges as well as custom items. Hair clips, party favours, scrunchie jars, and even hair accessory storage has seen her grow her customer base over the last three years.
Taljaardt also often collaborates with fellow small business owners to offer gift packages for selected occasions.
She says that although the crowd favourites fluctuate; “One month its scrunchies, the next its Alice bands”, she has been pleasantly surprised by the popularity of Alice bands.
“Adding Alice bands was inspired by a friend of mine. She pushed me into doing them as my core focus was scrunchies at the time,” said the one-man team who finds pleasure in creating beautiful, comfortable, and affordable hair accessories.
You can find Carmen’s products on her Instagram and Facebook and At Locally Yours – Situated on the 9th Avenue, Shopping Centre, Walmer.
041 Mini product review:
The products tested were comfortable and versatile. The elastic of the hair ties and scrunchies are soft and stretchy and Stiched PE uses hair-friendly materials such as satin to reduce hair breakage. The packaging is attractive which makes for cute gifts and the prices range from as little as R30.
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