We talk to Mel, the owner of Sew HoneyBee Crafts and maker behind the wonderful new play spot collection.

Mel is a mother, a teacher and the talent behind sewhoneybeecrafts

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how Sew HoneyBee Crafts began?

I answer to many names, but my favourite is now ‘Mama’. I live with my partner of twenty years and our son, born in the summer of 2023, in Hertfordshire. I am a mother first, a part-time primary school teacher second, and an enthusiastic crafter third. My son and I enjoy our time together and attend different playgroups, zoos, farms and experiences, and I base a lot of our plays and products around these. I started sewing and knitting in 2015, but really started to carve out time for it during

my maternity leave, and have snuck it in during nap times and evenings ever since.

My friends and family are my biggest supporters and kept telling me to start selling my crafts after giving them as gifts over the years.

You’re a mum and a teacher, how do those roles influence the products you create?

My first products were bunting, table coverings and background cloths, and these were all for the children in my class for their continuous provision areas. In 2020, I turned my hand to face coverings and small items such as a pen, tissue and lipstick holders that could be posted in a large letter envelope, as it didn’t require anyone to take a trip to the post office in lockdown. For Easter 2020, I made bunny gift bags and face coverings to match and sold them in the staffroom and online.

When my son was born, I made fabric black and white high-contrast playmats and flashcards that we used for early development. Then, as he grew, I made him dinosaur, zoo and farm coverings to match our days out and play. We had lots of floor plays in his early months and soon transitioned to trays, tuffs and tables, so my sewing transitioned too.

I used to love putting him down for a nap, making a cuppa, sitting and my machine and creating, then rushing to set up a play for when he wakes. His reactions to a new play set-up are why I do it.

You can follow Mel's play journey with this smiley little one and lots of other inspirational play here

What inspired the creation of these beautiful play spots?

I have always preferred teaching the younger children in school, and I found this green grass material one day and thought it would make a good covering for their table for when we taught our ‘Farmer Duck’ unit. Then, after a while, it got all tatty as the threads were pulled, so I took it home, cut and hemmed it, and that was the first ‘play mat’ I made.

I, being the way I am, then made this into an addiction, more of a hobby! We soon had farm mats, zoo mats, coloured mats, and even mats to match our Catholic Liturgical Year colours, as we were in a Catholic school. They varied in all shapes and sizes and provided a beautiful texture element too.

Why do you think sensory and small world play is so important for young

children?

In my early teaching days, I used to think sensory play was just for my children who

were known to have special educational needs. How wrong was I! I soon found that nearly every child in my class was exploring the provision and saw its positive impact on regulating feelings and encouraging collaboration and speech opportunities with

peers.

This is the Tar Pit and Glow in the Dark Play Spot! Get it here

Can you walk us through your creative process, from idea to finished mat?

Most of my ideas still follow my son’s interests at the moment, but there are still many ideas floating around my head, and I have a small group of brand reps that like to challenge me too! I usually think of a play theme and then try to think of how I can make the most versatile products to accompany it.

What’s special about these play spots that parents might not know at first glance?

Our fabrics have been carefully selected so they can be used to represent many

aspects in play. For example, the red design was made for lava play base, but in fact, it could be used for the Christmas, Valentine's, and Mother’s Day seasons. They are UKCA certified, making them safe for children’s play. They are machine washable and

then require a cool iron. They are intended to be used inside trays, but actually some of my favourite plays have been when we use multiple mats on our floor or tuff trays.

Sew Honeybee Crafts Collection for Steg and Rex can be found here

What kind of play setups or themes do you love seeing with your play spots?

I still get that overwhelming feeling in my heart when I see a play pop up with one of my products in. It reminds me that I have created something for someone else that they are using in a way to enhance their child’s learning and play experiences. I especially enjoy it when I see them being used not as I intended, for example, when they are folded in half, creating even more opportunities, or they are not in a tray, or

they are used as a backdrop rather than a base.

A play spot in use here by the amazing Kerstin, find her play account here! It makes the perfect addition to prehistoric play. Also features lots of resources to shop with us!

What’s been the most rewarding part of running your handmade business so far?

The friendships that I have made through my account. I was always naïve about online social media and thought it was full of negativity, which I am not good at handling. I talk to some of these other play mums daily; this is more than my friends and family. I value those new relationships, even though we have never met in person. We have shared interests and a common goal: a desire to provide our children with experiences to promote their development and happiness.

Mel and her beautiful son!

Do you have a favourite play spot or colour palette from the collection?

Our stone and green spot has still been our most popular. The stone has been used for dinosaurs, beach, autumn trees, gingerbread, safari, forest floor, lions, and construction. It’s the one on the top of our pile and the one I would not put away into my seasonal storage box!

What’s next for Sew HoneyBee Crafts?

Steg and Rex have been my first wholesale/ collaboration, so I closed for custom orders so I had time to fulfil this special project. Since then, I have had collaborations with four other small business owners, and more are upcoming. I would like to reopen for customs or at least have some ready-to-post products for those customers

who were hoping I would reopen. I already have had some brilliant ideas with my rep team for a different range and collection of mats.