Get To Know Eileen of byiroiro
In 2022, we had the joy of working with byiroiro, a Singapore-based crochet brand that works exclusively with sustainable and natural yarn, to present our first collaborative gift sets. We first explored the idea a couple months prior to its release, but working on a project together has been a long time coming.
Bouquet, one of our collaborative sets, features Bellini — the candle Eileen got from us the first time we met!
Byiroiro is owned and run by Eileen, whom I first met at the Etsy Craftivist Fair in December 2021. Her daughter kept coming over to my booth to smell our candles, brought Eileen over, and we have been friends ever since! We were brought closer by the many things we have in common, including our care and commitment to the environment, our love for slow crafting, and our desire to share our processes with our community.
Coming from corporate and academic backgrounds, we also felt stuck on some things which seem to come a little easier to other creative makers. Neither of us particularly enjoy writing, and we tend to adopt a business-like style in our writing. We struggle with marketing our work because of this, especially with the ever-changing algorithm!
Eileen designs and crochets every one of her pieces. Image c/o byiroiro.
At the same time, our backgrounds working at computers or desk-based settings mean that we find a lot of relief and satisfaction from making something tangible with our hands, which wasn’t so accessible to us before.
As much as we bond over our difficulties in running and marketing a small business in Singapore, many of our conversations revolve around how much we enjoy making things and crafting, what we’re doing to improve our craft, and the new things that we’re trying out — like how I’ve just started learning how to crochet myself, although I haven’t been very consistent!
To us, slow crafting means following our inspirations and creative interests. We’re both experimental with the things we make, and for Eileen that comes in the form of creating new crochet patterns. We both approach our crafts from analytical perspectives — soap and candle making can be very scientific and systematic, and so is crocheting, with its patterns. The process of going from idea to end result usually takes us months.
Before production even starts on items like these cotton rounds and soap bags, months of work goes into designing and testing them. Image c/o byiroiro.
If Eileen makes a mistake while crocheting, or if an idea doesn’t work as planned, she undoes her stitches, reworks them and carries on. Likewise, if the scent I’m working on isn’t balanced, or powerful enough to evoke the memory or feeling I’m after, I continue tweaking the scent until we find the right balance.
Only through many rounds of trial and error, can we create a final product that’s original and unique to our practice. While my craft differs from Eileen’s, these shared perspectives and experiences give me a deep respect for her work as a fellow maker.
– J
Meet our collaboration with byiroiro
We’ve put together three special sets to welcome relaxation and self-care into your lives, just like how making them with our hands calms us. Each set features organic cotton washcloths and cotton rounds crocheted by Eileen, and candles and soaps from us.
