My Story
Hello everyone! Welcome to Little Patch Creations - the website!
My name is Samantha McGair and I am the creator and owner of Little Patch Creations. My business started as an idea in 2012 and then later in the start of 2014 I created a facebook page to share my crafts and hobbies with friends and family.
( This is an image of my logo, this was the beginning of it all ! I started scribbling on fabric trying to think of a name and logo for my business. This is the first ever uploaded photo to my Facebook page )
During 2014 I started making choker necklaces and this is when my page started to attract audiences from all over Australia! In October 2014 I held my very first market stall at the Willows Rotary Market in Townsville ! To my surprise I almost sold out. I went with two full racks of jewellery and was accompanied by two of my close friends. We were absolutely flat out the whole 4 hours of being there.
( Photo from my very first market )
This was the turning point for me and I knew from that day on that I wanted to continue this. I wanted to make something big for myself. I worked really hard the following years attending many markets and even started travelling to many festival markets such as Wintermoon, Palm Creek Folk Festival, Tablelands Folk Festival and I even tried my luck at a bush doof - Mushroom Valley. I was so determined and driven to keep creating because not only was I making money from my little hobby but I had such an amazing group of people supporting me and many repeat customers!
( Photo of myself at the Strand Markets in Townsville )
( Photo of my market stall in Willows Shopping Centre for the annual Christmas parade )
( Photo at my first ever festival market - Wintermoon 2016 )
( Easter Market at Willows Rotary Markets )
( Set up at Cotters Markets in Townsville city for a Christmas Market )
( Each market I would update this cork board so that everyone who passed by my stall would see all my happy customers. )
In August 2015 I created my first clothing item to sell within my business. It was shocking. It had no shape and it was not supportive at all but I was proud and lots of people loved the idea of Little Patch Creations selling clothing.
( This was the first ever design I released to my business )
( They were a hit at markets! I even started making them reversible )
My name is Samantha McGair and I am the creator and owner of Little Patch Creations. My business started as an idea in 2012 and then later in the start of 2014 I created a facebook page to share my crafts and hobbies with friends and family.
( This is an image of my logo, this was the beginning of it all ! I started scribbling on fabric trying to think of a name and logo for my business. This is the first ever uploaded photo to my Facebook page )
During 2014 I started making choker necklaces and this is when my page started to attract audiences from all over Australia! In October 2014 I held my very first market stall at the Willows Rotary Market in Townsville ! To my surprise I almost sold out. I went with two full racks of jewellery and was accompanied by two of my close friends. We were absolutely flat out the whole 4 hours of being there.
( Photo from my very first market )
This was the turning point for me and I knew from that day on that I wanted to continue this. I wanted to make something big for myself. I worked really hard the following years attending many markets and even started travelling to many festival markets such as Wintermoon, Palm Creek Folk Festival, Tablelands Folk Festival and I even tried my luck at a bush doof - Mushroom Valley. I was so determined and driven to keep creating because not only was I making money from my little hobby but I had such an amazing group of people supporting me and many repeat customers!
( Photo of myself at the Strand Markets in Townsville )
( Photo of my market stall in Willows Shopping Centre for the annual Christmas parade )
( Photo at my first ever festival market - Wintermoon 2016 )
( Easter Market at Willows Rotary Markets )
( Set up at Cotters Markets in Townsville city for a Christmas Market )
( Each market I would update this cork board so that everyone who passed by my stall would see all my happy customers. )
In August 2015 I created my first clothing item to sell within my business. It was shocking. It had no shape and it was not supportive at all but I was proud and lots of people loved the idea of Little Patch Creations selling clothing.
( This was the first ever design I released to my business )
( They were a hit at markets! I even started making them reversible )
As time went on the "choker trend" started to die and I was left feeling a bit worried for what that would mean for this business. However this was when I started to get a bit more creative with the clothing I was selling. I started to make bralettes, crops and very simple skirts.
( Photo of my first ever bikini style and corset crop- I still sell the Corset Crops today in that same orange celestial print! )
( Sequin Skirts I started to sell. Looking back at these I remember they were so poorly made but I was so proud and I was all self taught )
I started to also become friends with so many different people including many local creatives. I then began to collaborate with a lot go them as I really wanted to create some amazing content for my page. It was stressful but also so much fun organising photoshoots. I had the opportunity to work with models, photographers, makeup artists, hairdressers and I even had a videographer help out in one of my shoots. I was so excited to see these projects come to life. Seeing the final images made it all worth it.
( First ever shoot - I was the photographer for this one and I got to work alongside 4 beautiful models and a makeup artist )
( It was such an amature photoshoot but I had fun and was so excited for the end results )
( One of the images from the shoot- a Groovin the Moo inspired photo )
( Photo from my second collaborative shoot. This one was such an incredible experience especially because I got the opportunity to work with so many different creatives )
( BTS photos- getting ready at Touch Of Utopia Townsville )
( Final Images were taken at the Townsville Show )
The following photos were from another collaborative shoot
I am so grateful I was included all these collaborations as it helped Little Patch Creations grow and attract a lot of attention from so many girls in Townsville. I became quite well known for being the local handmade festival clothing business and because of that so many girls started to support me when it came time to find something to wear to Groovin the Moo. While sitting in my room creating all these festival pieces for everyone else I realised I hadn't even been to a music festival myself.
In 2018 I decided to attend Groovin the Moo in Townsville. I went along not knowing hardly any of the artists playing however I wasn't there for the music. I was there because I was so excited just to see all my customers in their handmade items! It was such an amazing experience. So many people ran up to me to take photos together. Some girls even remembered me from when I was only selling necklaces. It was such an incredible feeling.
( Myself at Groovin the Moo Townsville - 2018 )
I continued to work really hard, so many late nights and early mornings making sure I was staying ontop of my orders. In the end of 2018 I was nominated and won a "Pride of Workmanship" award through Rotary. This felt like a huge accomplishment and it was such a great feeling knowing all my hard work was paying off and was appreciated by so many people.
2019 was the biggest year yet. I was flat out at the start of the year with Groovin the Moo orders. I alone completed close to 500 items over 4 months while also balancing my part time job and charity fundraising. I then celebrated my success by once again attending the festival. I also had the opportunity to appear in the Townsville Eye twice that year - one of which made the front cover ! I was so excited when I picked up my copy of the paper that day!
The madness continued as the year went on - more late nights and early starts. Then when October came around I packed up my entire house and moved to Yeppoon - this was something I had planned from the start of the year and wow it surely was an interesting process going though all my fabrics I had collected over the last few years.
When I was all settled in my new home it was time to reopen ! The day I announced that I was reopening I had Win News Rockhampton contacting me asking to do an interview. This felt like such a good sign, to be noticed immediately after opening up in a new place ! I appeared on the news that week, which was watched by people all over Central Queensland. I even had one customer tell me she saw it in NSW later that week. It was incredible.
( First time appearing in the Townsville Eye )
(In 2018 I started donating $1 per order to Variety the Children's Charity to help sick and disadvantaged children all over Queensland. I raised well over $600 just in that year)
( Second appearance in the Townsville Eye! Little Patch Creations clothing made the front cover! )
( Groovin the Moo - 2019 )
( I started to film and post little sewing and unboxing videos to my Instagram - This attracted a lot of attention and engagement on my page )
( First day open in Yeppoon and I had Win News interviewing me! )
2020- The year that changed it all. Bushfires, Floods, Global Pandemic
and for me it was the year that ALL festivals were cancelled.
I was terrified but I continued to create. In April that year I decided to introduce casual wear into my range and it was a hit. My first release almost sold out in 30 minutes.
Despite the craziness of 2020 I accomplished so much! I spent time improving my designs, collaborating with other brands, making new friends, raising over $3,500 for Variety and I created a Tik Tok account where I posted daily. By the end of the year I accumulated myself a new audience of over 90,000 followers. My videos were seen my millions of people and I started to get new customers from all over the world.
In the end of 2020, my partner and I moved back to Townsville. Our year away in Yeppoon taught us so much but most importantly it made us realise how much we truely missed Townsville. This place is so important to us as it is where I started Little Patch Creations and overall it is the place that feels like home.
Little Patch Creations is now a very well known business that attracts customers from all over the world. This website is built specifically to allow customers to design their own dream outfit! It gives them the freedom to pick a design, pick a fabric and then have that item made to their measurements.
Each item is lovingly handmade by me. I am the only one behind Little Patch Creations. This may change in the new year however up until now I have done this all on my own. It's been a huge learning experience. I have gone through some really tough times- I have had so many late nights, I have made mistakes, I have cried a lot and I've even stressed myself out so much to the point where I've ended up being sick. However... I have never given up. I stuck to it and I worked extremely hard to be where I am today. I am so proud of myself and my business. The growth I've been though is incredible and I wouldn't change it for the world.
For those wanting to start a business or do something they are passionate about... all I can say is... do it ! Start somewhere. You do not need to know everything from day one. You can do anything you like as long as you are passionate about it and don't give up ! Be yourself too ! I know thats generic advice but it is so true. People will love you for just being honest and raw about who you are, what you like and what you believe in.
To those who have supported me over the years thank you. You are the reason I continue to do what I love and that honestly means the world to me.
Samantha McGair
Little Patch Creations
xo
