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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-09-12, Page 15leisure, features ars ente ainment Serving over 24,000 homes in Listowel, Wingham, Mount Forest, Milverton, Ariss, Arthur, Drayton, Harriston, Moorefield, Palmerston, Bloomingdale, Breslau, Conestogo, Elmira, Heidelberg, Linwood, Maryhill, St. Clements, St. Jacobs, Wallenstein, Wellesley and West Montrose. Wednesday, September 12, 1984 „There seems to be a market for something new and fresh" Harriston woman's calico;.shop off to a great start by Lynne Pinnegar Editor's Note: Crossroads first did a story about Darlene Kuipers' calico crafts in December, 1978. At that time Mrs. Kuipers was busy making a wide variety of craft items, out of calico, in the kitchen of her RR 3, Harriston home. Since that time her business has expanded to such an extent that last spring she opened Calico Junction, a craft store on Elora's Mill Street. Crossroads paid her a retuln visit recently. 0-0-0 Darlene Kuipers of RR 3, Harriston had no idea when she first started making crafts out of calico six years ago that they would become so popular that in the spring of 1984 she would open, her..own craft store. But that's exactly what happened and on April 2 Calico Junction opened its doors in Elora. "It's done really well," Mrs. Kuipers says of the store, which is jam-packed with craft items, most her own original designs, of . every description. They range from wall hangings, to door stops to pillow -tops and placemats and items for baby, all made out of calico. There are also embroidery hoops and wicker wall hangings with applique designs, dolls, doorstops in the shape of turkeys, calico fly swatter covers and much, much more. Top quality calico fabric so people can try their hands at making their own calico crafts is also offered for sale. "The store's off to a very good start and, from the comments from people stopping in, I'm very excited about it. There seems to be a market for something new and fresh, Mrs. Kuipers says. Mrs. Kuipers, who had always made craft items for family and friends, first began making her items to sell at a friend's urging. From that small: beginning, she now has 15 women — mostly neighbors' and *omen froth her church — working for her part-time, sewing the crafts she designs. Mrs. Kuipers says the demand for her crafts was growing to such an extent that she could no longer keep up with the demand., "So I went to my neighbors and friends and yelled for help," she says with a laugh. "I trained the ladies to sew my articles but I still cut the items out for them." She was pleased to be able to offer the women jobs. "There aren't many major industries in our region and the women I have sewing crime from my area — it's an extra income for them and I couldn't do it without their help," she says. "I wouldn't be successful today if it wasn't for their assistance." In. the beginning, Mrs. Kuipers sold her crafts at home parties in the Harriston area and' with her girlfriend Gail Hunter/ (who makes tie quilts) at craft shows. She will still participatO in some craft shows this year - at Flesherton's Split Rail Festival, the International Plowing Match near Teviotdale and the Walkerton Heritage Festival — "because I didn't know what to expect hereat the store." From showing her crafts at home parties and shows, Mrs. Kuipers began supplying crafts to be sold at various stores. "I did a lot of wholesaling to craft stores in London, Grand Bend, Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa and Nova Scotia," she says. A story Mrs. Kuipers heard springs to mind and she laughs as she tells it. Apparently a woman from Palmerston travelled to Nova Scotia and came, home with a souvenir wall hanging from the Maritimes, only to notice. when she got home that it was made by Darlene Kuipers of Harriston, Ontario. Now that Calico Junction has opened its doors in Elora, Mrs. Kuipers' calico crafts are only available there and in a summer shop at Sauble Beach called The Sea Gull. "Linda Jackson just opened the'shop in Sauble Beach this spring and she really wanted my things to sell," Mrs. Kuipers says. "It's a. real asset to have her and her shop as a secondary outlet for my work." It was during the winter before last that Mrs, Kuipers began considering opening. Calico Junction. She said the business was just growing and growing to such an extent that she began realizing that opening a store might have potential. "I looked at where Steve's Sheep- skins (another Elora shop) is now located, but had in my mind that I wanted to wait until my baby was in school full. time," Mrs: Kuipers says. She is now grad she waited because the present Calico Junction store is much larger. "I thought I would start small and move up to a larger store like we have now, but this has worked out much better. I need room to work in, as well as display the crafts, so if I had started -smaller -I--would -have had to move anyway." Mrs. Kuipers does 50 per cent of the sewing herself, working at a sewing machine behind the counter at Calico .jnnctton 'and .designs .the' ntiaoritk`of crafts, coming up with new ideas constantly. She also works in the store daily, assisted by 16 -year-old Maaike Wiegersma of the Harriston area this summer, who is paid through a. government youth employment grant. "Maaike is my right hand," Mrs. Kuipers says. "She does all the cutting of . the fabrics for me and is really competent ih' the store. She just turned 16 but already makes all her own clothes. She's very talented." ' Mrs. Kuipers' mother, Kay Weber of , Ariss, close to Elora, also helps her in the store and in the actual making of the crafts. She specializes in Cabbage Patch dolls and specially designed rag dolls. Mrs. Kuipers said she decided Elora was the place for her store because' of the tourist nature of her business. "Harriston is a nice area and a greaf� place to raise a family, but Elora lends itself to my type of business," she says. Tourists make up a big portion of her clientelle in Elora and she has already taken brders ,for personalized crafts and mailed the completed items to the Western provinces and as far away as Scotland. Bus tours from Australia, Norway, England and various European countries have all stopped..at Calico Junction this summer. <ALICO. J4 1 nn .., 'Vv .7+r15 ^p^nhx CALICO JUNCTION, Darlene Kuipers store on Elora's Mill Street. DARLENE KUIPERS (left) is assisted by Maaike Wiegersma of the Harriston area in running Calico Junction, a store filled with Mrs. Kuipers calico crafts which opened in Elora this spring. Maaike's salary is paid by a government "There was one couple from Colorado who liked a king-size quilt that was on display: But their bedroom is done on a Chinese -oriental theme and one square (in the quilt) would have looked out of place," Mrs. Kuipers says. "So, they nr5W24-etiei.,done the way they wanted it an 'm busy making it now." Mrs. Kuipers says personalized gifts, with a little country nostalgia in- corporated through the calico material, are the most popular items she makes. Doorstops made in the shape of calico turkeys and wall hangings with the family name at the top and handprints of all family members in calico two items she has been making since the beginning — are still very popular. She recently began making calico wall hangings with pockets and wicker disc wall hangings with applique designs, both of which also sell well. So. do the calico covers for memo pads and memo hangars. "A chicken -shaped fly swatter cover is also very popular," Mrs. Kuipers laughs. "Nobody likes a dirty fly swatter." b "Each time- I design I try for at- tractiveness and something that is useful and personal;" she says. "Many people, when buying, see one thing and want something else to coordinate with it." . Mrs. Kuipers has also Seen. a big trend of people wanting to make the crafts themselves instead of buying the articles readymade. That's why Calico Junction stocks a wide variety of good quality calico fabric, quilt batting wooden dowels, thread and craft books "There are people who come through and never sew and know they c'an't do it (make the crafts they see) themselves and there are other people who come through the store and never buy anything. They just get inspired and go home and try things themselves,". she says. "And, there are people who Will buy a set of chair pads, for example, and then pick out the fabric to make matching place mats themselves." Only top quality calico is sold at Calico Junction. "Many people do crafts but they try using fabrics that don't give the nicest possible end result. ,If you put all that time and effort into making something, yousould use the very best fabric available." For the people wishing to learn Mrs. Kuipers' crafts, she has decided to hold workshops at Calico Junction this winter. During each one -day session, those registered will learn to make one craft article and the cost of the workshop will include all necessary materials. One day she will teach ap-, plique hoop design, another day how to make a door stop, another day the art of pillow tops and pillows and another mobiles and other baby articles. "A lot of people are" getting back to doing things themselves," she says, "or they wish they could do it. That's why I'm going to hold these workshops — so a' person can try one for herself and then go home and make many more." She believes it is much easier for people who will be attending the workshops from a distance to arrange to attepda one -day seminar instead of a series. A schedule of the workshops will be posted in the win at Calico Junction in September and rs. Kuipers will start taking plic tions for them during her wor g hours. Mrs. Kuipers says her success with her calico crafts and the opening of lfiico Junction .wouldn't . haye been possible without the support "of her husband Nick and children Peter, Nancy and Jessie. • "I, have a good husband and my children are so understanding," she says. "They still collect rocks from the farnlily farm, for example, to be used in the door stops." "They ,give so much of themselves and that's what makes this all possible," Mrs., Kuipers says, looking around at the abundance of crafts on display in the newly -opened Elora craft store. CALICO JUNCTION, one of Elora's newest craft stores, was opened by. Darlene Kuipers of RR 3, Harriston on April, 1984. It is jam-packed with a variety of crafts, most made of calico. DARLENE KUIPERS (below) still makes about 50 per cent of the calico crafts she sells at Calico Junction herself, as well as doing all the designing and cutting of the fabric for the 15 women she has employed part-time. She works behind the counter at her store in Elora. grant for the summer. Mrs. Kuipers also has 15 women employed part- time, sewing the calico crafts she designs and offers ,for sale.