Florafairweather 🌸

[Cubalibra]

Well spitspot whatever the IG handler name is; told me that she bought a load from chicwish. She has now deleted her messages and blocked me! She also deleted all her post about the cardigan!

 

[amsam]

MOD was what got me onto this site. Since then; a whole load of unfollowing instahuns has ensued on insta and my feed is all the better for it. I follow florafairweather as well and have to admit I've liked seeing her stories and had a fancy to buy a blanket one day. I can't understand a word she says though she mumbles so much! I'm so glad I typed her name on here; another I am unfollowing as despite not really understanding her speak I have always assumed she makes her own stuff and its always comments like had a busy day today, so only this available.
Although not quite as bad as an instamummy I think I'll unfollow as its just lies lies lies everywhere.... is there actually anyone on insta who is actually honest these days!

 

[HoneyBee]

Ah yes because Laura Ashley, cath Kidston & every other Shop in the world is sat at home alone making there stuff by themselves!!!!! I hope people soon realise what they’re doing!

We all know that. But your brand is literally built on the ethics that it is better than the high street, it’s personal and homemade and yet you’re doing everything you vilanise them for. People are angry because you have duped them and you are angry because you’ve been exposed.

 

[Cubalibra]

She is a massive crook! She bought her followers, you can tell they are mostly bots! I can’t believe I bought one of her blankets at such a ridiculous price! Next time I will buy it directly from the maker not some overly filtered Instagram page!

 

[JessicaFletcher]

I don't think enough noise is being made about this outside of this platform. I don't think many of Flora's followers on insta know she's a fraud. I've been tempted many a time to share it on my business page stories but am too scared of the backlash id receive. Its a really shit feeling to be worried about a backlash from a fraud's followers though! I think it could affect my page negatively so just have to keep quiet and carry on

I agree, it isn't being aired enough. It probably needs one of the bigger accounts to speak up. I've see a few I follow hint about it but if you didn't know what they were talking about you'd still be none the wiser!

 

[Rxqueen85]

When you see your own items YOUVE made your self , reposted on social media with no credit to the maker and sold on is awful , why didn’t I say anything? Because said person has a big following, and would it have done more damage to me or them , it’s hard to know,

Honestly I have found the crochet world to be quite ruthless!

 

[NotSherlockHuns]

Sold out as predicted since this morning!

 

[K87]

People need to start speaking out about it , I only realised flora wasn’t being completely honest when I see other Instagram pages selling the same stuff , to be fair I’ve seen a lot I’ve also seen a lot of pages with there own patterns but a lot of patterns what they are calling there own are just older vintage patterns modernised , it’s quite sad really that you do get the genuine people who do it for a hobby and are so delighted for every like and every purchase and then you get the ‘money grabbers ‘ who are just greedy and are out for what they can get , this then shons the real people who put time and effort in to there work in a bad light , mainly the bigger , more follower accounts seem to be more respected than the less real accounts who work hard , I think people think if they are kind to the massive follower accounts and support them they will then support each other and gain more followers , (out for what they can get ) where as the likes of pages that have not many followers seemed to get attacked

 

[JessicaFletcher]

Don't even get my started on spitspotcrochet! Didn't she used to be spitspitloves? I ordered an item off her once & I never received it. She was so difficult to contact, didn't reply to messages (or comments on her page!) then took ages to refund me. Other people said the same too. Never used her again

Yeah I've heard not very good things about her when she was spitspotloves. Perhaps that's why the name change.

I also find it odd she (spitspot) was advertising the cardigans only in the colours they happen to be on Ali express. She's now removed them and the post on her grid. I don't doubt she makes the majority of stuff herself but the cardigans seem a bit off.

Makes me really cross there are people putting hours into creating a business single handed and situations like this ruin it for them.

I run in some crafty circles, and alarm bells ring for me on the following... I think these are perfectly reasonable questions that any honest crafter would have no issue with answering

1. How do you deal with different tension. I am an experienced crocheter, yet I can make a square blanket of 100 rounds, and if my friend (equally experienced) made the same blanket I could guarantee there would be a difference in size and stitch shape/definition. Those 10 blankets you just posted a picture of are identical - also there's no way 4 people could make 10 blankets in a day, no matter how basic they are.

2. Who is the pattern designer of the cardigans you sell? I have scoured Ravelry, Etsy, and Google and can't find trace of a written pattern, but I can find many many other sites selling that exact same cardigan.

3. Why do you never show any progress photos? People who buy handmade blankets love to see pictures of the making process, its part of the appeal of paying extra for something handmade over going to mamas and papas to buy a blanket.

4. How on earth do you make a profit? One of those basic granny blankets is at least 5 hours work even for the speediest crocheter. You must be paying your freelancers pennies and buying some pretty cheap acrylic yarn to get away with shifting them for between 20 & 30 quid.

Ladies - there are lots of truly lovely people out there that make some pretty stunning blankets (FYI they'll all be posting loads of progress photos, its how they build their business), Florafairweather is one of very very few I've ever seen outsourcing "handmade" blankets - it totally defeats the object of buying something from an small seller on instagram.

Your points are excellent. I crochet fast and it would probably take me min 2 days to finish a baby blanket, if I worked on it all the hours of the day. It is possible that if she has 4 ladies who help that she could have 10 in a week but still the info coming back isn't really adding up here.

 

[Cubalibra]

It actually angers me how much false advertising these people are doing. Spitspot told me via Instagram DM (I wish I print screened it) that she bought hers from chicwish. She didn’t make them and the suppliers are in China!

 

[Lalaloopsy]

I bought one and absolutely feel ripped off, yes it’s still handmade but she’s basically makes a massive profit just coz she creates a cute Instagram feed, and I would prefer that the person who made them made that actual profit on them! I know buying and selling with a profit is just business but it just all seems a bit spurious to me

I bought one and absolutely feel ripped off, yes it’s still handmade but she’s basically makes a massive profit just coz she creates a cute Instagram feed, and I would prefer that the person who made them made that actual profit on them! I know buying and selling with a profit is just business but it just all seems a bit spurious to me

 

[Cubalibra]

When you see your own items YOUVE made your self , reposted on social media with no credit to the maker and sold on is awful , why didn’t I say anything? Because said person has a big following, and would it have done more damage to me or them , it’s hard to know,

Shit! You need to speak up!!!! Honestly this is awful! Really is!

 

[K87]

She dusnt make any of them , I followed another insgram who sold the same stuff and she was soo honest and said they was sourced from abroad the cardigans and the blankets bought off togaman I think it was on eBay , she provided proof too , in the end she removed it all off her insgram cos she was gettin a lot of hate from floras followers saying she was ruining her business , shes a fraud !!

 

[Mum2two]

I like Flora she has a beautiful home but I do feel a little duped by her insta now. If you are selling items that are no handmade don't lie and say they are. People know how much time it takes to make handmade so are happy to pay that bit more. But to make out something you are selling ie cardigans are handmade when they are not is lying plain and simple.

 

[NotSherlockHuns]

More proof. Remember the big round ones?

Also feedback by the same person on a lot of the items

OMG guys I feel totally cat fished!!! I was going to save up and buy one of those chunky ones for my soon to be new born!

They might actually be one of the few things she makes as they don't take long but who knows? But I'll try and find someone in the community that makes them and let you know!

 

[Notaninstamum]

Spitspotcrochet is also selling those cardigans as 'handknit by our lovelies' nowin all colours and sizes.

Don't even get my started on spitspotcrochet! Didn't she used to be spitspitloves? I ordered an item off her once & I never received it. She was so difficult to contact, didn't reply to messages (or comments on her page!) then took ages to refund me. Other people said the same too. Never used her again

 

[mechanicmum]

I just feel so awful for the original craftslady now, she should be the one selling them for £30 each, for all her hard work. Even then that's really cheap considering the time they take to make. I still feel so stupid for falling for FF

 

[mechanicmum]

I think if she was clearer about it and added a strapline like “handmade by the florafairweather team” then people wouldn’t be quite so up in arms about it - she could have even turned it to her advantage and showcased the ladies that make things for her. I had a scroll through her profile and website and it doesn’t make it clear that her products are made for her by freelance crafters.

And as for growing to the point of not coping, lots of handmade businesses have grown to the point that they have to close their order books for a period of time, and sell custom slots on a website. I only know of Frank&Olive who also got people to crochet for her.

The whole point of buying stuff off insta crocheters is that you’re buying direct from the maker. That’s why people are often prepared to pay a premium.

As for the price, she sells them ridiculously cheap & don’t even get me started on the price people sell things for on eBay, it totally undervalues the work that goes into a handmade item.

I agree with you, there's even a "who makes your clothes?" Campaign she could have got involved with

 

[JessicaFletcher]

Spitspot has blatantly lied, she said she had the knitting pattern and they would be handmade. Now she's backtracked and (very subtly) admitted they're bought in. They're both as bad as each other to be honest!

 

[mechanicmum]

Has it ever occurred to any of you that maybe when her shop started out way back in 2014 she did make everything herself! Her shop has grown, just like any small business hopes to do. There comes a point where there is one of you and too many orders/enquires for orders! Therefore you get help! She has explained she pays someone to help her make the blankets, this doesn’t mean the blankets aren’t handmade, she’s simply getting some help otherwise she’d have like one blanket for sale and you’d all be moaning her shop is always sold out. If you don’t like the price...don’t buy it or don’t follow. Simple!

Her aggressive explanation on here is the first I'd heard of this. Her page is very misleading