Local makers & Creators
Susan Mehmet
Susan Mehmet
About five years ago I started ordering bear patterns as a new hobby.
Two years ago as my confidence grew, I started designing my own bears naming my two main patterns after my Mum and Dad (Molly and Peter). The hobby just grew and grew and many of my friends and family began receiving them as presents.
Last year I decided to start going to Craft fairs and found that I really enjoyed the buzz of meeting people and the emotional happiness of seeing people adopting a bear.
Choosing a name became difficult, everything I chose was already taken. Suddenly the name came to me. My niece in Cyprus when she was born eleven years ago I gave her a little baby bear. That bear is so well loved and goes everywhere with her even today. She named her Ashkim meaning “My love”. So Ashkim Bears was born in 2018 and as each bear is made a new personality appears.
Ashkim Bears
Susan Mehmet
The Work of Our Hands
The Work of Our Hands
Aims to support Syrian refugee women in Istanbul to stand on their own feet by giving them the opportunity to learn income-generating skills in a supportive environment.
Aims to support Syrian refugee women in Istanbul to stand on their own feet by giving them the opportunity to learn income-generating skills in a supportive environment.
Women come together in weekly workshops learning to make beautiful and good quality hand made toys and accessories.
As a part of the program they participate in resilience building workshops, and seminars on accessing health and other social services. 8-10 women participate in each group over a period of 5 months. Once a woman completes the program she joins a network of makers.
Stich is a great venue to display and sell the beautiful items made by these incredibly hard working women. There are over 3,5 million Syrian refugees in Turkey and women refugees are very vulnerable. With each item you purchase you support women’s empowerment.
