About LotsaLoops

Hi, I’m Stefni 👋

LotsaLoops is my little corner of colourful, handmade chaos. 💜

What started with a few scraps of upholstery leather and me wondering, “What could I make with this?” slowly grew into a collection of punch needle and leather accessories, all handmade by me here in Cape Town.

I’ve always loved making things and figuring out how to turn an idea in my head into something I can actually hold in my hands. Sometimes that means sitting with a piece of leather and working out a completely new design, and other times it means picking up my punch needle and seeing where a sketch, some yarn and a bit of colour take me.

Every LotsaLoops piece goes through several stages before it’s finished. I punch needle, cut, stitch, glue, assemble and finish everything myself, one piece at a time. There’s no factory or production line hiding behind the scenes — just me, my workspace, my tools and usually several half-finished ideas scattered across my desk.

I especially love finding ways to make things that are both fun and useful. That’s how some of my favourite 2-in-1 designs came about — little accessories that can be clipped onto your keys or bag, but can also be used as a coaster insert in your car’s cup holder.

Most of all, I want LotsaLoops to feel colourful, playful and a little different. Handmade pieces don’t come out perfectly identical, and I actually love that about them. Each one has its own tiny quirks and character — because somebody really did sit down and make it by hand.

A little more behind the making 💜

My workspace is where everything comes together — usually with a few projects on the go at once and my little toolbox of essentials never too far away. 😅

For my punch needle pieces, I mostly work with 100% cotton canvas and carefully choose the yarn colours for each design. Once the punch needling is finished, there’s still plenty to do before a piece is ready to leave my desk — trimming, finishing, backing, stitching and adding all the little details that bring it together.

For my leather pieces, I use genuine upholstery leather and a mix of traditional handwork and modern tools. Some pieces are cut by hand, while others are designed by my husband and me in LightBurn and precision-cut using a laser cutter. From there, I stitch, assemble and finish each piece by hand. I love that the leather has its own natural texture and character, so even when I make the same design more than once, no two pieces are ever completely identical.

Some designs start with a proper plan. Others start with me staring at my materials thinking, “Okay… what can I turn you into?” 😂 That experimenting is honestly one of my favourite parts of LotsaLoops.