Haiyen Designs x Sheltered Co.
It's always been a pipe dream that Sheltered Co. be able to support and feature artists in LA. People who are creating with their hands, works of art with fabric—that's the stuff that makes our hearts sing. Which is why... it's been SO hard to keep this a secret:
We're beyond happy to introduce our little collaboration with Haiyen Designs! Haiyen is a local artist and friend of Pam's thanks to the wonderful world of community Facebook groups. Many moons ago, she made her first version of her headband from the scrap of fabric that Sheltered Co. blankets are tied up with (if you know, you know) and the rest is history! Read more below about Haiyen's journey to the design you see today, her love of Sheltered Co. fabric, and what's next for the brand.
And, hey! Check out all 8 of these unmissable headband colors here!
Sheltered Co. : What inspired you to start creating your beautiful headbands?
Haiyen : I’ve always made things with my hands since childhood—it’s what I’ve always loved doing. My grandma taught me how to knit and attempted to teach me to crochet but the latter didn’t really stick. I got the basic knot down but that was it. Whenever she got her hands on a ribbon or string, she did a simple hand crochet on it and eventually I did the same.
After the first noticeable overnight earthquake we went through in LA, my kids were anxious about going to sleep in fear of another earthquake. Through a local mom’s buy, sell, trade group I bought a used beaded weighted blanket thinking it might help my kids feel safer in bed. They didn’t like it so I tried it out. I’ve had insomnia on and off for most of my life. I’ve always woken up several times overnight for as long as I can remember. Sometimes, I’m able to fall back asleep on my own with meditation apps but since the onset of Covid, nothing helped.
The first night I slept with the weighted blanket, I slept through the night, but woke up drenched in sweat. The plastic beads and polyester cover made me, an already hot sleeper, even hotter. Second night, same thing: slept all night, but got super hot. Those were the first 2 solid nights of sleep I’d had in years. I eventually bought a cotton weighted blanket from Sheltered Co because I needed to be able to sleep without overheating! It came wrapped in a long piece of remnant fabric. Out of habit like my grandma, I started hand crocheting it. When I was done it reminded me of traditional Korean hair braids that I was never able to master with my own hair. So I tied the ends together and slid it on—it was the first headband that didn’t slide off or give me a headache—I was instantly hooked. I bought more fabric to make more for myself and had enough left over to make and sell some to members of our local moms group. They sold out within 15 minutes so I started making more. 6 months later, here I am!
