"Within 12 hours of the Skywhale going up we had a range of magnets in the shop...one said 'Skywhale' with a love heart and the other one said 'Skywhale, sky fail'...you've got to have something for everyone!"
You could say Rachel Evagelou has Canberra all stitched up.
Along with her business partner Julie Nichols, Rachel co-owns the award winning Handmade Shops and Markets.
Growing up, sewing was one of her hobbies.
"I've always sewn for myself, I made all my formal dresses," she told Alex Sloan on 666 Afternoons.
Rachel continued sewing after her kids were born because she didn't like the children's clothes on offer.
Soon she was sewing for friends and the hobby was growing.
"I just got addicted to fabric, completely, and just kept buying fabric and kept sewing more and more.
"Then my husband said to me, 'yeah Rach this is overtaking the house and you need to go and sell these'."
And so Rachel did, at the Bus Depot Markets, where "fate" brought her together with future business partner Julie.
"She said to me 'I have this dream where I want to start a new market in Canberra...I want to bring designers from all over Australia to Canberra'."
From this conversation, the Handmade Markets was born, quickly growing in size and popularity.
20,000 people now go to the markets and it's the National Convention Centre's biggest event.
Following this success, Rachael and Julie decided to open a permanent shop in Canberra.
"We'd been doing market research, talking to designers and holding workshops, so we thought let's do it."
The shop is run like a market; selling space to designers who otherwise would not have a cost effective outlet for their goods.
Like the markets, the shop is going from strength to strength, thanks in part to Canberra-centric, unique merchandise.
Soon the Handmade Shop will stock a new line of confectionary.
"We have a lollipop which says 'Canberra doesn't suck!"
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