Anna Groff Creations: Crochet Meets Personal Style

Anna Bingle, a junior here at the University of Pennsylvania, has turned her passion for crochet into a small business. A design major with a minor in creative writing, Bingle’s journey to creating custom crochet pieces is a riveting one, so the WALK thought readers would enjoy learning a bit about her story:

Discovering Fashion Through Creativity

While she was always passionate about fashion, Bingle first explored this interest during her senior year of high school when she designed her prom dress. Unable to find a design she loved, she worked with a skilled seamstress to bring her vision to life. The experience of transforming an idea into reality ignited a creative spark; years later, after an injury left her in a wheelchair for some time, Bingle discovered crochet as a therapeutic outlet, teaching herself through YouTube videos. “It’s meditative,” she shares. “It helps me tune out while creating something tangible and beautiful.”

Turning Yarn Into Art

Bingle’s crochet creations range from sweaters and pants to bags and tops, with each piece taking 10 to 20 hours to complete, depending on its complexity. She typically prefers to utilize chunky yarns for their texture, warmth, and ease of use, though she also experiments with incorporating finer materials like mohair for more delicate, intricate designs.

Her creative process is organic and inspired by the world around her. From a spider web she spotted one afternoon, to textures and colors she notices in everyday life, Bingle documents her ideas in her Notes app, where they evolve into unique designs. “I’ll start with a vision, but as I go, it sometimes changes completely,” she explains.

From Hobby to Business

This year, Bingle took the leap to start selling her crochet creations. Each piece is bespoke, tailored to individual orders or based on her pre-made designs. Her Instagram, Anna Groff Creations, serves as her primary platform, where she showcases her work, either modeling herself or having friends do so. This foray into entrepreneurship was spurred by a photography project for her design class, where she combined her crochet pieces with analog photography. “That project kind of launched my brand,” she says. “It wasn’t planned, but it felt like the right time.”

Balancing Creativity and Penn Culture

Balancing a creative pursuit at a school known for its pre-professional culture isn’t easy. “It’s hard to be creative at Penn,” Bingle admits. “There’s a stigma around non-traditional paths, and some people don’t take my work seriously.” But for her, the joy of creating outweighs the challenges. “I’ve also found a lot of support from friends and communities like The WALK, which has been great,” she adds.

Looking Ahead

Bingle hopes to expand her work beyond crochet in the future. Her goal is to establish a more traditional fashion brand while keeping the personal and creative approach that defines her style. “Crochet will always be a part of what I do—it’s something I enjoy too much to give up,” she says. Through Penn’s bachelor of arts in Design, which allows undergraduates in the College to engage in the resources the Weitzman School of Design has to offer, Bingle is building the foundation for her future career. In her design courses, she gains experience, cultivates her skillset, and plays with new ideas, for example, crocheting canvases which she can later paint.

Advice for Aspiring Creatives

To students considering creative pursuits, Bingle’s advice is straightforward: “Take the leap. Try out clubs, take classes, and find a community of people with similar interests. Most importantly, focus on what makes you happy.”

Bingle’s story is a testament to the idea of pursuing your passions, even when they don’t align with conventional norms. With every stitch and every design, she’s not just crafting clothes—she’s weaving a future that’s entirely her own.

Featured Image Courtesy of Anna Bingle