Why I Started Chronic and Cozy

Hey there!

I have had medical issues for a lot of my life, but mainly my adult life it's gotten much much worse. I suddenly wasn't able to be conscious at work without eating every 20 minutes to keep my blood sugar and salt levels up. I was passing out and having stress seizures frequently from the amount of stress that I was under trying to manage my symptoms, my job, my health, and homelife all at once. i was severely struggling. After the advice of my doctors as well as my significant other and his mom, I left that job to go back to taking acer of the house and my health as a stay at home. Realistically, it will be possible for me to have a normal job again, but that's not going to be until I can work on regulatin gmy body better first. So, I decided to take the one thing that I love to do more than anything, crochet, and make it a place that I can hopefully bring in some money for my family, but also to be able to provide for people with disabilities.

From people in my family, to friends I've met along the way, I've learned a lot about what people need and want in the fashion industry. First of all, Clothes should be MADE. FOR. BODIES. Bodies shouldn't change for clothes. So, I've made all of my patterns reach up to a 4XL and order requests can be made for up to a 6XL. I also make disability-friendly clothes for all sorts of needs. From cane and walker handle wraps, seat decorations and wrist bands, to cardigans and tops that are designed to be easy to put on and comfortable to wear all day long. I've also learned that everyone has different styles, hobbies and passions, so I have included things like Trading Card Game Mat Bags and Dice Bags to my inventory, and I'm working on a couple of Harry Potter, DND, Magic The Gathering, and Pokemon themed materials as well!

Chronic and Cozy is meant to be an inclusive and fun-loving space, full of creativity and sharing life experiences. So if you're looking for your next influencer to share a political opinion, I'm afraid you've come to the wrong place, but I hope you stick around for the whimsy that I hope to bring to the internet.

I want to clarify that any advice, guidance, or care ideas I provide are NOT MEDICAL ADVICE in any form. Across all my social media platforms, my goal is to raise awareness about chronic illness and fiber arts, and to offer suggestions that might be beneficial to others. If you choose to try anything I recommend on my website, that decision is entirely yours. This is stated in my privacy policy and throughout my website. I do not hold any medical degree and am not presenting myself as a medical professional; I am merely sharing what has helped me with my chronic illness and how I manage some of my symptoms.

Back to origin story! When I was 5, my grandmother and great aunt taught me how to crochet, and it always was something that I would go back to in order to manage my stress or feelings. I loved to crochet when things were hard, for some reason, and I have a lot of old blankets that remind me of very dark times lol. But, when I lived in North Carolina with Jared, I started doing it to fill my time, rather than deal with negative situations, and it became one of my favorite pass times, and I rarely leave the house without a project now.

So one day, after I had been crocheting consistently for about a year and a half and getting better with every project, Jared was at work, and I started looking into all of the things that I needed to create a company in illinois. Since I wanted to go under a business name, rather than my own, I had to file a bunch of paperwork and jump through quite a few hoops, but I was willing to do whatever I had to in order to bring this to fruition. After weeks of paperwork and getting everything off the ground, my business license came in the mail and I was so overjoyed. I'm so grateful to be able to bring this business to light and to each and everyone of you for joining me on my journey!

Peace, love, and all the above,

Ella Marie <3