Wheel What?
If you’ve been a devotee of this column for any length of time, you know that it features designers and companies that are not in the mainstream of crochet. Flip through our pattern pages and you’ll see patterns by incredibly creative designers, but here, in this forum, I present people who are so unusual in what they create that it will, I hope, make you say, “WOW!”
The wow-factor of this issue is Simeli, a Dutch company that produces something you’ve probably never seen or known of: decorative and functional covers for the wheels of bicycles and wheelchairs!
Simone Ursula is the creator and creative force of Simeli. The company name is a combination of her name and those of her adult daughters, Meia and Lisse. Simone is a crochet-only designer who took an item common in the Netherlands—dress guards for bicycles—a step further by creating attractive, practical pieces and offering covers for wheelchairs as well. She sees her work as jewelry for these means of transportation.
For those of us unfamiliar with dress guards, they are defined in the Dutch dictionary, Dikke van Dale, as an “oilcloth or plastic lining partially surrounding the rear wheel of a bicycle to prevent a jacket or skirt from coming into contact with the wheel.” They originated in the Dutch town of Staphorst. They not only kept long clothing from getting tangled in the spokes and chains of bicycles, but were also a colorful means of identifying one’s bicycle.
According to Wikipedia, cycling is a universal mode of transport in the Netherlands; 27% of all trips are by bicycle. The country consistently ranks high for most bicycles per capita. According to a German news and media website, www.deutschland.de, in 2019, the Netherlands was #1 with 17 million residents owning
22.1 million bicycles). So a dress guard would not only be a safety feature for a woman wearing long, flowy garments; it would also help her find her ride easily among hundreds of others.
Simone knows this well. She was born in Ridderkerk and raised in Haarlem, a city west of Amsterdam. She lives now in Nieuwe Niedorp, a small village in northern Netherlands with “my best friend” Paul, whom she loves very much and has known for more than 9 years.
Together, they have two cats, Kiwi and Mango, and a rooster and three chickens, interestingly named Pinot, Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Rosé!
Like many designers, the love of crafts is inherent in her family. Simone was taught to crochet at an early age by her grandmother and learned more from her mother when she was older. Crochet is the only fiber art she enjoys, but she also likes to paint. She likes crochet because “when you’re crocheting, you can listen to conversations”; unlike reading a book in which the reader is “in a different world. …With crocheting, you’re still part of the things which are happening around you.”
Simeli was founded about 10 years ago after Simone’s mother crocheted and surprised Simone with dress guards for Simone’s bicycle. She liked them so much that she made some for her daughters. The girls became advertisements on wheels and when the questions of how and where these covers could be acquired began, Simeli was born!
The idea of wheelchair covers took hold in 2019. Simone got into a conversation with a lady in a wheelchair at a supermarket. She came away with the concept of creating something similar to dress guards for wheelchairs. After a year of designing, developing, trial and error, the wheel covers were introduced by Simeli in the spring of 2020.
Both products are made only from 100% cotton yarn, chosen for its sustainability; Simone won’t use fibers which aren’t good for the environment. Simone improved upon the original dress guard design, which was attached by drilling holes in the bike’s mudguard. A unique, flower-shaped clip was developed in collaboration with Roy van Binsbergen, an artichitect who drew the clip in a special 3-D program. The Simeli clips attach the guards and
covers without drilling into the fender and can be easily released to launder the guards and covers.
Simone’s attractive and engaging website, www.simeli.nl, offers (at the time of this writing) nine dress guards for 28-inch wheels (a back fender is a necessity) and 13 24-inch wheel covers in a splendid assortment of colors. For a bride in a wheelchair, there’s a stunning all-white cover! Each piece is embellished with beads and comes with instructions, clips and other parts for installation. There are now ready-to-install pieces in two designs for each product, one of which features crocheted flowers! Each design is offered only in the colors shown; custom orders are not available. When this article was written, Simone was planning to add smaller wheel covers for children’s wheelchairs as a future endeavor. What better way to jazz up a kid’s set of wheels than with her “bling”? Buyers who prefer to customize their guards or covers can buy pattern kits that include an instruction booklet in English, the appropriate number of black clips and hardware for the cover or guard and a materials list of hook size, yarn, bead, and needle recommendations.
The wheel cover design is available as a dreamcatcher as well in kit or pattern only. Patterns only can be ordered in a downloadable format; the flower-shaped clips are available in various colors. You may need a currency converter when perusing the website as all prices are in euros. Simone estimates that 20% of her customers are from the the Netherlands—the rest are from all over the world.
Her designs are identified by women’s names. Some names honor family and friends, such as Jeannette and Nelleke (Simone’s mother and grandmother); others are simply names that are beautiful to her. Simone designs her pieces and when she’s happy with the finished product, orders are fulfilled by a production company that crochets the pieces—by hand, of course! (Unlike knit works, crochet pieces cannot be made by machine.)
Like many successful designers, Simone doesn’t have an educational background specific to fiber arts. She studied graphic design, a handy occupation as she designed her website, patterns and promotional material.
Paul and her daughters, both of whom live and study in Amsterdam, are good support for her business, especially with social media. Whatever she doesn’t understand, Lisse and Meia step in to explain. Simone also enjoys a part-time job in the marketing department of an international company. When she designed her website, Simone didn’t want to simply display the covers and guards. It was easy to style them on bicycles and wheelchairs in the idyllic setting of her village. But she wanted live models and came up with a clever and generous way to acquire photos of real women who depend on wheelchairs for their mobility.
Instagram was the messenger. She searched for women all over the world who posted attractive pictures of themselves and to whom Simone thought the covers would be appealing. She offered a free set of covers to ladies willing to post a good photo displaying the covers on her wheels on their own Instagram accounts. This response exceeded all expectations! The women were extremely enthusiastic and not only sent one photo, but continued to send and post pretty pictures. So the lovely ladies on the website are truly satisfied customers!
What are Simone’s preferences in the general scheme of all things crochet? She prefers ergonomic hooks, relaxes from her work with vegetarian cooking and gardening, and always takes a design project on vacations. She’s inspired not by a specific artist or designer but by the colors and forms of Jugendstil (“Young Style”), an artistic movement that was founded in the 1890s and was the German counterpart of art nouveau.
Be sure to explore each section of her website. You’ll undoubtedly enjoy the gorgeous and unique work of this very creative designer!
For wheel covers, dress guards, and dreamcatchers in kits and patterns: www.simeli.nl
Follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simeli.nl/ Email: simone@simeli.nl