A woman who took up crochet during lockdown now makes $80k from her side hustle - selling soft toys on Etsy.

Genna Tatu, 26, started crocheting in January 2022 after her mum bought her a kit for Christmas.

She started spending 20 hours a week making plushies - including gingerbread men, sunflowers and rhinos - and realised there was a market for her creations.

Genna started selling her crochet plushies on Etsy for between $10 to $200 a pop and her digital design templates for $5 each.

Within two months she made $1000 and she's gone on to make $80k in just one year - while still holding down her full-time job as a financial consultant.

Now Genna has made over 400 plushies and spends between 15-20 hours doing it each week.

Genna, from Meridian, Mississippi, US, said: "I fell in love with crocheting and I was hooked - now I'm earning $80k a year."

"I am an artsy person in general, I was a knitter as a child but it wasn't as fun as crochet."

"With crochet, there is this world of arugami, where you make stuffed animals, I love stuffed animals so I started making my own."

"On Etsy alone, I have earned $80k this year. The crochet space is really getting popular and there is a tonne of opportunities for growth."

"I really want to think about where I want to take my business to, there are so many different revenues."

"In the long run I want to completely pivot to crochet as the market is there."

Genna fell in love with crocheting in December 2021 after her mum, Janet Tatu, 75,

bought her a cat jumper crochet kit.

She immediately fell in love with the craft and launched her shop - crochetbygenna - in January 2022.

Since launching she has made an incredible 400 plushies, creating everything from turtles and bees to chickens.

Genna said: "I spent the whole of January crocheting and accumulating all my plushies."

"I thought 'I need to do something with these' and started getting good at it so I thought it was good enough to sell."

"It has taken off from there, I was so shocked at how niche crochet is but there is a pretty high demand for plushies."

Genna makes plushies to order and also makes custom requests.

Over the last year, Genna said she has received some 'unique' requests.

She said: "That is where I found success - a lot of the crochet accounts only make them upfront and sell what is ready-made."

"I shop on a made-to-order basis, I show everyone what they could purchase but make it after they have ordered it."

"I have started doing commission pieces which are special to a customer."

"There has been some crazy ones - I have made a surgical tool. "

"One time, a girl sent me the fur of her cat who passed and I put the fur inside the plushie."

"We get some pretty mad requests but I will do whatever people want which is what makes my shop special."

As well as making plushies, Genna also makes patterns - a series of steps that are repeated several times across a row - which is where she saw her business take off.

She said: "This past year I really got into pattern making, I felt comfortable enough crocheting that I could design my own."

"That is where I have really seen the number with sales, I am just one person - I can't just crank out $10k sales in plushies."

"I am at 13,000 sales on Etsy and the majority of them comes from patterns."

Genna's monthly earnings fluctuate but said on average she makes £8k plus from her side hustle.

She said: "January of this year I had my highest month yet which was 100 plushies."

"My price range varies per plushie but on average they range between $30 to $40 for my regular-sized ones."

"My smaller ones are $10 to $15 and my jumbo plushies go up to $200."

"I have a flat rate of $70 for my custom orders so no matter what you want it starts at"

$70 and based on the complexity, the size, if I have to order materials, it can go up."