To the untrained eye Lego is nothing more than a child’s toy – but to Rowan Grant pieces she swiped while baby-sitting became the building blocks of her fashion empire.

As a child, Rowan’s parents both worked full time, and when she visited her grandma on afternoons and holidays, out came the arts and crafts.

It was learning from her grandma how to sew and knit which awoke the creativity she has been nurturing since she was a schoolgirl.

Now, the Shipley-based designer is selling her quirky and colourful products online and has seen her profile rocket after being asked to provide stock to be sold at the flagship Selfridges’ store in London’s Oxford Street.

She said she began making fashion accessories after seeing other designers asking for what she described as “money for old rope”.

She said: “I was living in Lincoln – I’d started teacher training but I didn’t like it. I quit and I was unemployed.

“I went to a boutique and saw some simple earring hooks with ribbons tied on and they were selling them for £8. I was disgusted.

“I thought it was money for old rope and I could do something better than that. My boyfriend at the time had a child so I used Lego I found to make a bracelet, I put it on ebay and it sold really well.”

Rowan, under the alias of Kitschen Sink, now sells regularly at craft fairs, at Picture This in Queensbury, Bradford, at Silsden’s Projeto Gallery, and at The Bowery, in Headingley, Leeds.

It was her bold website however that caught the eye of Supermarket Sarah, a fashion stockist and designer who was given space for a “pop-up shop” at Selfridges for two weeks in April.

The fashionable temporary stores are often set up in disused retail space.

“It was a really good opportunity and its great to be able to say I’ve had my stuff there – it gives me some kudos as a designer,” she said.

“Pop up shops are a great thing that came about from the recession.

“For one-off or limited edition pieces you have got to go somewhere special.”

She said although she had been unable to get to London herself during the installation, she had seen photos taken during the fortnight.

“It looked really good,” she said.

“The theme of the wall where my pieces were was “Clash Mash” and it suited my brand really well – she’d done a really good job.”

Rowan, 27, currently runs her business from her Shipley home.

She says although she has converted her second bedroom into an office she prefers to make her jewellery when the mood takes her.

“There’s a desk in there and shelves I keep stuff on but I like to sit in front of the telly and do it,” she said.

“I’ve generally got stuff strewn about the place. When my friends’ kids come round we’ve got to move everything because there’s small pieces everywhere.”

Rowan learns new techniques from browsing web forums, talking to other artists, and is currently studying Illustrator and Photoshop computer programmes at Leeds Technology College.

She has not taken any arts qualifications since studying A-level art at Hanson School, Bradford, nearly a decade ago.

“You’re so restricted at school, I just wanted to do it myself,” she said.

“I’ve just learned as I have gone along, taught myself.

“I just started playing and experimenting.”

Rowan works at the University of Leeds as course co-ordinator at the staff development unit – a job she said couldn’t be further from the design work she does in her spare time.

She is developing her skills, and is looking to expand her business, with the aim eventually of opening up her own shop.

She said: “I’d like to have a shop selling my own stuff and the work of other independent designers and giving them a chance.

“I need to have my things manufactured to do it on a bigger scale, that’s what I’m aiming for.

“I want to branch out, I’m not entirely sure how but that’s why I’m studying at the moment.”

Rowan uses everyday objects she finds as inspiration for her pieces.

“I keep developing new stuff. It just depends what I see,” she said.

“I use found objects so it tends to be off the cuff. If I’m in a charity shop I find anything I think is going to work.

“I use a lot of images from old books and it just depends what I pick up. I’ve got an eye for old books and I get annuals from the 1970s and 1980s.

“My tag line is ‘colourful, kitschy funky and fun’ and everything I make fits in with that.

“It sounds crazy but I’d say most of my customers are my age – late 20s. Although you get a lot of children going crazy round my stall.

“The thing with Lego is its a classic toy and they just remember it. It reminds people of their childhood and I think that’s why they like it.”