I can't believe it's been a year since I opened my shop with my first 10 bags. I've sold at least 175 bags so far. It's crazy but I thought it would take a year to pay off my sewing machine and it only took 8.5 months! I'm already past 50% saved for my washer and dryer set. I've met a ton of awesome people in the past year that has helped make my shop experience out of this world!
FREE SHIPPING to celebrate! Now thru November 14th!
The JL Holiday Market weekend was a bust. The crowds just weren't there and even the seasoned craft fair vendors were upset over the lack of people there to shop. I only sold about 30% of what I needed to to break even :( It was a learning experience at the very least. I'm actually not that upset about losing as much on the entrance fees as I thought I would. Sure it sets me back on how much I have saved for my washer and dryer but my product won't go bad. I just won't be working my butt off for the next craft fair in the beginning of December. I've decided to concentrate on making my Zipper Box Project Bags instead of the drawstring ones and also try to get the design down for an accessory that will work with both to hopefully make it's debut by Cyber Monday. I also have decided to have a Pre-Holiday Clean Sweep Sale to help sell off some of the prints I have decided not to carry in my shop anymore. Well a few I'll relist but the majority won't. I've got my booth pictures to show soon as well!
I'm on the verge of becoming a crazy fiber luni!
The JL Holiday Market is in 10 days and I have SOOO much still left to design and get done.
I ordered my business cards from Moo yesterday morning and paid way too much for express shipping but I can't chance regular shipping from England.
I finished my booth banner design last night around 2am but was too exhausted to create the final JPEG to email to the Etsy seller who's creating the banner for me. This I'll finish before the Pres debate tonight.
I need to order my white shopping bags from an eBay supplier today during lunch (just put a post it on my monitor so I don't forget!).
I'll get all the rest of the stuff for my booth setup Saturday.
I think I might do generic price tags this go round as I don't think I could design and get cool ones done before it starts.
I'm still worried that it's going to hurt me that I won't be able to accept credit cards at the event. I wish they had a wireless connection there cause I could "borrow" our test laptop from work for the weekend and people could pay via PayPal. Oh well, I'll totally be open putting a bag on hold, sending a PayPal invoice and then meet at a mall foodcourt to deliver.
I also want to finish another 30-40 bags before the end of this weekend which is totally do-able since I have Monday off. I just have to really hunker down and do it.
I can't wait till the craft fair is over because then I'm not touching my sewing machine except to sew an awesome Halloween custom for at least 2-3 weeks. I also plan to take the month of January off from sewing. Course I say this and would totally not turn down any custom order requests.
I finally got my butt around to creating an ad for Ravelry so that maybe I can get even more business from there.
I have a bunch of customers who love spreading the word about my bags so I thought it was time I did a little advertizing as well! My best customer has not only sent 4 people my way but has also decided to feature me in her first huge swap as well! Nine custom zipper box project bags is so awesome! I've had fun grabbing new prints to use! Course I've also been thinking about the huge craft fair I'm in in 6 weeks! I haven't started to panic yet but I'm sure it's the calm before the "omg I have how many bags still left to make??!!" storm.
So I was invited to be in a Holiday Bazaar here in Rochester this coming October but in order to be apart of it I needed to finally become an offical small business with my own tax id. This week has been productive and not just because I've added 9 new prints to my shop too! I obtained my DBA (doing business as) last Tuesday and finally got answers to my tax form (NYS DTF-17) questions yesterday so I could submit the form online! Hopefully by the end of August I can start getting supplies and not have to pay tax :) Mailed my bazaar deposit today. Then after I survive this weekends civil war reenactment (picture me in a long sleeve multi-layer dress complete with corset and 90°+ with high humidity), I have to start my goal of making 17 bags a week! I've been going over the logistics in my head and I think I can handle it without going nuts but talk to me in a month!
Me: Boo, smile!
Sophie: Not today, I'm feeling frizzy.
Me: Then get out of my picture!!
A woman who purchased a bag back in the beginning of February finally left feedback...negative feedback. She says that the first time she closed the bag, the drawstring broke. I am feeling a rush of emotions right now. I'm horrified that this woman potentially ruined my reputation on Etsy without ever speaking with me first. I didn't expect her to leave feedback since she purchased a bag from my shop so long ago and to get negative feedback before ever talking to me to try to work something out, how rude! I use quality materials and I sew the crap out of the 2 ends so that they do not come apart. How she broke the drawstring is beyond me. I am extremely honest person and I stand by my workmanship! There is a part of me that thinks the bag she bought is fine and she's just out to get her money back. I checked what feedback she left for others and she has left negative feedback for someone else today as well but wrote that she did make an effort to contact them but didn't hear back. What am I chop liver that I don't get the courtesy of a convo first before she ruins my Etsy life?!?! I was about to celebrate my 6 month etsy-versary with a sale but now that'll have to go on hold until this mess is cleared up. So I sit here needing to vent and on the verge of tears trying to come up with a polite emotions in check convo to send to her to try to "Kiss and Make Up". Is it so wrong of me to have doubts since she made no effort to contact me first to try to resolve the issue before leaving feedback?!
You should stop sewing and go to bed when you sew thru the side of your finger because you decided to wipe away some lint on your quarter feed foot while the needle is moving!
Before listing a new project bag in my shop, each bag is inspected to assure optimum quality is upheld!
"well the bag is the right height, looks like you've attained the right amount of holding space"
"front looks good but kinda floppy"
As if I don't have enough project keeping me busy, I have to have an Esty item peek my interest in raising silkmoths for silk.
So inbetween calls at work I have been searching google for info on it. Just how hard would it be to raise my own and then process the cocoons? I've found a couple interesting sites that look like the owners have taken a lot of time to put their sites together with a ton of resources.
I'm interested in learning to spin yarn but it would be cool if I could use silk with the other yarns or pure silk yarns. I'm having visions of beautifully woven silk scarves from my loom. Dying to my own specific colors.
I'll probably be consumed by this till the weekend and then lose interest. Well maybe in just the raising part. I can only imagine my furball trying to eat the moths and finding the food/leaves to feed them would probably be a pain too. I need to research if I can buy bulk cocoons somewhere on the net.
http://www.kiva.net/~daylight/moth.html
http://www.wormspit.com/index.htm
It's easiest to give her her own piece of fabric and pattern piece. Otherwise, she'll sit on the one with the pins and sharp scissors cutting it out! (I was cutting out the pieces for my Civil War corset that I almost completed at the Ivy Thimble All Sew Weekend)
Wow it's been 4 months already since I opened my shop with the inital 10 bags! Of those 10, only 3 are still for sale. Today has been a banner day. Not only has it been 4 months but I've sold 5 bags today! That is the most I've sold in a single day so far!! All of these bags can be relisted as I have enough for at least 1 bag of each :) So those will be doled out in 2's for the rest of the week to give me more opportunities at promoting my "new" items in the forums! I've learned so much since I've begun that when my friends express interested in opening their own shop I'm bursting with tid-bits on how to get up to speed much faster then I did. I don't think I'd be where I am today if I didn't discover the forums and the chats. Oh! I sold 2 bags to Austria today! That brings my foreign countries to 3! I would have never specified UK and a couple other countries if I hadn't been in a chat room with a couple UK people who advised they wouldn't bother asking for a quote for shipping. They want it listed or else they don't even think twice about buying. Since then 3 UK and 1 Austria buyer! Yeah me! 57 down and 63 to go till my Bernina sewing machine is paid off!!
Since I'm determined to make my new used sewing machine pay for itself, I've turned my ideas for cool things into real items to put in an Etsy shop. I have the inital 10 medium sized project bags finished with 3 more almost done and 8 linings for future bags done. I'm cropping the photos for the initial 10 now and will be creating all the "terms and conditions" for my shop and listings afterward. Hopefully within the next day or 2 my shop will launch. I just need to sell 100 bags to pay for my machine :) which I think is totally doable!
My friend asked if I wanted to buy her Bernina Artista 180 off her so she could buy her friends even more advanced Bernina so her friend can buy the top of the line model...of course I said yes :) Excuse me while I surf for embroidry patterns :)
I GOT MY RAVELRY INVITE!!!! Look for me as MissFiberFox (duh hehee). I'm finishing up some renovations on my condo but once I've got my computer/art, er I mean guest room all setup I'll have all my stuff logged!
I've lived in my new condo for a little over 3 weeks. I'm very behind rereading HP so that I can finally read the newest and final book (currently starting HP5). But I find myself itching to knit something new. Something I haven't done before. I'm thinking about knitting my first sweater and a tiny one at that.
I saw the Child's Placket Neck Sweater (from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, by Joelle Hoverson) knit by Knit & Pieces and ear marked it as one I'd like to do. So as I was at work trying to figure out a project to scratch my knit itch I was reminded of that sweater. However, the link that she included in her picture blurb led to a page not found error. Almost 2 days of eating lunch at work searching the web, I finally found the pattern online and then spent most of the rest of my lunch today figuring out what yarn I might want to buy to knit it with. I'm still not sure if I want to knit it in a cotton blend or one with wool in it. I do know I want it to be soft, warm and with as little acrylic as possible. Natural fibers please!!
Pattern: Simple Hat
Source: Cables Untangled
Material: 2 balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran #?? Pink
Needles: US8 16" Clover Bamboo circular
March 2007
I decided to bipass a simple plain hat and went straight for a complex braided cable rib one instead. I used beautiful yarn that I can't wait to use again for a second one for me mom. There are a couple oops that I can hide easily enough with how I wear it but when my mom said she wanted my first one I couldn't part with it and insist I make a perfect one for her. Pattern was straight forward. Oops were just the product of half paying attention while I was listening to my soap and knitting at the same time. Would definitely recommend.
Needless to say it's gonna be awhile.
I've been MIA from all things fiber for the 6 weeks as I became a home owner for the first time this week and was all wrapped up in packing, closing and moving. On the plus side my LOOM IS HERE!! My parents brought all the boxes I've been storing at their place when they came to help me move. Now I just need to paint out my computer/art room (aka guest room) and I'm going to clean up my loom and weave a scarf to get me back in the game.
I spent most of April and May knitting the Wool Peddler's Shawl in a teal peacock color. It turned out fabulous! I love it and finished it in time to wear to the first reenactment of the season! People were ohh-ing and ahh-ing left and right! I'm contemplating making it again only this time adding a bunch more repeats. 
However, if I go to the 145th anniversary of Gettysburg next summer I won't be knitting much of anything this winter as I'll need a new wardrobe complete with a stunning ball gown to reenact with!
The new Interweave Knits comes out in less then a week :) I love the sweater on the cover! The tilted duster in that shade of purple is soo me!! I can also see myself wearing the Bryant's Slipover to work.
So I have finally become a true blog knitter and have been anticipating the latest Knitty publication for the summer. While on lunch today I became gitty when I saw the new photo on the front page signally Summer 2007 was finally up! I wasn't all that impressed with the patterns though. A bunch seemed so much alike. The only pattern I loved was Chapeau Marnier. I could see myself doing it in a light dusty blue.
