inspiration: boo radley

I wanted to show you what I've been making lately but Tim keeps running off with both our cameras for his volunteer work at the AYCC. They're a bit different in style to the tshirts up in my shop at the moment, because I've included more lace, more detail, more flowiness, and they're all one-offs.

It's so stinking hot here in Melbourne at the moment that sleeves are too much to bear, so I've been making light and flowy sleeveless tops and I'm going to start on summer dresses today. Pictures to come!

I'm having difficulty working out which method works for me best: sticking to styles or creating one-offs. Styles take more effort to prepare, but once prepared they're easier to make up. One-offs can often be a headache as they can be quite challenging and time-consuming. And sometimes they don't work out. But they are more interesting to make. I guess I'll just make some of each. Maybe the one-offs can be samples that I'll make up into styles if they're well received.

On another note, here's a local designer samples outlet just down the road from me that I entered for the first time and I was so impressed by the collection of interesting pieces - there's very few 'trendy' items there, just timeless goodness. If you live in nearby I really recommend it because the prices are very reasonable too. It's called Neo Rococo and it's at 269 Whitehorse Road, Balwyn.

They stock a Melbourne label called Boo Radley and I have been feeling very inspired by the pieces I saw. I checked them out online afterwards and found that the styling wasn't my cup of tea, but I think the work is so much better in person. They have a very good eye for interesting details.





And! Boo Radley is having an end of year summer sale at their warehouse in Collingwood. Everything below $50.
Thursday Nov 26th to Sunday Nov 29th
Boo Radley Warehouse: 114-118 Campbell Street, Collingwood Vic 3066 (off Johnson St.)
9:30 am to 5pm

Yay for local talent.

relaunched

I'm done, I'm done! And so excited. Check out my relaunched shop at heidiandseek.etsy.com and let me know what you think of my new direction?

I've got five styles. Come meet them.

Mia

Yoki

Snoop

Emelda

Oh Bow

It's interesting how completely different the same style can be with the different fabrics used. Though, I sometimes have changed up the styles a tiny bit to fit the fabrics.

heidiandseek.etsy.com

style number two

The Yoki tee. Available in different size and colour combos in my Etsy shop upon relaunch (visit the shop to sign up to receive an email when it reopens).

style number one

The past couple of weeks have been hectic with distractions. Family life has been more stressful than usual and it's amazing how terribly that affects my work motivation and productivity. It's also amazing how having wonderfully relaxed family days can make me feel incredibly energised. I feel like my mojo has returned a bit since Tuesday in the park with Tim, Ellie, the sun (how I've missed thee!) and plenty of fruit.

Anyway. Meet my new friend:


He's a beast, but a tame one when you know how to handle him. I'm a little in love.

I've made up a basic tshirt pattern with a casual fit - it tapers in at the waist a little and has a little bit of extra room at the hips. I think shirts that are tight at the hip are the worst - any size person will display some sort of muffin-top if they're wearing jeans.

My first style is a casual fit tee with contrasting sleeves and a scoop neckline that gets wider at the front. What do you think?


I'm going to be filling my Incube8r space with just these in different colours and sizes. There's not enough room to provide a good selection of more than one style there, I think. So I'll see how these go. By next week I should have enough to fill the shop space and I'll take them in. Then I'll be developing other styles and making some for my Etsy shop. I have to work on the Incube8r stock first, because the rent keeps coming so it costs me money to wait.

what do you like about heidi & seek?

I have been thinking more and more about concentrating on a few popular styles. I'd make them each up in different fabrics so they would still be one-of-a-kind, and I'd make sure to have at least a full size range in each style.

That way, customers wouldn't have to miss out so much on things that aren't in their size or that have sold. It would bring me more design focus and direction. I came across the concept of 'choice paralysis' today, where when we have too many choices it can lead to us avoiding making one, or any. Maybe that's partly the rut I've been feeling recently.

Anyway, I have gone back and looked at some of my favourite past styles. I'm starting with what I know best - tops.




I'd want to make this one a top rather than a jumper:









See, I have too many choices. Again. Although one design that is a must-have in my new set of styles is the Yoki tee, in one of its variations:


I was wondering, lovely reader, what your thoughts on the matter are? Is there a previous shirt design of mine that you'd like to see again?

the non-schedule affair

I've been using the system in my last post since last Friday and it has been working perfectly. I'm really excited about what I can achieve with this. I can plan for things like markets and wholesale orders better, and try to keep new online listings a bit more consistent. That means I'm this much closer to making Heidi & Seek pay a full-time income.

I discovered that for me, five items per day isn't really 'starting small'. It's enough that I'm challenging myself but not enough to make me give up in a heap of frustration. It's perfect. I think eight things is the most I've made in a day, so for a while that was my goal for each day. I very rarely met that aim. It's too much to expect from every working day, so it made me feel overwhelmed and procrastinate-y.

I started back at uni yesterday. I'm doing fiction writing (which is half a day on campus) and couselling via correspondence. So I really have three and a bit days to work, rather than four, like I planned for in my weekly chart. I'm pushing myself a bit by making up the lost time and still maintaining my 'quota', as I've started to call it, of 20 items per week. It has been harder to meet today, because I've been flat out making up for lost time yesterday. I suppose it's okay to have just one day a week as a 'work your ass off' day. I am very motivated by wanting to see all those boxes coloured in, weird as that may sound.

I'm setting up a space at incube8r gallery on the 12th of August, so lots of my stock will go there, plus I'm working on a wholesale order. I'll still list a few things on Etsy in the meantime though, just as soon as I can fit in a photo shoot! Here's a look at a few of the things I've been making.


By the way if anyone in Melbourne wants a copy of the upcoming Handmade in Melbourne book, they're available from incube8r, hot off the press for $29.95. I haven't gotten a copy yet but will soon!

One more thing: I was included in a post about refashioning over at The Transit Lounge blog, check it out.

bernina and the melbourne school of fashion

Two large and costly impulse decisions this week: a pattern-making and garment construction course at the Melbourne School of Fashion and a new Bernina Activa 220. Well, the second wasn't quite as much impulse, because I have been following eBay for a Bernina a while now. It's the model I was unsure of, I had to do some quick web surfing to see if the machine would be a fit for me. It was 'buy it now' and it was brand new (won in a competition and unwanted) and it was at like 30% off the retail price, so I acted quickly.


It arrived a couple of days ago so I haven't had much time to get to know it, but I adore it so far. Runs through thick fabric like it's butter, unlike its clunky predecessor that would chortle and halt and get stuck in a clump of thread half the time. The Bernina is computerised, which is new to me. The manual calls it a sewing computer, rather than sewing machine. I think that's cute.

I found out about the course at the MSoF this morning. I called up, got my place, and it starts next Tuesday. Crazy. I got the last place. I'll have to run around on Monday gathering the required equipment. There are several good things about doing the course:

• I get to hang out with my new Etsy-buddy, Anne, from Pins and Thimbles.
• I get to learn the things I don't have a handle on yet (and don't quite have the patience to teach myself). There are a lot of them and it limits the things that I make.
• I'll get the skills to make my wedding dress!
• By the end (hopefully) I'll see myself more as a professional dressmaker, rather than DIY-er. I think that's pretty important. At the moment I see this huge gap between myself and other designers who have had training. I remember at the fashion show I did, the other designers mostly made elaborate dresses and I felt so out of place with my casual wear, having only sewn like 4 zippers in my life. (That was mostly my own fault, not doing any research into the show before signing on.)
  
• This feels like a defining step to fashion as my career. I've always tiptoed around that, saying that I'd do fashion as long as it worked out, then I'd get more 'realistic' if I had to. I've never said I definitely want fashion to be my career because it didn't seem safe. Well, bugger that. This is what I want to do. I'm treating it more seriously, otherwise how will I expect to make a living from it? Having said that, I'm not sure where, or if, my arts degree fits in. But that's another anxiety-ridden kettle of fish. Might tackle that decision next week.

Who knows, maybe the course won't give me all those things. But I'm still bloody excited.

business plans: simplifying styles

First of all, thank you so very much for all your advice and help in response to my last post. It was a very pleasant surprise and oh-so useful.

A number of recent blog posts from my Google Reader happened to focus on running a business right when I'm more interested in the topic than usual, which is already pretty damn interested. I really like this quote:

People probably think that fashion designers make a ton of money. But in reality, for the majority of us, that couldn't be farther from the truth. (even if we're one of the lucky ones that "makes it" so to speak.) We spend more than we bring in. We're lucky when we break even. And we're one of the select few if and when we turn a profit. I'm still not there yet.

Buy directly from the designer. You'll not only save from the retail mark-up, you'll ensure the designer actually gets compensated for their work. Long live Etsy. Or at least, long live the non-evil retailers. I still realize I have so much to learn about this industry. And I'm learning, one mistake at a time.

From Leanne M of Project Runway America.

The most helpful piece of advice came from The Fashion Incubator, from the first in her series of How to Start and Homebased Handmade Sewing Business:

If you make up one-offs, you won’t get a picture of which styles and sizes hold greater appeal. The way I would do it is to only produce a few styles and make them in different sizes, meaning duplicates. I realize each fabric would be different but the basic lines and shapes of each style could be important indicators. I would keep careful track of which bodies sold first and in which sizes. This will be very useful information in the future.

I could kiss her. In my last post, my main gripe was not really knowing what will sell (i.e. what the market wants), and this is a promising way to rectify that. I've never come across this point and I'm kicking myself for not considering it before because it sounds so simple. I have read every piece of handmade business advice I could get my hands on - Etsy Storque articles, Handmade Business blogs, the Business Topics Etsy forum, the Craft Inc book, and so most advice I feel I've read before. Although, usually it's not directed at people who make one-of-a-kinds or clothing, and certainly not both. There's a lot more advice in the series so I really recommend you read it if you have, or want to start, a sewing business.

I'm going to apply that advice by choosing several favourite styles to focus on that can be made up repeatedly, in different fabrics of course, so everything will still be one of a kind. I'll make several of the styles, in different sizes and colours. This style is one of my favourites, and it seems to be popular so this will be one of The Designated.

I might make up a poll post so you guys can vote for your favourites that you'll be seeing more of if they 'win'.

I don't want everything I make to have to fit within my select group of styles, because that would take some of the fun out of designing, and maybe buying, too. So I'm still going to experiment sometimes as well. And sometimes the materials I use won't necessarily allow replication - I'm not sure to what capacity yet. This change is to give me some more direction, some more market knowledge, and maybe help the issue of people liking stuff that's not in their size.

Oh, the other entrepreneurship article I came across was an interview style post with Xenia from Lime Crime Makeup, which was more interesting (very) than helpful.

P.S. I've changed the logo/header on my blog and Etsy shop. I felt the previous was a bit too clean and 'perfect', so I've grunged it up a little (but kept the cute). What do you think?

sneak peek at winter collection

I don't tend to make 'collections', since I put new designs up daily. In the past I've made whichever season clothing I feel like making, with the assumption that I'm selling all over the world, so there are multiple seasons going on at once.

I have since realised that I have pretty much zero winter clothing in my shop, when it's 5 degrees celcius in Melbourne right now, and subsequently, that this is a really dumb thing not to plan ahead for.

So I'm working on a winter collection, which will all be launched at in my Etsy shop in a big bunch, instead of my usual 'few here, few there' method of listing. After that I'll continue to make and list winter clothing and summer clothing. Here's a sneak peek at some of the upcoming winter designs.




They'll be launched in a week or two along with the rest. In the meantime, if you have any suggestions about what you'd like to see for winter (in the way of dresses, jumpers, and tops), please do let me know. I'm still making, so I'm very open to ideas!

feeling unsettled, studio

I'm having one of those rut-feelings where I want to take my label in a bit of a different direction and so I'm unhappy with almost everything currently in my shop. (I know I say this like every two weeks, but my ideas are always changing and I can't help it!) What do you do in this situation?

(This post from Call My Agent about a rejected query letter for a novel made me laugh and feel better, for one.)

Anyway, I'm creating the things I want to represent me and maybe I'll have a sale on some older stock soon. I think one of my problems was that I'm so strapped for time (I only work two days a week at the moment) that on those days I thought to myself 'holy crap I need to make the most of this!@' and then I created and created without really thinking through the designs fully - and that meant I ended up with hit-or-misses. Most, if not every piece should be a hit. That's my goal.

I've also reorganised my workspace, which makes it much easier to see what sleeves, cuffs, necklines and other random pieces I've already cut out, and therefore it's much easier to match colours. The colour combos of my new pieces are definitely benefiting from it.

(Click to enlarge)

I still haven't finished with the making it pretty. The clock up on the wall is broken, for one, but soon to be replaced with this beauty! And I haven't shown you the other side which is full of piles of clothing to be reconstructed. But at least I can find my bits and pieces easily, and I'm just working from the pile from the top.

I can't wait to upload my new stuff, but I've missed my shot for today, it's too dark now to photograph them.

Crafting failures and successes

You know how sometimes you create something that you can be proud of (and you have this 'yes!' moment when you're done) and then other times the finished product isn't quite so great? I found examples of this in my most recent batch of Heidi & Seek creations.

Here's the one I love:

vanessa top on Etsy

Here's the one I feel like shoving under the bed:


When my experimentations with colour and design went awry, sometimes I would list these pieces anyway to see if someone else might like them and they're just not my style (and sometimes they would sell) but now I think that if I don't like them then they shouldn't be representing my work in my shop. I'll let you know what it turns into when I change it up.

Mind you, the first top came with its own set of problems, because first I made a top out of the purple fabric alone, which turned out a disaster, so I reconstructed it into the vanessa top. Such is the beauty of designing one-offs on a whim! I think it's much more fun than reproducing the same thing over and over.

One more thing: check out this thought-provoking post from OutsaPop Trashion about why, in ten years time, buying recycled clothing might not be an option.

New designs

I'm a bit excited about the new stuff I've just uploaded. I think I'm going in a bit of a new direction. Love the asymmetry, so I'm going to be trying more of that in the future. I'm also really into ruffley bits. Would love to hear your thoughts! There's more to be listed over the next week or so.

XS/S sugar top

M granger top

S tattoo top

Issues in designing clothing

Just quickly, I've made my Etsy clothing shop a bit more Aussie buyer friendly:

• There is free shipping within Australia, for the forseeable future. I'm able to offer this because when Australians pay by direct debit, it cuts out the Paypal fees for me. Aussies can still pay by Paypal if they need to.
• Each listing now has the Australian price in the text of the listing, so you can see exactly what the damage is without having to contact me.

I'm having a bit of a design direction problem. I've been making clothing for Heidi & Seek regularly since about August of last year. This is the first piece I sold, though, back in April on Made It.


This is a fresh new piece I just listed.

S calculator dress

Although I've come a long way, I feel like haven't quite worked out my 'style' yet. I experiment with varying techniques and looks. Then again, maybe my style comes subconsciously and most of my clothing fits within a certain look anyway. What do you think?

I guess I'm trying to work out what's both uniquely mine, and that people also want to buy and wear, not just think is pretty in a picture. I guess that comes down to market research, which I've never quite gotten a handle on. Maybe you could help me out a little by answering a question or two.

• What do you look for in clothing?
• Do you avoid certain colours or styles?
• Are there pieces in my Heidi & Seek shop which particularly stand out to you? Ideas you'd like to see expanded upon?
• Any that fail to appeal?

Thanks guys! Hope you're having a great weekend.