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!

the uniform project

It's rare that I find something online that makes me inwardly squee. But this has done it because it's fashionable, it's ethical, and it's just a really cool idea. From 'About the Uniform Project':

Starting May 2009, I have pledged to wear one dress for one year as an exercise in sustainable fashion. Here’s how it works: There are 7 identical dresses, one for each day of the week. Every day I will reinvent the dress with layers, accessories and all kinds of accouterments, the majority of which will be vintage, hand-made, or hand-me-down goodies. Think of it as wearing a daily uniform with enough creative license to make it look like I just crawled out of the Marquis de Sade's boudoir.

I'm jealous of her superb style and admiring of her ethos all at once. At least it's motivating me to get my style together, because lately I've just been wandering around in as many layers are clean. It is freezing here in Melbourne and I am not a cold weather girl. I suddenly want some cool sock/tight combinations...

You can add the Uniform Project via RSS to your blog reader for daily doses of sustainable style inspiration. Or just visit the site at The Uniform Project.

cosa verde

I just found out about a newish online shopping site for eco-friendly handmade goods. It's called cosa verde (meaning 'green thing' in Spanish) and it's clean, easily browsable and filled with items that are all gorgeous because they're approved by the site's admin first. It's a great way to look for earth-friendly handmade products online because they intentionally keep their site small and easily browsable.

Another great thing about it is that you can search by your values, such as organic, repurposed, recyclable or cruelty-free. There's a daily front page curation, plus a number of gift guides to look through. It's not an e-commerce site, so the items you see in any shopfront there will probably only be a selection of what the sellers have available online, and clicking through will take you to their Etsy shop or other selling website.

I love this realistic and down-to-earth point of view from cosa verde's 'About Us' page:

"First, who we're not. We're not radicals. We're not preachy. We don't always seek out organic products, and we (gasp!) still have a few non-CFL bulbs at home and drive our fossil-fuel burning (high mpg, but still...) cars to work each day. But, when it comes right down to it, we're two kids who like the Earth. We think it's a nice place. We'd like it to be a nice place for our (future) kids. And we believe that while big changes happen slowly, it's the small changes that pave the way."

I just opened up a page at cosa verde, which you can check out here. If you sell eco-friendly handmade wares, I really suggest you check it out and open a shopfront. It's free for 3 items at a time in your shop, and there's a fee for more than that, but to begin with they give you free credit. Plus you can find an extra coupon code online if you look hard enough (*hintetsyforumshint*). Tell them I sent you and I'll love you forever! (Just put 'heidiandseek' in the referrer text box when you sign up.)

Happy browsing!

a to z on my browser

From Nikki-Shell, Veronica Darling, Crafty Librarian and Meet Me at Mikes, that order.

"So what you have to do is type each letter of the alphabet one by one into the URL line of your browser. This will bring up your most visited site of this letter, or the letter being used within the address. Use the first site that comes up, or the second if you have privacy/security issues. It's like a little outline of your favourite web sites!"

A - Armour sans Anguish on Etsy. A very talented eco-fashion designer who I interviewed a while back.
B - Big Cartel Dashboard. Apparently I don't visit B sites much, because I stopped using Big Cartel a while ago! (I opened one up then changed my mind, if you're curious.)
C - Craftcult. Yes, I check this everyday with the excuse that I'm doing 'market research' by seeing which items get hearted the most (it doesn't actually help).
D - Design Sponge. I spent an entire evening last week looking through every DIY home decor project there and marking my favourites to try. I'm on a 'making my house pretty' kick at the moment (but haven't gotten very far yet). Will post progress!
E - eBay.com.au. I don't really use eBay that much, but I've been checking it a lot lately to find a good second-hand Bernina sewing machine.
F - Frankie Magazine forum. I used to post there regularly but I don't seem to visit much anymore. There are lovely people there though, it's where I met my penpal, Stepstotheleft. Letters in the mail are the best.
G - Goodlife Health Clubs. My gym, which I have been very bad at attending lately. I check the site to see what the class schedule is.
H - Heidi & Seek and Ethical Fashion - Yep, my own blog.
I - I'm Your Present on Etsy. I don't mind her work, though it's often too girly for my taste, but mostly I have a look every now and again because I just can't believe how many sales she makes and processes. It's a good kick-up-the-butt for me to work harder.
J - Jenny Vella on Etsy. Apparently J is a little-used letter, too. I've visited this shop for its cute backpacks a few times recently. Still deciding about them.
K - Kara Smith handbags. So I know Kara's bags are a bit out of my price range, but I still love looking at them! They're made from vintage and reclaimed fabrics and she's a fellow Australian, so I've been following her work and her blog since I started this biz.
L - Monash library. Monash is the university I attend.
M - Madeit.com.au
N - Nikki-shell's blog. You may know this is one of my favourite blogs from the link list on the left. A lovely local crafty lady.
O - OzBushfireAppeal on Etsy. Another little used letter, because this shop has been closed for a while. 900 donation sales to a great cause is such a great achievement.
P - Paypal
Q - Call My Agent Query letter post. Firefox just pulled up the Q in the title because apparently I don't visit any sites beginning with Q. Still, I love this blog for an insiders look into the publishing industry.
R - Replicca on Etsy. I'm quite in awe of what Rebecca has achieved with her label, plus I love her designs.
S - Supayana on Etsy. Same as above!
T - Twitter
U - Urban Outfitters. I visited a couple of times to check out their bag selection for backpack inspiration for making my own. I found a cool design of theirs via Google image search (see below) and followed it up but it's been discontinued. Not digging the pink, but I like the design.

Urban Outfitters

V - Vogue Australia forums. I'm not actually a member because they have this newbie censorship thing going on and my account for some reason got suspended before even having my posts appear anywhere. I tried finding out why but got no reply. However, the forums do have some great content.
W - Project Wonderful. An online advertising website, if you haven't heard of it before.
Y - YumiYumi on Etsy. A cute shop for art, but not one I regularly visit.
Z - Zingaling on Etsy. Cute upcycled bags. Again, I've only visited once or twice, but Z isn't very popular in my browser!

Feel free to do this on your own blogs, it's fun!