First step - how did we do it?

It occurred to me when I wrote the last post that I should include HOW we got our first commission. After all this is supposed to be a full disclosure blog on our successes and failures at starting our business.

You often hear that the first sale is usually made to someone they knew - friend, family, work colleague, etc, and that was exactly the case here. It starts with talk. Talking about what we're doing with the people we know. Steph took some of the Tea Party Placemats into work that she's been making for our first market in June to show her workmates as they'd been talking about it. One of them asked "so, what else do you make?" to which Steph showed her my craft blog where she saw quilts, craft aprons and this baby playmat.

This lead to her asking if we could make her a King Single quilt for her daughters bed with elements she saw on the playmat and an adjustable craft apron. I got started straight away on the craft apron, adding some changes she wanted like a heart shaped pocket and embellishing it with her daughters initial, A, which she wasn't expecting but loved, and we made our first sale!

As for the King Single quilt, we drafted a quote, complete with drawings of suggested quilt designs for her to chose from and add to or change around as she wanted. I don't know how other businesses would have structured their quote but I wrote it as though I was the potential client, i.e. including information and optional choices that I would want to discuss. We included a list of options to be decided on such as a colour palette and applique placement, construction details such as the finished size, what was to be done by machine and what by hand, and an approximate timeline for completion. And the price of course.

I know that a quote doesn't need so much detail and there was probably more information there than she would have asked for herself but felt it was important to include these details as a way to justify the cost. Rookie mistake? Maybe. Insecure? Absolutely. Did I need to be? Not at all. Part of what has stopped me from trying to sell things previously is that handmade can be and almost always is more expensive and I've always been worried that there is such a small market, how could I ever break into it. Well thanks to sites like etsy and madeit the market is rapidly growing, in fact it has been for some time now. And people do know the value of a handmade item and are willing to pay for it. I suppose it's like anything else, you won't know unless you try and all you need is faith in yourself. I can make beautiful, professionally finished items that I want in my home. Why wouldn't others want them in their homes too? And as our first big commission has proven, they do.

Our first commission

We've sold our first item!! A personalised adjustable craft apron. The request was for a pink and purple apron with hearts and a heart pocket.

The hearts were first appliqued to the hot pink fabric and then a layer of PVC was added to the apron front. These two layer were bound with matching purple binding, incorporating the straps at the same time, and then the pocket was added.

The neck strap is a design of my own born from a need to have an adjustable apron which will fit my quickly growing Miss E for years to come and also be simple enough for her to be able to take off herself by simply undoing the velcro and pulling the straps.

The heart pocket was personalised by attaching a monogrammed letter and small heart by raw edge applique and then added to the apron to finish.

Our next commissioned item is a King Single Bed Quilt with co-ordinating pillow case and then some doll quilts to match.

Miniature place mats, coasters and napkins

About a week ago I was wondering around aimlessly with one thought in mind "What can I make? What can I make? What can I make?" Desperately trying to get some inspiration I found myself looking in draws, under furniture, at the books on my book case, in the kitchen pantry (where I was delighted to find a stash of lollies) ... I finally gave up and my mind wondered off to how much fun I had at Miss E's birthday party playing with her new tea party set and how cute would it be if she had miniature placements so she could set up her kids table and have a REAL pretend tea party! So excited at the thought I rummaged through some material I bought about 2 years ago and found some with cup cakes printed on it - Perfect, Miss E would love it! I cut it out free hand, ironed the edges and made up two kids sized place mats.

I was so proud. I made them double sided ... so there is some thickness there and also they can be used on either side. When I gave them to Miss E and explained what they were she grabbed my hand and walked me over to her table and we had a tea party. As you can imagine I was tickled pink!!

Now I have gone back to make more but have found that the print is not straight grrr. I didn’t realise before because I cut the fabric fee hand, but when I try to cut it all "properly" measuring out the pieces to cut the print comes out uneven. So disappointing, however I am a great believer if something doesn’t fit properly it's meant for something else.

After discussions with M the place mat idea has evolved into a little kit of 4 place mats, 4 coasters and 4 napkins - all miniature size of course. So far I have cut out 2 sets of place mats and coasters and am in the process of pinning. The napkins will be done later as they will be made out of slightly different material and put together using a different process.



Project miniature place mats, coasters and napkins to be continued ....

S

Suddenly...

...the wheels are in motion....

We've been playing with the idea of starting our own business for a while now. The idea of being in control of our own efforts, of knowing that our work ethic will reward us rather than someone else and that we will directly reap the benefits for all our hard work, it's very seductive. And not at all impossible. I really believe that. So as well as chronicling our creative efforts, this blog will also tell the story of how we built our business - stumbles, fumbles and all.

For now the ideas are flowing, materials gathered and a date has been set. We make our debut in less than 3 months. Out of all the ideas for products that we have this will only represent a small part of what we want to do but I think it's perfect for a beginning and you've gotta start somewhere, right?

So, stay tuned. We're just getting warmed up.