Taking an Interest

I love sewing and fabric, more than anything else in the world ever. I mean, I even have a board on Pinterest just based around pictures of adorable fabric. But it occurred to me that I should try and include things in my life that aren't ALL sewing based or reading based. I do some design work, but that's only because it runs along side my desire to get into college in September.

This has got me thinking about my friends and the activities they take part in which I could tag along to. My choices are exercise classes, LARP and re-enactments. Exercise classes are out, due to having wonky knees that often try to bend into funny directions when I exercise properly. RE-enactments involve lots of expensive kit and travelling. I love travelling, but along with expensive kit and not a great interest in history, I don't think re-enactments are for me.

Now, LARP. Where to start with LARP. I went once with boyfriend, just to humour him and I wasn't too sold on it. I liked that there was a sense of team work, but I'm just not that into fantasy things. However, I have always encouraged him to keep going and to make new kits and things, and I often hunt down new events. Through a friend, I found an online directory of UK LARP events, and there was a post-apocalyptic event. Now, that sounds more my thing! According the stats on my xbox live account, I've spent almost 500 hours on Fallout 3 and New Vegas, so that event would be right up my street. Going to look into a bit more today, and see what I can sort out!

Hopefully, it'll be really good and then that'll be my non-sewing hobby, but if not, the search will continue! What hobbies do you guys, my readers, have that isn't sewing?

Sewing: Demon Skill

So, I found a beautiful dress on Pinterest the other day. It was the most stunningly gorgeous thing I had ever seen. I don't often fall head over heels for inanimate objects, especially clothes, but this was just perfect. It was also more than £100.

... then I remembered that I can sew.

For less than £20, I made almost exactly the same dress, in the right length, with the right proportions for me and I adore it more than I did the first dress. I've impressed myself.

The fact I can sew just saved me £80+ and that is perfectly fine by me! Photos of the me-made dress can be found here.

Ahhhhh, fashion!

I'm going for an interview to get onto a fashion course at the end of next month. I thought I'd better get some proper, on paper qualifications if I'm ever going to end up a costumier one day!

It's involving a lot of odd things. The interview task is 3 line drawings of fashion objects that are not clothes and one tonal drawing of another non-clothing fashion item. So far, I've drawn my top hat/goggles as one line drawing, and my favourite Doc Martens as another. I'm not entirely sure on what my plan is for the other pieces of work, but I'm sure I'll have some amazing idea soon.

On another note, I have no idea what to wear. Thinking about making myself something to wear, a red and white polka dot fifties dress, to be exact. I think that, coupled with well styled hair and some classic black, heeled court shoes should be just about perfect for the interview for college, and for interviews for jobs as well. Also, I wanted an excuse to make myself something for a change so that fits in quite nicely.

What's on my sewing desk!

Someone suggested it'd be helpful to know what lives in my sewing box. I don't have a box as I have a work room where it all lives, so here's what lives on my sewing desk:

• Order book: I like to keep this close to my heart, as it really does keep my organised. It's bulging with receipts for postage and fabrics along with post it notes as to things I need to remember to buy and all sorts of other bits.
• A biscuit tin full of bobbins: It's a lot easier to just reach over to my tin than set up a new bobbin for the under thread. Every colour thread I get I also sort out three or four bobbins with the same colour on it, so I don't waste time having to re-thread!
• Plans for patterns: Future projects are always within arms reach!
• A drink: My God, sewing can be exhausting, and a nice cold drink or a cuppa tea fixes everything!

The Next Few Weeks in Projects...

The next few weeks holds a few new adventures for me.

Releasing a range of cotton, Summer 1950's swing dresses (via Ava's Apparel), which is gonna take up a chunk of my time. I think I'm just going make a load then put them up for sale, instead of just taking orders. Orders on them will still be available, but they will be available off the peg too.

I teach a lovely lady how to sew once or twice a week, and we're making a set of Roman Blinds. This is very much an adventure as neither of us have made them before. Well, not very well or with any great amount of success! I'll probably update on that as we go, as it'll take several weeks to complete. Who'd of thought it, a dressmaker working on curtains!

Orders are always being taken by myself at Ava's Apparel for waistcoats, skirts, dresses and more!

Why Big Businesses Pick on Small Ones

Yesterday I witnessed as a big business bullied a smaller business owner to the point of tears, all because one of the small business' photographs looked similar to one of theirs. Now, this got me thinking about two things, how to conduct yourself during a business dispute and how to avoid them in the first place.

In this case, the fans and owners of the big business harassed the smaller one via every possible channel, even on the Facebook walls of both businesses concerned. At one point, it even got hugely personal against the owner of the small business, which isn't fair. I had always thought that if you have a problem with someone else or something they are doing, you take it up with them, not make slanderous comments at their expense? I thought as you got older you got past being so childish. My advise here if you happen to be on the receiving (or giving) end of a business dispute, be discrete about it. You are more likely to get a result by dealing with things calmly and sensibly and not by slagging people off.

Secondly, avoid disputes where possible by adding disclaimers to your work. If you know that a certain business offers a similar piece of work or a similar service, add a disclaimer that this is YOUR work and any similarities are purely coincidental. Also on your photographs, add a watermark which you can add for free on websites like FotoFlexer. That way, you know the photographs and the work within them are yours. Some underhand businesses and individuals will try and steal your photographs, this works as a good deterrent.

Knowing the right people.

I've noticed in the last few days of working slowly and winding down properly from trading, sometimes knowing the right person is the only thing making you successful or not.

Knowing the market and people within it is important. Take notice of what other people around you are selling. Use the internet to find businesses similar to yours and see if you can work with them or use them for inspiration. Don't just outright steal their ideas though, it is like stealing their child (because that's often how much people care for their ideas).

Knowing the customer. I've heard of people carrying around items for months on end, even years, before they sell them. I try and work with commissions a lot, as I can make sure that the item suits the customer spot on. This is virtually impossible when trading in the real world. The moral is, don't be disheartened if it takes you ages to sell something, but be pleased that you did keep it long enough for someone who really likes it to buy it.

Utilise the people you know, they may have more skills than you expect, and networking is a really good way to learn more about business itself. I'm sure my friends who are self employed and can make things are sick of me questioning them!