Sewing and Life

When Adriana was six months old, I fell in love with sewing.  There was just something about creating things and putting them on my little princess. Sewing for kids has been great for my personality as sometimes I have a hard time finishing projects (just ask my husband - lol!).  Kids clothes (for the most part) have a quick end result.  I don't know if I could ever get into quilting which takes forever.  I'm too ADD - haha!

Matching dresses to match Daddy on Father's Day.  Both dresses take less 2hrs from cut to finish.

 For those not my friend on Facebook, with my love of sewing I've opened up an Etsy store and a Facebook Fan Page.  I've enjoyed creating for others while earning some extra money.  With my earnings I've been able to purchase a serger (which is still in the box while I get over being scared of it - lol!) and more for my sewing that previously wasn't in the budget.  The biggest problem that has come about is I've somehow got more work available than I have time for.  I've had to reevaluate my priorities to make sure I'm doing what Joe and I feel God has called me to do.  (The following is in no way a condemnation to anyone that has chosen to do differently for them and their family.  This is what works for OUR family.)  My first priority being a stay at home mommy is just that - being a mommy.  With the amount of orders coming in, my two options were either sew during the day while with the girls or get up early, stay up late and hope I have enough energy to do my "job" as mommy the next day.  I've tried both and it's been nothing but frustration and a feeling of being constantly behind.  I don't want my kids to grow up just knowing that Momma sews.  And getting up at 4AM, going to bed at midnight was leading to a breakdown from exhaustion.  But if I didn't do that, custom orders were taking 4-6 weeks and causing some very unhappy customers.  Sigh.  Can't please everyone and I was trying and failing at it all.  :(

After siting down with my husband in tears about not being able to do it all, he helped me devise a plan.  At the end of June, I stopped taking all orders so I could get caught up.  In September, I will reopen Janda Panda Designs with limited custom slots and stock with ready made items as I have time to sew them.  If any customs start taking longer than 2-3 weeks to complete, I will have to offer even less custom slots and do this until I find the magic number of customs that I am able to offer.  I am Momma first and foremost and while I really enjoy JPD, it's not my first priority. 

Undercover Bottoms Boxer Briefs

What I've learned: It's so easy for those that are creative and have crafty skills to think "I can make this to sell".  But before you do that, it would be wise to sit down and think through it all.  Ask yourself hard questions:  Do I have a product that people would buy?  What would I sell it for to make it worth my time?  Will people buy it at that price?  (There are some dresses that I would have to sell for $60 or more to recoup my time.  Don't forget to factor in fees - etsy and paypal charge a base and a percentage fee, shipping products, labels, business cards, etc.)  How much time to I have to devote to this business?  (Factor in not just crafting time, but shipping, promoting, etc.)  What are the legal ramifications of selling?  (Laws, taxes, etc.  For instance recent laws are "supposed" to be coming into effect that matter to makers of children's toys and clothing.  Special CPSIA compliant tags should be on all clothing and toys showing where they were manufactured, fabric content, washing instructions and more no matter whether you sell one item or a million a year.  Sigh - they can't just make it easy for the little guy, huh?)


Now for the fun!  If you've made it through all of this, I've decided to share tips and tricks that I've learned from selling including sharing where I find all my cute patterns and fabrics.  While I hope this doesn't shoot Janda Panda in the foot, I want to share what I know with others since I'll be slowing down in the sewing business department.  First up is sharing one of my favorite pattern makers, Bonnie of Fishsticks Designs.  One thing I've learned in three years of sewing is that I don't like sewing from "The Big 3"... you know the 99cent patterns like McCalls you can get from Joann's during sales.  Very rarely do they fit the way I expect and I'm out time and money.  I have found that my favorite patterns are created by moms just like me that have an idea, create a pattern and sell it.  Women like Bonnie that start off sewing for their own kids and then end up making fantastic patterns that even the most beginner sewer can sew beautiful things from.  From her site is where I learned to make the Art Kits, the Tank, Boxer Briefs and more!  She sells paper patterns but recently she just added PDF Patterns!  Oh, be still my heart!  I love the convenience of pdf patterns where I can print it out several times for several sizes without having to trace the pattern over, and over, and over...  :)  (BTW - I am in no way an affiliate with Bonnie and she has no idea I'm raving about her over here.  She is a great Christian woman that I really respect plus she has AWESOME patterns.)  And as for the prices of WAHM patterns as opposed to the 99cent ones.  I've found I can buy 10 patterns for the price of one but normally I'll only use one or two once normally where these more "expensive" patterns I use over, and over, and over... Ahem.  You get the idea.  LOL.

Fun labels on my boxer briefs.  They all say "handmade" on the bottom.  Bought from my favorite online group - Diaper Sewing Divas. 

 Well, I've rambled on long enough.  Feel free to ask if you have any questions about sewing or a business and I'll be sure to put them on my "to blog" list.  :)