Sewing Marathon :)

Yep, it's already started since the beginning of this year, the sewing marathon I did to meet the boutique requirements in March and an exhibition on May this year. After that, I think I will take my time more to prepare a 'business trip' on Summer. Every holidays are a potential trip to me. like fabric hunt in Brussels and Paris, and this summer I plan to go back home to do some stuff too.

 

These are some of my creations for Petits Pas Spring Summer 2014:

colors of spring collections

It starts to get more interesting and promising :)

Today I've received sales report for the last two months from the boutique where I put some of my creations in. It's not bad at all .. I thank God for all of these ..

I will continue this path, will be making more creations and exploring more opportunities ... maybe to find a small workshop where I could ask people to assembly my creations .. that way I could make and produce more of my creations .. little by little .. petit-à-petit .. à petits pas :D

What a month! ..

2014 seems to start with a very good start. My manager in the boutique said that people appreciated my creations. With a price that is reasonable (for me) and affordable (to the clientele of the boutique) they were really happy.

 

They said with that kind of price range, they couldn't believe they can afford a creations from a createur/trice (designers) .. so they're happy, it's a bliss.

 

In December and January selling report for <<Petits Pas - handmade creations>> - my brand, were very positive. A good start, a positive turnout for the boutique as well - like the manager said: it's unusual for winter (Dec/Jan) people shop in this boutique specially for local designers (start-up designers) and it's a lovely surprise to her (and to me too, actually).

So we scheduled a meeting last Tuesday Jan 28th 2014 in the boutique on the afternoon. She wanted to discuss the next step and I wanted to show them my newest creations as well. The meeting was a successful one, I'm very happy to know that the boutique is ready to take more of my creations and renew the contract on March this year. Oh! and the manager also pre-ordered some stuffs for herself! .. hehe .. I should start making things again, and also for the UNICréa exhibition in May! .. I'm very exciting :D

Start with simplest start ..

On the 2nd day of New Year (which was yesterday), I returned a call from the organizer of an exhibition that will be held in Morges 1-4 May 2014. She called me while I was on vacation. She asked me if I still want to participate and congratulated me on my first collection in a boutique.

 

I'm so grateful to meet lovely personalities so far when doing exhibition or collaboration with a boutique. I thank God for His generosity so I could meet special people like them. They're all kind, helpful, professional, humble and generous ... if doing business with them, I don't feel some kind of "intimidation" like when we work in other business (office, big corporate, etc ..) well, you know ... I used to work for Vuitton (LV) branch in Indonesia and I know how it felt like.

 

Well, I don't want to talk about that anymore, anyway it's over 15 years ago. Now I'm happy with what I do and what I have achieved in a year. 2013 was my special year. I hope 2014 will also bring me special outcome. I know that to get to this point I've done hard works day in, day out. But because I love what I'm doing, it didn't feel so hard, I enjoyed it and I'm still very exciting to create more for this year! that's why I plan to participate again in an exhibition on May this year. It will be the only exhibition for this year, why? because I don't think I will go back to do an exhibition in Palexpo in autumn.

 

My priorities now is this exhibition in May, special orders from clients and creations for the boutique (which I need to hand them in March for Spring-Summer collections). So with those priorities in mind, today I start with a simple start: sewing jersey. It could be a tshirt, a dress, anything .. I'd like to try out more techniques that I've never tried before like: making a rolled hem with a serger, and double stitch hem for the tshirt using a double needle. Those technical skills in sewing that I think I must posses to make my creations look more like "professionals" (industrial) ... like those outfits that we see in the store :)

 

I note this for my self:

"Don't be afraid to make mistake. Because by making a mistake you learned something, you are making new things, trying new things, changing yourself, pushing yourself, you're doing things you've never done before"  

Fabric Hunting

I got a chance to meet an old friend in Brussels, Belgium, who agreed to take me to some interesting fabric shops in Brussels. I need to prepare for May exhibition and to make the spring-summer 2014 collections for the boutique, so fabric hunt had started again :)

 

My friend took me to 2 places: BERGER Textile and GO TEX. Both had a very reasonable price and fairly good collections. The first one look like a warehouse and the place was a bit smaller and older than the second, but with the price slightly cheaper (started from 2 euros/m for knits fabrics) I spend more time and chose more fabrics here than in the other shop. I'm happy with both shops though ..

 

Now holiday's almost over, we arrived home last night at around 21.30 pm after long hours drive, just enough time before the fireworks started marked the end of 2013 and the new year 2014 arrives. We had so many things to thank for in 2013 and we hope 2014 will bring us more things to be thankful :)

 

 

Happy New Year 2014!

Season's greetings

I'm very happy to know that some of my creations in the Boutique Ateapic were already sold .. and the boutique manager said that she's enthusiastic for spring (it means she's looking forward to receive my creations for spring/summer 2014) which is a good sign.

 

I stopped by in the boutique yesterday to buy some teas for xmas gift to special friends and the shop assistant told me the good news .. oh you can't describe how I felt, happy, relieved, exciting all rolled into one. I feel optimistic and can't wait to start creating again!! :D

 

Meanwhile, I'd like to wish everyone happy holidays and all the best for 2014!

xoxo.

Incubateur des talents

The boutique I collaborate with is a place for creative people, designers, makers, creators. Their slogan is "Incubateur des talents" or incubator of talents. A place, especially with support staff and equipment, made available to new small businesses. For a "startup" like me, it's one step to progress, so I can say to my customers, my clients, people, family and friends that my creations are now available in this boutique, in this address. This is my "showroom" together with other creations from people in the business.

 

I'm glad they took some of my creations, so I have more space at home to prepare for the next local designer exhibition in Morges on May, that I hopefully could participate again :)

I noted what the founder of Ikea - Ingvar Kamprad, said:

The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement. The antidote is to every evening think what can be done better tomorrow.

yes, what can be done better tomorrow? keep exploring ...