Score!

I know, it's been a really long time since I've posted anything here. But I do have a good excuse - I swear! I've been busy with work and being a mom, filling an order for pillow case dresses (hihi, thanks Shannon...I feel so professional saying that!) But wait! I AM professional. Turns out that we got the gov't small business grant after all! I'm beyond excited and can't wait to get started. Luckily, starting in two weeks I'll have about 3 months off of work so I can hopefully get everything put together in time for spring/summer which would most definitely be my peak season considering my goods. I've been busy planning what we'll need and daydreaming about all the fabric I'll be able to afford now! So, I'm not sure how much I'll be posting on here anymore. As soon as possible I think I'll try to get my new professional site up and running so I'll be sure to post a link to that. Wish me luck!

Lesson Learned

I'll be the first to admit it, I was not too confident about my sewing creations selling here in Korea. Not because of the quality so much, but rather because my style doesn't seem to jibe with those around me. So I made my pillow case tops and my bubble skirts fully accepting that my children were sticking out like sore thumbs and I was probably being mocked or ridiculed for sending them out in "home sewn" clothing instead of high-end labels. But then we went to the Flea Market and it was awesome. I had strangers coming up to me left and right complimenting me on what I'd made. I should have learned from that, but I was so nervous about this last flea market (Oct 27) because I knew my summer wear wouldn't sell well, and I wanted to branch out into more adult accessories in hopes of capturing more of the college crowd at the market. So I made the Infinity Scarves and Fabric Bead Necklaces (which I still think are awesome) but when looking for something more, I stumbled upon the idea of fabric flowers. I decided to create some fabric flower hair ties and pins.

While it's not something I'd wear personally, I honestly thought they'd be a hit. I see women, age 1-100 wearing large flower pins in their hair here in Korea. I figured it's got the Korea flower style meshed with the American fabric, which was so popular with my kids' clothes, so they'd be sure to be a success. In reality: FAIL. In fact, my entire display at this past flea market was a fail. I only sold a pair of baby shoes. Only 2-3 people even glanced at the flower ties.
Alas, I've learned my lesson: be true to myself. From now on, if I wouldn't wear it or dress my child in it, I won't make it. Not to mention the fact that these hair ties were waaaay too much work for the amount of money I could reasonably charge for them - and not satisfying, enjoyable work either because, while I do think they are cute, it's just not my thing. I may use a fabric flower elsewhere in my sewing but never again will I attempt to copy Korean fashion. (and I'm also taking a break from flea marketing until Spring when I can peddle my summer wears again!) But if you're in the market for large fabric flower hair ties, let me know! I suppose I could do a special order. ;)

The Happy Accident

I love it when I screw up and the end result is even better than I had planned. The other day I sat down with the remnants of my favorite little-boy pants material and the intention of making my youngest a new pair of pants. I had planned on making a simple, functional pair - no bells or whistles (though now that I think about it, actual bell & whistle pants might be fun for a toddler...someone else's toddler, of course). Anyway, unfortunately I was not paying close enough attention when cutting the legs out because when I came to sew I realized that one side of one leg had a huge gouge taken out from my last project with the material. What to do? I almost scrapped the idea because I was seriously not in the mood to get fancy, but instead i opted to add a simple panel to each side so I could cut off the hole. I turned the stripes horizontally for visual interest and the result?
Not too shabby if I do say so myself! I was so pleased with the pants that I dipped into the special Thomas the Tank Engine fabric that my sister-in-law had just sent. I figured it would be more comfortable around his tummy and more fun for him to wear!

What's New

It's been a long while since I've posted anything on this blog. I wish I could say that it was because I was too busy sewing, but sadly, life has gotten in the way. In fact, we skipped the September Flea Market in order to re-group and prepare for our business proposal (which was turned in yesterday!) We're also hoping to come back strong for the October flea market. Because most of the market-goers are young and childless, I wanted to expand our goods this time around. A friend of mine here in Gwangju happens to have sister who is doing basically the same business back in the States that I'm trying to do here. (check out her website at My Sweet Swirls) She was kind enough to share a couple of ideas with me - as long as I promise not to move in next door and try to steal her customers ;) . So, I give you the Fabric Beaded Necklace!

Although they are intended for adults, I'm really excited about this as a Christmas gift for Irene & maybe some of the other little girls I know. She loves to wear my necklaces, but these sturdy, colorful necklaces are much more suitable for active little girls in my opinion.
Another perk is that it can double as a great teething necklace...
...or an artillery belt? The second new item for our sale is the Infinity Scarf. There are many different ways to wear an Infinity scarf making it the most practical scarf ever!

Pantsed

Now that it's turning to Fall, I've turned my focus from making Flea Market goods to making a wardrobe for the kids. More accurately, "kid" because Oscar gets lots of great hand-me-downs from his cousin and Johan gets lots of great hand-me-downs from Oscar...so that leaves Irene, the oldest girl in the family, out in the cold. My goal for this year was to not buy any new clothing for her (except socks, a winter jacket... and maybe underwear but I'm actually toying with the idea of making those, too) super-cheap flea market goods are acceptable.
So I brought her to the fabric store last weekend and she picked out a beautiful wine-colored corduroy fabric (I love corduroy) and I chose the same in brown. I excitedly began making her some cords. It was during a cold spell, only after I was 1/2 way through with her second pair, that I decided to get their clothes out of storage. I was shocked to find that she has so many pairs of pants, from last year and from hand-me-downs from a friend which I had forgotten about, that they hardly fit in her drawers. Alas, between her pants (pictured along with her favorite home-sewn peasant blouse) and the pair of pants I made for Oscar, I'm already pretty much done with my winter sewing.

But, then again, when I see how happy they are when I show them the finished product - made just for them- and when I tell them to pick out their clothes for the day and they choose the clothes that I made over the store-bought stuff, it makes me want to keep on sewing. Maybe I'll have to make do with some pajamas or something.

Flea Market: 2nd Attempt

Another flea market experience under my belt! This month's flea market was held outside which made it even more enjoyable. I have to admit, I was a little nervous as first as I hadn't made a sale in the first hour or so, but in the end, it turned out about the same as last month's market. The shoes were a huge draw and I sold 3 pairs along with a couple bibs and some more tops and the bubble skirt. The tops, it should be noted, were all the summer tops. No one was interested in my new sleeved line. I guess that's good news for me because sleeveless is so much easier!
I'm not sure if we'll participate in the September market. Our big presentation for the gov't grant is coming up this month and, frankly, most of the patrons of the night flea market are young college students...not exactly and ideal place to sell baby items! But, maybe I'll just go with what I have left and see if I can get rid of it! :)

Take 2!

We're coming up on our second flea market attempt this Saturday (which is why I haven't posted much here lately...I've been sewing, sewing, sewing!) After our relative success at last month's flea market, I should feel pretty relaxed about Saturdays, but I'm not. Because of the changing seasons, most of the clothes for this market are different than the popular items from last time. Sure, I have a pillow case top or two, but because I wanted to branch out I focused more on fall wear this time around. It was fun and I'm now excited to make my own kids' fall/winter clothes. For example:

although pants are not new for me, I've worked hard to improve my design. I now have learned the basic pocket (as opposed to a patch-style pocket sewn onto the clothes) and I had a lot of fun embellishing the pants. For the girls, print cuffs so the pants will grow with the child. And for the boys, stylish cargo pockets and a little something extra:
because if there's one thing Oscar has taught me about making clothes for little boys, it's that Thomas and his Friends go a long way to making a happy boy!
I've also made a few simple peasant blouses. Admittedly, they look kind of funny on the hanger but once on, they should be cute. Here's one I made for Irene this past spring.
And finally, last time I had been thinking about including some of my hairbands but was hesitant. There was just something I wanted to change but couldn't put my finger on it. After thinking about it, I came up with this new style. I know, I know...not too earth-shattering, but I'm excited to see how they sell.
Wish me luck on Saturday (and if you happen to be in Gwangju, stop on by!) ;)

Eastern Eclectic

Continuing on my quest to create the perfect sleeve, I used some of my new Japanese-y fabric that arrived last Sunday as inspiration. I love this fabric. I know, I know, I say that all the time...but I really mean it this time! I have a "thing" for Japanese prints and this almost looks (to me) like something you might see on a kimono.

Basically, I started out with the idea of making a simple shirt but then I got to the neck hole. Now, I'll be honest here - neck holes have caused me much grief in the past. Because the material isn't stretchy, I have to make it large enough to fit over her head - and I can't tell you how many times I've misjudged. So, determined not to screw this up and waste my beautiful new fabric, I opted for a button opening. Not wanting to do the boring ol' buttons down the back and inspired by the Asian prints, I added a sort of Chinese-style opening. The result? Cuteness:
As this was my first attempt, I decided that it wasn't good enough to sell at the flea market. (really, though, I'm being totally selfish and I just want to see Irene in it!) So I made second top but reversed the fabrics - same prints, different colors:


A close up of the collar made of the coordinating fabric. I'm now thinking that Irene may need one in red, too.

My little Korean girl in her Japanese-print Chinese inspired top...and her little dog too.

Sweet Sleeves

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been trying to expand my projects to include more fall/winter styles as we're creeping closer to September. While a cute sun dress can be layered over a T-shirt, I don't think I can expect to start a business by selling pillow case dresses in the winter months. So I've taken the plunge: sleeves. I've sewn them before, but sleeves are no friend of mine. Nonetheless, today I decided to take the plunge. I present the Sweet Sleeved Top:

It's really hard to see on the hanger (and alas, I have no chubby little 9-12 month-old little girls at hand to model it...just a barrel-chested 14 month boy) but I think the sleeves will provide just the right amount of *poof* for delicious little baby arms. And my favorite part? The sweet little shoulder bow!
I'm still not psyched about moving into "sleeve weather", but I'm quite happy with this top. Now the floodgate are open and I wonder what else I can do with a sleeve!

Bubble Butt

I haven't had much time to update my blog lately - between summer vacation for the kids and trying to finish up the custom orders from the flea market I've been keeping pretty busy. Did I mention that I had custom orders?! Makes me feel so professional! ;) I've also been trying to decide exactly what to put in the August flea market. Because we're almost to September now, it seems silly to sell only summer items so I'm trying to think of more fall goods that I can make. One thing that popped into my mind immediately was a bubble skirt (i.e. a skirt without a crisp hemline which kind of "bubbles" out at the bottom).

I'd made one for Irene a couple years ago, but that was in the beginning of my sewing days and it was also a re-purposed project. I used an old knit tank top that I got from a thrift store and a pair of tights that Irene had already outgrown and, following this tutorial, I made my first bubble skirt. I loved it. It was bouncy, fun, cheap and cute...but the inside looked like a disaster zone.
I still see these types of skirts and dresses hanging on the racks in stores and Irene loves the bubble dress that her Aunt & Uncle sent her for her birthday this year, so I decided to try to figure it out. It turned out to be pretty simple once I really looked at what was involved (I mean for a skirt...a dress would be a whole 'nother story!) So I present the Fun & Flouncy Fall 2011 Bubble Skirt:

Apparently I have a thing for polka-dot bubble skirts. I'll have to switch it up next time!

Kunsthalle Flea Market Adventure

Yesterday was the big day that I've been looking forward to for a month now - our first flea market attempt. I must say, I'm over the moon at how well it turned out! For those of you joining me from my other blog, I won't rehash the general aspects again, and for those of you joining me from the flea market, Welcome!, and I won't tell you all about the flea market either because, well, you were there! Instead, I'll just make some observations.

Going into the flea market, I had some pre-conceived ideas about what would be the popular items based on feedback from my Korean friends (since most of the patrons of the market are, of course, Korean.) I thought we'd sell one or two of the aprons & the handbags, and I thought I'd certainly sell the pair of girl's shorts and the "Be the Reds" top (ok...that idea didn't come from feedback but rather because that is my favorite!) In reality? None of those items sold. Not one. Some people looked at the handbags but even after I discounted them, they just moved on. The aprons got a few glances but that's about it. I don't even know if I saw anyone looking at the shorts or the top.
So what were people interested in? Probably the most-looked at item were the baby booties and the bibs. Though they didn't all sell, they sure got a lot of ooohs and awwwws. And then there were the pillow case tops. I had two, and my partner also had made two similar tops similar in style - all sold. The shirred dress - gone. The skirts were quite popular as well. One thing that I found really interesting (and exciting from our future business standpoint!) was that many of the people gravitated towards the western-style items. Naturally mine were all western-style but my partner's were also more western than Korean. But she had added a few items from a friend of hers- some very Korean items- and they remained on the rack. I guess different is good!
So my partner and I are already planning our collection for the August flea market. You can be sure that there will be more pillow case tops in a bigger range of sizes, more skirts in new, fabulous fabrics, and more bibs and booties in various prints....and we may even pull out some new tricks! ;) So if you're in the area, I hope you'll come on down to the Kunsthalle flea market next month. We'll see you there!

Almost Time!

As the day of the big flea market draws near, I thought I'd post a few photos of some of the items I'll be selling. In my last post I showed some of the small, "filler" items like booties & bibs, but what I'm really looking to sell are the bigger items like clothes. In addition to the aprons above that my partner recommended we focus on, I've worked hard to expand my range of skills.

From fancy pants to simple skirts, I've managed to make a fairly comprehensive collection of clothing for kids. Above are some shorts for boys and a some for girls. I'm particularly proud of the girl's shorts because I got a chance to use my new pleating skills (this style of pleated pant leg is really popular here in Korea at the moment...not sure if it's "in" elsewhere in the world.) as well as expand my pocket repertoire from plain ol' square patch pocket to pleated pocket, and I got so excited by that, that I had to add pockets to my simple skirts below. I give you the deep pocket (right) and the shirred pouch. I love them both all the more when I think of all the rocks and little nicknacks that can be tucked away in there!
And of course I had to add some tops and dresses since that's where I began my clothes-sewing journey. Below are a few.
And my absolute favorite item at the flea market? The "Be The Reds" scarf top! "Be The Reds" is Korea's battle cry at international sporting events such as the World Cup. I had picked up a couple of scarves at a flea market a few months ago for $1 knowing that I'd eventually find a use for them. I'm so happy with this little top that I wish it could fit Irene, but alas, two scarves supply just enough material for size 18 months so, sadly, she'll have to find some other way to show her patriotism. I particularly love the fact that it says "we are twelfth" - you don't often see team shirts/paraphernalia boasting that!

The Little Things

As I'm winding down my sewing preparation for the Flea Market next Saturday, I have started to focus on the little things. I wanted to do some simple projects to fill up my space and for people who are looking to buy something small - because that's what I do when I go to flea markets or craft fairs...rarely do I buy something big, but I really hate to go away empty handed! So I decided to make a few baby booties from a tutorial at Home Spun Threads. I know, mine don't look anywhere near as cute as hers but, like I said, it's more of a filler item and I don't have any bows or buttons on hand with which to embellish.
These booties are great because, not only are they cute, but they are also super-easy and I was able to use up some scraps of my favorite materials that I couldn't bare to throw away ( I have a drawer in my little plastic cabinet full off tiny scraps because you just never know...) I don't know if anyone will actually buy them but it's no big loss if they don't. I've also decided to throw together some bibs for the same reason - super easy and, in my opinion, super cute. I had some toweling left from when I made Johan's so I figured I'd use it up.
I especially like the middle one with the animals. In addition to being adorable, it's made with waterproof nylon that I bought in Japan to make cloth diaper covers for Johan. I've since given up on diaper covers since a) I've tried and failed to make them numerous times since Irene & Oscar were newborns, and b) if he's anything like Irene and Oscar, he's only got about 6 more months left of real diaper use before we move to wearing undies around the house. I digress... I think I'm ready for the show! Now I just have to work on price tags and presentation.