Always the Forest’s Blog

I was visiting my husband in California (he’s stationed there for the military, but not for much longer now!).  It was a great time, and awesome to see him.  I also got to go fabric hunting in the L.A. Fashion District.  90 fabric stores in 4 blocks.  Yes, you heard right. Wowie.  But this past week, I’ve been preparing for two shows, and a fashion show!  Hence, the lack of site updates.

Movement 2009.  May 23-25  Detroit, MI. I’ll be joining Handmade Detroit there this weekend with some select items, in a huge 20×20 tent right by the entrance.  I changed my fabric up a bit for this event, expect lots of neon and black.

Maple Days Art Festival.  May 25, 9am-4pm  Walled Lake, MI.  I’ll have my own tent set up here, with a full stock of clothing.  This is also where my fashion show is going to be.  Come and check it out!

This is where I’ll be tomorrow, in the Lunch Studio.  Three buildings of lovely handmade goods.   I have an item in the raffle, one of my Michigan-themed shower curtains.  Hopefully I’ll see you there!

Handmade Detroit’s Craft Revival was great!  They gave me a big open space, I had a lot of room to spread out.  I even got two clothesracks in there!  It was a little dimly lit, and you can’t see it in the picture, but it gave this dramatic glow to my display.  I had people comment that it felt like a fortune teller’s booth or a seance, haha.  But that was okay.  One of the reasons I really like doing these shows, aside from the sales and the compliments, is talking with customers and other vendors.   I like getting direct feedback from the customers, and the vendors are usually really nice and it’s fun swapping stories.  My mom was my booth helper, and after the show, we went downstairs to eat at the Majestic Cafe.  I liked the contrast of the many memories of late night shows and shenanigans at the Magic Stick, and then eating downstairs with my mom.  The food was super terrific.  I hope they decide to do this show again next year, I really enjoyed it.

Last year, I started pre-washing all of my fabrics.  The reason I do this is because knit fabrics tend to shrink a lot once you wash them.  So I would rather pre-shrink the fabric myself, than have an item shrink on a customer.  Also, the dyes in some fabrics will bleed, and I would rather find that out in the beginning!  I use an all natural laundry detergent that is biodegradable and doesn’t have any perfumes or dyes.  The largest fabric pieces I get are no more than 10-15 yards, so putting them in my washing machine isn’t a problem.  Now this won’t work if you need to shrink fabric that is a hundred yards long.  In that case, there are ways to draft the patterns to allow for shrinkage after they are sewn.  You have to test a square of the fabric by washing it and calculating what percentage of shrinkage occurred on the straight grain and the cross grain, and then factor that into your pattern.  Since I use so many different fabrics, that’s probably not something I would want to do, so pre-washing is the best option for me.

Tonight, I’m finishing grading the patterns for my Spring/Summer ‘09 collection.  This year, there will be consistent sizing throughout all the styles.  Today has definitely been one of those the-more-you-learn-the-more-you-realize-how-much-you-don’t-actually-know type of days.  I recommend that anyone who is serious about clothing design and manufacturing take a look at www.fashion-incubator.com.  On my breaks today, I was poring over the blog archives, learning the right way to go about business, and I would like to summarize my conclusions here, but I don’t have any yet!  I need to mull things over for a bit.  So I’m going over to my mom’s house, and we’re going to make a delicious blueberry cheesecake, and hopefully the cooking and eating will  be good for my brain…

I’m having a spring sale at Always the Forest until April 15th. 25% off everything on the site. Robin Dresses: originally $48, now $36, Robin Tops: originally $38, now $29.50, Willow Dresses: originally $38, now $29.50, Willow Tops: originally $24, now $18, and Robin Hoods, originally $28, now $21.

New items for spring and summer are coming soon!

“Handmade Detroit presents Craft Revival, a spring indie craft fair
featuring 30+ DIY makers, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on April 18th at the
Magic Stick. Celebrate the end of this brutally cold winter with the
freshest goods from Detroit’s busy and growing craft scene. Free
admission. All Ages.”

That’s where I’ll be on April 18th, selling my new items!   I have new dresses, tops, and skirts, all with a healthy dose of ruffles.  Also…Michigan-themed shower curtains!  I am making them myself from fabric remnants bought locally, and screenprinting Michigan imagery onto them.  Hope to see you there!

Now it’s already March, but I’ve been pondering and reflecting my goals since January.  But before we do that, let’s see how I did on meeting my 2008 goals:

1. Accept credit cards - DONE!  I set up an account with ProPay in July, and my sales have more than doubled.

2. Streamline our products - DONE! (sort of)  I have limited the collection to a few designs, and this has allowed me to offer sizes XS-L.  I also cut out all the vintage offerings.  But…this year I am also going to be doing Michigan-themed shower curtains…not exactly keeping with the desire to streamline.  I think I’m okay with that for now.

3. Do more shows - DONE!  I did six shows last year, surpassing my goal of four.  This year, I would like to do even more than that, maybe make it to ten?

4. Update the site and blog more - FAIL!  I made a whopping 11 blog posts in 2008.  That’s not even once a month!  How embarassing.  And it’s not due to lack of content either, I have a huge list of things to write about.  I need to stick to a schedule.

Overall, I feel like 2008 was a very good year, full of growth and productivity that went above and beyond the goals I made.  When I started off in 2007, I had no idea that I would be doing one of the Renegade Fairs the next year, or have my clothing in a store.   Now onto 2009:

1. Update the blog more - Seriously, like I said above, I am awful at updating this thing.  This year, I will set a schedule for myself, and try my very best to stick with it.  I am going to blog every Tuesday, and if I really get the hang of it, maybe every Tuesday and Friday.  I have a list of things I want to write about, and even if it’s just a craft show announcement, I feel like there should be no problem in meeting that goal.

2.  Do a fashion show - I have seen a few other indie fashion designers that have done this, and I’m not quite sure how to go about doing it myself.  I know waiting for an invitation is never a good idea, but I’m at a loss where to even start.  But that’s how most of my endeavors start off anyways, so I will just have to figure it out.

3.  Continue to do more shows - I did really well with this goal last year, and I’m going to try and do even more this year, maybe ten?

4.  Get my clothing in more stores - Currently, my clothing is for sale in only one store.  I need to start contacting more stores, but that’s the hardest part for me, putting myself and my designs out there.  It’s something I will have to work to overcome this year.

I’m on the right foot, this is my first Tuesday blog of the year.  Stay tuned for another blog next Tuesday, and hopefully you’ll see my goal-acheivement in action!

Always the Forest will be at the Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Sale in Chicago this year!  It’s  at the Pulaski Park Fieldhouse, December 6-7, 11am-7pm.  There will be over 150 vendors in 5 rooms, great music, food, and goodie bags.  More info can be found at www.renegadecraft.com/holiday.

New at this show will be the hooded shawls that I have yet to name.  They’re made from super cozy, think knit fabric, and can be dressed up or down, depending on where you want to wear it.  They will be in an assortment of neutral colors, so you’ll be able to wear it with a lot.   I will also have more Robin Dresses, Robin Tops, and Weekender Bags.  This will be my first solo show, so come visit me!

Handmade Detroit presents the third annual Detroit Urban Craft Fair from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 15 @ the Fillmore Detroit (formerly the State Theatre). This year’s fair features 65+ vendors, a make and take area, and A Bag: A Dress - an eco-fashion contest. Get your holiday shopping done early while supporting local artists! Free to enter. All ages.
More details at www. detroiturbancraftfair. com

Always the Forest will be there selling Robin Tops, dresses for the holidays, Michigan flora and fauna tees, and debuting the new and improved Weekender Bags!  I also have a dress in the a bag: a dress contest.  Judging for that is at 6pm.  I tried to be all pro about it this year and get everything done ahead of time, but noooo, it’s 2 am Friday night and I am still up.  Maybe next time.  Come visit me!