Taking a break

Just for Christmas lol!

It seems like a good time to reflect now I've been open four and a half months.

To answer my original question, I think I should have remained a SAHM with a hobby. Not that I intend to shut down or anything, just there are things I miss and a lot of pressure I don't necessarily need.

I've just sewn a little sleep doll and discovery bag for my nephew (hmm, hope my sister doesn't read this until after Christmas) and am working on a really nice top for myself and it made me realise I haven't sewn anything for myself or DD since I opened. I've had a wonderful time with the top especially because I know exactly what I want and I've made it up from a completely different pattern, making a toile and fiddling around with that to modify it. It's that sort of creative design that I really enjoy, not just following a routine.

It would be nice to have the time to be sewing DD little dresses and making doll's clothes, she's just getting to the age where she doesn't grow out of things every 5 minutes and is starting to be able to dress and undress dolls. I've also had a ball making up a newborn nappy for someone else, that was the sort of problem that got me interested in designing my own nappies in the first place.

On the business side I think I've actually done pretty well. Thanks to a couple of large orders I'm way ahead of where I expected to be, I'm almost halfway to my break even point a lot quicker than I expected. Of course I keep spending more money too! I've got some decisions to make over the Christmas break about which bits to continue and whether to expand some areas. It's nice to have had enough turnover to start filling in some of the gaps in my business plans.

One of the things I need to do is look at how I'm going to get some more of the creativity I enjoy into it.

• I've been really enjoying appliqueing and doing extra bits on some of the nappies, and they are pretty much a boutique product anyway, so I'll be doing more of that with little frills and furbelows.
• I like doing the T-shirts as well, so I think I'll be pushing those.
• I've been asked about fitted nappies, and given that I'm pregnant and now live somewhere they will actually dry I want to experiment with those and with small/newborn nappies.
• I still have a half made sundress sitting on my sewing desk, because DD completely refused to try it on. I'll have to finish that and see if they are viable, as well as the two half made sunhats.

Looking at the list, part of the trick is going to be getting far enough ahead on the basic nappies that I can do some of the fun stuff as well.

Customs vs In Stocks

From a producer's point of view, definitely in stocks.

I used to prefer them as a customer as well, the only two times I ordered a custom it took a ridiculously long time to arrive. One there were various reasons and some communication, the other just didn't turn up for over a month, and as it was my first MCN I didn't know that wasn't normal.



Having said that, there is something special about choosing everything exactly the way you want it, and since I've been open I've been asked for customs a surprising number of times. It's not that people want different fabrics, they want a slightly different product. Which is fine, as a new store I want to know what people are after, rather than telling them what they should be interested in!



But in stocks are definitely so much less pressure. If I don't get the current ones done as quickly as I want, I'm the only one affected. If DH has a super busy time at work so I miss out on some of my sewing time, it doesn't hold anyone else up. I've just experienced this with a custom order, firstly I'd never done anything that big before and completely underestimated how long it was going to take. Then on top of that it coincided with DH having to result Year 11 and 12s, do reports, presentation night, school formal, and a trip to town for our ultrasound (Yay!). But it's finally done and sent off, so that's a relief.

In stocks are also more fun for the same reason customs are more fun for customers - I get to choose them all! It's quite a shock having someone else telling me what to sew! Although this time was good, she just chose the outers and I got to do everything else, so here we have 23 nappies that are all different combinations. That's quite an impressive stash.

(BTW, this is just like being at Uni still. I always got the most nervous after submitting an assignment, sending off orders is definitely the most nerve wracking time. I know they've been tested, I know the nappies work, but there's always this niggling doubt that something went wrong this time.)

Snap sockets, 6 x 2cm start from back

You know when there is something you consider really minor, how it always seems to end up being huge?

The title is the line in my nappy sewing instructions for putting the snaps on the outer. I use sockets there so they are flatter, there are two lines of 6 snaps 2cm apart on either side of the front tab, and it is important to start measuring from the back of the tab. This is in there because I have done it from the front occasionally, if you've been reading this blog for a while you may remember the tester disaster when I did them all wrong. Actually the pattern has changed since then and it is not as important, but I still make sure I check.

Anyway, to me this is a fairly minor part of making the nappy, in my head it doesn't rank up there with sewing the leg elastic in, for example. But I've just spent several hours snapping away. I have to stand, because of the bench height, and it is really rough on your hands. And it's really, really boring, although my daughter did watch a DVD while I was doing it this morning, and I have sort of learnt to read while doing it.

No other point to this post, I just need a break and there are no emails to read!

Some Practicalities of WAHMing

Ok, I thought it was time for some more cute photos, and they don't come much cuter than my little girl.

So, the practicalities of WAHMing. Basically you have 4 options.

• Daycare or baby sitting, which pretty much defeats the purpose, although some people find a day a week is good. It would also make a difference if you have grandparents around who would love to have them.


• Somehow have an incredibly independent child who lets you work ALL ON YOUR OWN. Personally I'm still waiting to have a shower or go to the toilet on my own. I must say DD is getting a lot more independent and will wander off to play by herself, but I don't get much done in 10 minutes here and there. There is also the option that some kids can do their own thing down one end of the table while you work at the other, but whatever I'm doing is usually much more interesting.


• Work only when they are asleep or your partner is there to look after them. I do have the most fantastic husband, he loves taking DD in the morning and letting me sleep in, and he puts her to bed at night so I get to start some work at a decent hour. Her naps are also settling down, I can usually count on almost an hour's work, although whether I feel like it at that time of day is more problematical. Hmmm, maybe half an hour. Actually, after I check emails and the forums more like, oh, it's not worth it for that time, I'll just keep looking at this.


• Find some way to include them. Getting DD to hold things down while I am cutting is starting to work, although every now and then she feels the need to yank them instead. Painting is much more successful.

Here she is painting the terry tabs that go on my nappies for the snappis to attach to. It is so gorgeous, she carefully straightens them and helps lay them out, then hands me the pins. She tries to pin too, but the little fingers aren't strong enough. Then here I've set her up with all the ones that need to be blue. I chose to go with a paint rather than dye because it is non-toxic and washable, and you can thin it with straight water.

In the background are all the other colours I set up and painted very quickly! And no need to clean up afterwards, I just put the paints away then kept giving her More! More! water and she basically cleaned the containers and brushes. Of course then it dripped all over her and she was Cold! Cold!

Then after we dried and washed them she pegged them all up on her own little clothesline. I should have got a photo of that too, she loves having her own line and always helps hang out the washing. The problem is convincing her to let it dry before bringing it in.

Oh, why is she naked? She's a toddler and it's paint! Why do you think she's naked? (It is high 30s here.)

What a difference a day or two makes.

I was going to post a couple of days ago, and while it wouldn't have been negative it would have been a bit blah. While I'm officially over the gastro I'm feeling a bit off, and first trimester exhaustion is still a big factor (Yay! I'm pregnant! and I've remembered to tell all my family so I can post it here now!). I've had to accept that I won't just get over it with time, at some stage I'm actually going to have to sleep :) Then DH took DD over the weekend so I could catch up, which was wonderful, but I wanted to go swimming with them :( To be honest, I just kept thinking of all the things I could be doing if I didn't have to run a business (sleep).

But then it started getting better. I went swimming on Sunday, so we got some family time when we were all upright and no-one was spewing. Then I got an enquiry about an order. Then I got a really nice email from a customer. Then they ordered an entire stash!!!!!!! (I definitely need some smilies here) Then there were some more compliments on another forum.

So is this the fifth or sixth time I've talked about the emotional ups and downs of WAHMing? Sorry to be a bit repetitive, I think you get the message.

Excuse me, I'm off to check the fabric stash to see if I have enough to fill this order. And DH is already saying "See? I told you you should cut out lots at once."

On a happier note ...

Everything seems to be settling down and working itself out nicely, although I've been so busy I haven't been on there much to find out.

The visit to the city was fun, I picked up some Christmas fabrics as well as my new sewing machine. I had one the store lent me while it was off being fixed, and it is great. Whatever the adjustment seems to have fixed all the annoying bits as well and it is now fun to sew again rather than frustrating.

I've got some Christmas prints but I also bought some plain colours to do appliques. These are a custom order that isn't finished yet, but I was really pleased with how they've turned out. The sewing machine even coped with the metallic thread for the tinsel on the tree, which it wasn't doing before. There are matching T-shirts to go with this order too and it's going to be gorgeous, now I just have to stop mucking around and sew it!

Just had to edit to add the completed sets.

Well, that was nasty.

Been a long time since I've posted, mainly because nothing much was going on. I was just pottering along trying different things. Then I went to check online before going to bed and discovered all sorts of things were happening. I'm not going to say what it was, some people will know or be able to work it out but while it was very over the top I don't think it was anything that hasn't happened before in other industries so you don't really need to know details. I'm only writing about it because this blog is supposed to help people see what it is like being a WAHM.

I suppose I've been a bit naive. It's funny, I've been involved in discussions about stealing designs and copying, but I suppose I had this image that this is a nice little cottage industry where we are all trying to help each other stay home with our children and push our favourite products at the same time. If someone asked I would have said that it is a good thing that there are so many WAHMs out there doing nappies, because all babies are different and the huge range means you are sure to find something that suits your baby. Unfortunately some other WAHMs and even customers don't seem to agree with me and there is a lot of competition that seems to get nasty. And then of course it all becomes tit for tat and gets out of control.

Maybe my perspective is shaped because I have a husband who is able to support me and my business. I am trying to treat this as a genuine business, not a hobby, but to be perfectly honest anything beyond breaking even is a bonus. I've been very careful to set up fallback positions and alternatives so we don't lose too much money, even if I had to pack it in tomorrow. Maybe for other people it is more important to make a profit or they have more invested. I definitely have as much emotionally invested, it hurts when a week goes by with no orders, or when I have lots of people visiting the site but not buying. You definitely start to wonder what you're doing wrong and why no-one likes you. And it's wonderful when I find a link that a customer has put up recommending my products, it pretty much makes up for the bad times. (So I just need a few more of these, hint, hint.)

Anyway, what happened had nothing to do with me directly, but it could impact on me. To me it was unethical, and I was very tempted to react. I definitely don't blame the others who did, a huge part of me agrees with them. However I decided not to, and I just wanted to share some of my reasoning.

As both an educator and as a parent I have to believe that mistakes are to be learnt from, and I have to believe in second chances. I have done stupid things in my time, and other people have given me the chance to redeem myself and rebuild those relationships. So tempted as I am, I have to extend that chance to the people in the wrong here. I definitely don't believe in forgive and forget, I'm far too vindictive and nasty for that :), but I believe in letting people earn back trust. And if they don't, I'll be able to say that at least I tried.

Because ultimately, the only person who's behaviour matters to me is me. I can be angry at other people, but I don't have to look in their mirror or live with their conscience. All I can do is behave in a way that I can look back and say, "Yes, I like that person and I am proud of them."