Just an Update

Okay, still sewing away at the end of the Spring/Summer '10 line. As soon as I get this all finished up I will begin work on the new Fall line which is going to be spectactular! I have some really fun things designed in my head and am hoping that i can get them all out on paper to create some fabulous patterns that are original to brownie-goose. I am going with a vintage/retro look this fall and hope you all love it just as much as I do!

With this being said, I am also having my most favorite photographer shooting the fall line for me to put on my new website. Whoop, whoop! Katie Stafford from Mary Moment Photography will be shooting all the frocks and I am so excited as she has come up with some awesome ideas to showcase my work. All this excitement, plus the design wheels that don't start turning until around midnight have created some sleepless nights recently, but it is going to be well worth it! So, if you see my blog start looking funny or cannot go to a previous page or something, have no fear...it is just me messing around and trying to get the new site up and running.

I am still pondering how to do the ordering system in the fall as I would love for everyone to be able to order, but must also make time for my family that comes in first. I have also put some thought into having a pre-order party at my house so that I could actually meet some of my customers, but nothing is in writing yet. So, no promises. I have also put some thought into going in with some of my uber-talented friends to do a joint show/party to showcase everyone's works, but this is still in the thought process too. What does everyone think? Some ideas that have been given to me as for ordering are to limit the amount that an individual can order, limit the time-frame that I take orders, do a sort of lottery system, etc. All ideas are welcome, as I am clueless and want to do what is best for family first and then one that makes my customers happy. As my guilty-pleasure icon sings it....the best of both worlds.

So, I ask all my faithful BG customers to put your thinking caps on. What do you think is a good system? Would you like a show/pre-order gathering? Just comment on here what you are thinking.

Thanks girlies!

PS - i also just had to remove all the names and site of the girls i was advertising a few posts back since it was bringing TONS of SPAM to my site. Holler if you need these names.

Some Serious Fabulousness!

Okay, are we even ready for all this fabulousness? Ooooohhh-weee is all I can say. About a week or two ago, I reached out and asked for some of the tailors who are out there that wanted their names/businesses to be advertised to contact me. Can I even begin to tell you how my emails blew up? It was like I had just opened orders! For the record…I am not open on orders at the moment. :)

Turns out, there are so many girls out there with some mad skills at the sewing machine and brownie-goose is about to share some of their info with you. Yes, it is a bit scary to advertise my competition, but I think these girls need some recognition! Some of the work just blew me away. The fabrics, the designs, the vision…etc, it just made me so proud of all of these girls and their hard work. I can honestly say about 95% of these people are moms just like me who sew when their sweet kiddos sleep. I know first hand that this is not an easy task to take on, so props to all of these ladies!

As just a reminder, brownie-goose is just me. Just a girl and her machines with a freakish love/addiction of bright fabrics and funky patterns. I love to do this. I love when I go somewhere and see a little kiddo in my clothes. It makes me smile. I love all the support I get from my amazing customers. I get at least one email a day telling me how much someone loves my clothes, or how they just thank me for making something for their kids when they have no clue how I find the time to do so. Or, even better...going to my porch the other day to find a sweet card with a Starbucks gift card from a sweet customer, just because. It is in the moments of reading these emails and notes that I am reminded of why I do brownie-goose. It is a rush, I love it and love to know that something that makes me happy (yet stressed sometimes as I will be honest) makes someone else just as happy. All of my customers are great and thankfully super supportive and patient with me. With that being said, it tears me up when I close orders and cannot take everyone’s orders and sew for everyone’s kids. If I could figure out a way to do it while still being a super Mom to the most precocious toddler I know, I would do it. But, I have yet to figure all that out. So, in the meantime…if you see the red light (which my husband jokes with me daily about my business and it’s red light, ha) come on back to this post and look at some of the names and businesses that I am about to put out there for you. Some of these girls own businesses much like brownie-goose, while some just sew in their spare time to make some extra cash. So, here they are…my competition. Scary as this is about to be, here they are. Love them, take a look at them and continue to support us moms out there! In saying all of this, I am asking that my BFF Murphy’s Law stay far away from making myself put my own self out of business with this one. Yikes, who knows!!

UPDATE - I had to remove all of these since the email addys and website addys were pulling SPAM to my site something awful. So, if you need to know....holler at me!

advertising

okay girls...i am still falling off my rocker in advertising for some competitors. i have gotten some great feedback and some awesome work!!!

i *think* i will be posting all the info this weekend. just depends on how this week at the machines goes. so, if you are out there and haven't gotten me your info....come on down girls!

off to some beauty sleep. peace out.

confessions of an untidy seamstress

So, i have always said that my motto is "a clean sewing room is an inefficient sewing room." well, i am not disappointing myself one bit this week. in fact, if my motto holds true...i should be pumping out these 200 orders with no problem. starting with...

yikes. look at what louise, my serger just threw up upon opening.

no wonder she was giving me a fit. for those that may not know, sergers are known for their temperaments. you have to speak to them sweetly, hold your mouth just right while using and prepare for the worst...and oh yeah, watch that blade with an unblinking eye before it chomps even the most precious of pieces of fabric. it likes to do that. however, my louise is sweet. she is a work-horse and shame on my for letting her get this dirty.

i will have you know, i got out my handy pressurized air-blower thingy to help the situation out...and i will be finding pieces of dust, fabric and thread in my house for ages.

oh, and as for thelma...you know it is bad when your tension starts acting all screwy and you have to go in with the hemostats. yes, thankfully i had a prior career in health care. these tools are quite possibly the most handy-dandy things to add to your sewing bins. i am glad i left the hospital on numerous occasions and found them in my scrubs later.

yikes...was this really in my sewing machine? yes it was, for a second there i thought it might be a long-lost family pet. phew. bad part is...this was just part of it. goodness.

oh, and although i JUST cleaned up my collection of coffee cups (this tailor enjoys her java) i knew it was bad when i couldn't find the spool of thread i knew i just bought because it was hiding behind a mug. oh, and just ignore those girl scout cookies over there, okay? and if you see jillian michaels...don't tell her you saw those. she has already kicked my booty once bad today, and i will be okay if i don't give her more reason to be brutal.

oh...and why is there no counter-top space on my 8 foot long sewing table?? wait, where IS my 8 foot long sewing table? oh, there it is...under piles of hoop-la.

why do i always seem to have a box of blanks sitting on my floor waiting to be sorted and put away? i mean, i feel as though i do this weekly. maybe my supplier has it out for me, hmmm.... Also, don't be thinking I am crazy with the dog food bags, as I have said before...I am green, I recycle and those become my trash bags. :)

okay, if i was sitting at my machines and turned to look behind me, this is the disaster i see. naked baby doll, some of louisa's sandals, a bean bag, a vacuum that needs to get to work, some girl scout cookies...darn, forget you saw those too, an alligator xylophone, i mean REALLY??

and for the most important part, work-room safety. let us not forget safety, right? well, from day one the fear of God was put into my about gingher shears.

my mother told me they would cut my finger off. i was not allowed to use them or even look at them the wrong way. they would grow legs, come over and cut off my finger. well, i was so afraid of the scissors, i almost created an aversion to them. they scared the mess out of me. but, i was lucky to inherit my grandmother's pair...and i finally used them for the first time the other day (well, it was a few weeks ago, but who is counting) and you know what, they REALLY did almost cut my finger off! i mean, blood all over the cork floor...i had to go in for the steri-strips. goodness. so, they are back in their place on my peg boards where i will continue to only give them the most pleasant of looks to avoid the sprouting of the legs.

speaking of fears of sewing equipment, i cringe each and every time i use my rotary cutter. absolutely cringe. thanks again mom. the fear of God i tell you, one would think i was into her sewing room all the time when i was young. hmmm. i cannot even use a pizza cutter without the thought that it is going to instantaneously cut through my finger. i am about to pass out right now just writing about it. well, today, my rotary almost took off my toe. before you try and figure out what in the heck i mean and how that was possible, let me just show you.

yes, see how deep that blade is in the cork? this was millimeters from my pinkie toe. ouch. the blasted cutter just rolled straight off my table (that i am still trying to locate) and tried to amputate little pinkie. not cool. way uncool.

and for the last of it. after i almost had my pinkie toe removed, i slipped and busted my booty. on what did i slip? oh, just one of the bazillion pieces of scrap stabilizer, thread or numerous serger tails that are lying around on the floor. seriously mr. vacuum that is in the corner of the room, get to work!!

that is all for now. thought i would share some humor. my creative bug just bit me again (yes, it is midnight...why it cannot bit in the daytime is beyond me) and i need to get out my drafting paper and hopefully get all the fun new patterns that have been haunting my brain as of late out of my head and onto paper so hopefully some of my cutie-pie customers can own them this fall. get excited!!

oh, and pps - let me just tell you...i have gotten some emails from tailors, and you girls are in for a treat. these mamas are talented and have some cute as mud stuff. hopefully i wont go putting myself out of business. you know, murphy's law. :)