ninapatina :: musings on textile design, surface design & life in general

Music music music! Bomba Estéreo!

2011-04-27T07:57:00.000-04:00

I love when rooting around for info on one band leads me in a completely different direction only to discover something wonderful. Case in point: Bomba Estéreo of Bogotá, Colombia. Their style is called Electro Cumbia and the grooves are merely fantastic. I d a r e you to stand still while listening to the cut Raza from their release Blow Up. The beat loops out, curling itself warmly, but firmly, around your hips.

And then the gyrating begins.

The first song that caught my attention was Agua Sala. Soft, smooth, warm, with a slow, swirling beat riding along underneath. The video is good, too.

Bomba Estéreo is on tour and will be coming to the Brighton Music Hall on May 9th. I cannot wait!

Setting goals and reading the map

2011-04-13T09:50:00.000-04:00

I have been participating in a course given by the lovely and talented Tara Gentile called Art of Action. It's a six-week ecourse that has attracted a group of women from broadly ranging backgrounds, but all after the same thing: giving that idea or dream a good kick in the pants. We want to find our way from point A to point B and beyond, but just need a little help mapping it out and making the move.

To begin, we were asked to introduce ourselves in an online forum and to outline the goals we wanted to tackle. So, I laid out my ideas, things I wanted to achieve or work toward over the coming weeks. Basically, they had to do with becoming a surface designer and pushing myself to get out there, to make things happen. The more I thought about it, the more I saw the situation as represented by a messy room. I am on one side and, over there in the far corner, is my pile of goals.

However, between me and the goals are all kinds of things strewn about, things that require my attention, stuff that prevents me literally from getting from here to there in any smooth fashion. As I look more closely, I realize that these items are actually projects that could earn me some money, increase my client base and, with that, autonomy, confidence, and an expanded web design portfolio.

Now, I don't know about you, but I tend to give precedence to paid work. As a freelancer, I have to. Thus, I refocused my energy and put it into gathering up these web design projects.

Over the past few weeks I have finished up two sites that were already in progress when I started the course. I've joined a second business networking group through which I quickly received a few referrals and I've been actively pursuing potential clients.

I have identified groups I could approach, because I think my talents and their needs would be a good fit (a local artists guild, for instance). I have submitted two quotes to new clients, one of which has been accepted, thus far. And, I am in the process of redesigning my web portfolio site in a non-Flash format so that it will function on platforms that don't support Flash - i.e. iPads and iPhones. I cringe when people tell me they tried to look at my site on their iPad and it didn't work. Ouch! I should have done this much sooner.

I am feeling pretty good about what I've been able to accomplish, though it may not get me closer to being able to call myself a surface designer in a completely obvious manner. I think the more I do each day - even if it's something small or seemingly unrelated (though not scattered) - the more power, energy, and confidence I gather.

Tara summed it up in an email yesterday morning in which she said: "Doing what's easy when you don't know what to do is the RIGHT thing to do."

And, yeah, I can do that!

Lyyke Li - I Follow Rivers (Dave Sitek Remix)

2011-03-10T22:54:00.008-05:00

I can't get enough of this remix of Lykke Li's I Follow Rivers. It has a yummy, thrumming, percussive backdrop and her vocals are echoed and atmospheric like she's singing in an old, damp warehouse.

You can find this version in particular on Lykke Li's rcrdlbl.com page, where you can download it for free. I get a "record of the day" newsletter from rcrdlbl.com and have found some good stuff that way - Lykke Li, included.

Here's the official video and original version of the song, which I enjoy, but not quite as much:

Banana bread with pecans and bittersweet chocolate!

2010-10-14T13:39:00.022-04:00

Autumn brings with it bright, crystal clear skies, puffy clouds, wonderful light, and cooler temperatures. I love summer, but autumn has always been a creatively charged time for me. Back when I was building sculpture, I'd build. When I was making paper, I pulled sheet after sheet. And in addition to all of that, I baked.

I no longer build sculpture or make paper (though I haven't erased those things from my creative psyche just yet), but I continue to bake.

I enjoy baking so much, that oftentimes I don't even get to taste the end product, because I've given it away already. Usually to people whose efforts I appreciate or just to make people happy. I am a firm believer in karma and paying it forward.

This bread is one of my favorites - the basic banana bread, but with quite a few recipe tweeks, ingredient replacements (I used to be vegan & thus this is a hold over from no dairy, no eggs - yet incredibly moist and cakey) and much experimentation in the flavor department. For now I've settled on the combination of banana, bittersweet chocolate (72% cocoa - preferably Green & Black's), and pecans laced together with cardamom and Vietnamese cinnamon, which has a brighter, almost minty flavor when compared to "regular" cinnamon.

I've baked this banana cake to bring to a potluck dinner tomorrow evening. It smells pretty darn good and I hope it tastes even better! I've had my share of baking mishaps and outright disasters, but I'm pretty darn sure this recipe won't fail me.

Of course, I haven't actually worked out a real recipe. Each time I bake this, I eyeball the chocolate and pecans and wonder "was it a fat, rounded teaspoon of cardamom?". Which probably means I should - for my own sake - write the damn thing down, already!

Enjoy the pics! I'll let you know how it turned out tomorrow!

Latest fabric strike-off

2010-09-14T13:32:00.002-04:00

This is a fabric strike-off of a pattern I posted here not too long ago. It's digitally printed on "oatmeal" or unbleached linen, thus the groundcloth is not bright white - which works for me. Linen is a great fabric to work with - it's strong, has a luscious hand, lasts a very long time and the plant from which it is made - flax - is naturally pest resistant, so little, if any, pesticides are used on the crop.

Knowing it might be difficult to get a clean, dark black, I asked for some advice from the printer and they had two ideas. One is what they call their "rich black" calibration and the other is where they increase the dpi of the file which, also, increases the cost of the final product. Now, I, like most people I know, am trying to save money, so I opted to start with the rich black. It looked pretty darn good, actually, but I wanted to see what I'd get for more money, so I went for the 720dpi option. It turned out to be only marginally richer.

Which helps to keep me marginally richer, as I can print using the lower cost process and pocket the difference. Savvy?

And now for something completely different...

2010-03-08T13:04:00.004-05:00

I am not what I would consider a celebrity watcher. I don't follow news about actors, what they're wearing, whether or not they're happy or how many babies they've scooped up from foreign countries. Still, I watch a few TV shows via the internet (Hulu, mostly), so I'd probably recognize some of them if we crossed paths.

It was with real surprise that I walked past Jeremy Davies at the Enterprise car rental office at Honolulu International Airport this past Friday evening. He plays Daniel Faraday on Lost and he looks precisely like he does on the telly. Same casually shaved beard. Same demeanor. He was wearing a cute little pork pie hat! And he was renting a car, just like the rest of us.

While I have very little experience with famous people, I am certainly not an actor mauler, so I just smiled at him and walked over to the counter. It was at this point that a car rental rep leaned across and said, "You're on Lost, right?" and he said yes.

I know Jeremy Davies from Solaris, one of my favorite films. I walked over to him and said "And Solaris! I think that is an amazing movie!". At this point he got a big smile on his face, put out his hand and said "I"m Jeremy". We shook and then chatted a bit about Hawaii and where I"ve been traveling. I didn't feel right asking him about what he's doing - why, I don't know. Sometimes I'm too polite for my own good (and other times I could use a little restraint!), but there it is.

Anyway, it was fun! And it shows the possibilities in life - not just my own, but others', too. It has gotten me thinking...

H. Kimura Fabrics - Kona, Big Island

2010-03-08T00:42:00.000-05:00

Stopped in a local fabric store recently to see what I could see and, boy, was there some good stuff! Great patterns, incredible colors - and the selection was quite large. You just don't find a shop like this in New England, so it was a real treat to see so many tropical, colorful, Hawaiian, and Polynesian prints.

Summer skirts, anyone? Yummy!

Some belated thoughts on: Printsource - January 11 - 13, 2010

2010-02-03T14:17:00.001-05:00

We got to Printsource probably a bit too early Tuesday morning (1/12/10) - um, ya know, like maybe 9:20? Anyway, there were few other attendees at that point, thus we were rather prominent as we wandered around, taking in the sights. This being my first time visiting a show like this, with thoughts of exhibiting at some point in the future, I had expectations.

The show overall was smaller than I expected - which is all right, really. I wasn't looking forward to slogging around thousands of square feet. The companies ranged from individuals representing themselves to fresh, mid-sized design studios and 20 plus year veteran design studios with who knows how many designers behind the name.

We chatted with people running small design studios and they came across with the freshest, most forward thinking impressions. One studio that stood out was Juna Studio. There was at least one other, but I have misplaced their business card! Both Juna and the other studio were fronted by young, intelligent, energetic women and both came across as being quite thrilled with the work they are doing and the artists they are representing. I have since checked out the submission guidelines on Juna Studio's website and there they outline things along the same lines as they did in person. I like how they work and look forward to learning more about them.

With the exception of one artist, the few individual designers there ranged from downright misplaced (still producing all her repeat patterns by hand, using watercolors) to purely unprofessional (over eager, showing too much work with way too many variations on this work). I made note of things not to do, should I decide to show my work at a place like Printsource.

I was really quite surprised to find that most of the exhibitors at Printsource were design studios and not, as I had thought, independent designers. At first, this was actually a bit of a downer for me and I had to sit and think about it with a cup of coffee.

However, after some reflection and after talking with more studios and individual artists, I realized that gaining representation by a studio may be the best avenue for me. A couple of the design studios said that they exhibit at two or three shows each year. Shows like Printsource, Surtex and Magic were mentioned. From what I've learned thus far, I'm pretty sure all three are among the most important textile & surface design shows held in the US each year. None of them has a booth fee below $2k - and that is for the smallest booth space. Add to this the cost of travel, lodging and food and we're soon talking about a good chunk of change.

I had hoped to learn a few things by pure and outright eavesdropping - listening in on the give and take between studio reps and potential buyers, but found that a strange thing seems to occur when buyers sit down to look at patterns.

They remain completely silent. They sit there and stare at the designs as the studio rep - equally silent - turns the pages. Not a word passes between them.

Is it a way of psyching out the designer? Or is it that the buyers are that intensely focused? Maybe it's that they really, really know what they are looking for and will say so when they see it?

I was actually kinda underwhelmed by the whole Printsource experience. While I am glad it wasn't huge - like Javits Center huge - I expected to find more going on at the event. Definitely something to file under "learning experience" (what I think will happen vs. what actually transpires).

I'm glad I went. Getting to NYC was great - had a really good time there with friends, ate good food, and saw good stuff. For now, my desire to visit textile and surface design events is lessened. My curiosity about design studios is heightened now, though, and I will be searching out as many as I can, as well as other avenues to get my work noticed. The excitement spurs me on!

New work!

2009-12-22T10:06:00.008-05:00

I work with a digital printer to produce the textiles I make these days. Thus far, it has worked out really well. This is my first design using only two colors and incorporating a rich black. In an upcoming post I will show you pictures of the different printing options. In the end, there is really very little difference between the two, especially if you don't view them side by side.

I was actually surprised by how well the solid areas of black translated into print on various textiles. Very exciting! I am really jazzed about this design. Next it needs a colorway. Haven't decided on the palate yet, but will post images once they emerge.

The road to Printsource 2011 ...

2009-12-21T09:22:00.005-05:00

... begins today!

Ok, so there is no real beginning date, but it's in process as I write. I've been working on new designs and I have registered to attend Printsource next month in NYC. I am finally going to walk the show! I have a lot of questions that I hope to find answers to while there. Travel and lodging plans have yet to take shape, but I have a good friend who will be driving me down and who will walk the show with me. Both of these things will be a great help.

I am very excited!

I'll walk the show in January and then I hope to exhibit there in January 2011, thus any advice or tips my fellow designers would be willing to share, for either experience, would be most welcome! My basic plan for Printsource next month is to visit over two days. I'm expecting the first day to be a whole lot of sensory overload. The second day is when I'll go back to look at particular booths again.

I remember reading someone's post about walking shows and they recommended eavesdropping as a good way to learn how designers and potential buyers/clients interact. Seeing how designers have displayed their goods and what kinds of things they offer for people to take home with them are also on my list.

Anything else I should be thinking about? Comfortable shoes - check! Notebook for jotting notes and ideas - check! Someone to carry me - ??? I'm going to have to work on that one.

Happy Winter Solstice!

Checking in....

2008-12-26T16:35:00.007-05:00

So, it's been a while.

Over the past half year or so my life has gone through a bunch of ups, downs and s-curves with an occasional breaking wave over the bow. While I am still creating textile and graphic designs in my head and on my laptop, I am not actively pursuing the world of licensing and production.

It's been lovely to see how well Daisy Janie is doing, though. Her work is wonderful and she deserves all the good things that have been coming her way this past year. Daisy Janie will be at PrintSource in January and I wish her the best of luck. You go, girl! I had hoped to get down there to visit and walk the floor, but the whole trip is more expensive than I can swing right now.

Instead, I will be continuing my work as a web mistress (!) with bits of graphic design thrown in here and there. I'm enjoying the work and I'm happy to be spending my time being creative. That is something I've strived towards for most of my adult life. Eventually, this will include something like textile design, too.

My visit to a local, um, silk screen shop

2008-05-22T19:26:00.008-04:00

Well, today was interesting. Starting with not being able to find where I was going, despite a mapquest map and quite likely because of it. However, I persevered, drove around, called for help, and finally arrived at the silk screen shop I mentioned in yesterday's post. The company is owned by an incredibly nice guy named Charlie.

Now, I was under the impression that this was a shop that produced silk screened fabric for clients, designers, that sort of thing. This impression was based upon a rather vague conversation with an old friend of my dad's with whom I made contact back in January of this year hoping he knew of someone who did this type of work. And he did. He actually worked with or for this person about 20 years ago and said he'd find him and then get back to me. My dad's friend did finally find Charlie - who was pretty much still in the same place geographically - told him about me, what I was looking to do and asked if it was ok for me to call him. Charlie said, sure, no problem.

Over the next four months Charlie and I played a convoluted game of tag - either he was way too busy or I was traveling - and then he was going on vacation - but we finally hooked up. And that was today. Charlie met me at my car as I pulled up in front of an industrial building on a rather nondescript back street, which, as I mentioned earlier, was pretty hard to find. Charlie shook my hand, introduced himself and invited me upstairs to the shop.

OK. And then we walked into the main office/studio area where I met his sister and his wife. All three of them have art degrees and work together in symbiosis to run the business. This is when I saw that what they are producing, silk screening, etc is NOT yards and yards of fabric for whomever, but rather clothing which they put through a patented process of Charlie's design. Due to the proprietary nature of what I was seeing and what I was going to hear, I was informed that I would be asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement before I left the premises.

I'm not sure if any of you have heard of the designer MARIKA CHARLES? Well, that's Charlie and his sister, Marika.

Here are some links to check out:
Marika Charles Factory Store - article
Alhambra Style blog
Fashion Magazine

Charlie showed me some pretty cool looking clothes - cashmere sweaters and fine gauge t-shirts, among other things. We went through the shop from where the product begins to where it ends and then into the art department where the designs are created and worked and reworked.

It was all rather astonishing. The colors were fabulous, the patterns were subtle and created a great visual texture. I wasn't able to find anything online that reflected what I saw today - which makes me think most of it was from their fall collection. Actually, I know that some of it was, as I asked and that hunch was confirmed. While showing me one of the sweaters, I asked Charlie what it would retail for and he said, "Oh, about $400". Crikey! Way out of my league.

It was a really good visit and Charlie and his family were very gracious. He and his sister even took time to look at my portfolio and a sample of my printed fabric - all of which I felt quite shy to show them after seeing the extent of their work and success. Man. But, they were very encouraging, made suggestions, talked about options and sent me off feeling inspired and invigorated.

I'll be staying in touch with these people, let me tell you.

Sewing contractors (again), designs, goals, India and Kathleen Fasanella

2008-05-21T19:32:00.000-04:00

Ok, well it's been a while since I last posted, but I'm back on track here and even have things to talk about!

So, I worked with two seamstresses from about the beginning of March until the end of April. Not very long, I know, but it seemed like years. Time dragged and prototypes were sewn incorrectly (which I have learned, quite rightly, was all my fault - no proper pattern, obviously poor communication on my part - I have Kathleen Fasanella and her book The Entrepreneur's Guide to Sewn Product Manufacturing to thank for that!). And all this time dragging (obviously, I have a problem with thinking that things should happen rather quickly, even though I myself am not that great at getting things done in a timely manner) started to sour in my mind the idea of having anything manufactured at all. Well, not anything, mind you - fabric does not fall into this category. But I was thinking "Crikey! If this is what it's like it's going to drive me bananas and why would I want to do that? " etc, etc.

This was before I began reading Kathleen's book - or at least I hadn't gotten to the part where she lays out things like, yeah, IT TAKES TIME. And then there are the prototypes and the tweaking and the new prototypes and the more tweaking and on it goes. Thus, I have given it more thought and recognized the merits of actually taking an idea, working with it and seeing it through to completion, which, in this case means not only having a finished product in hand, but taking it to market and seeing if it sells.

Other things I have learned from this book: less is more, know your limitations, don't buy materials before you actually have orders (doh!), listen to everyone who could possibly be telling you something useful, keep your ego in check (check!) and, damn it, you can do it! I can't recommend this book enough, so get out there and buy it before you start your handbag, handkerchief or undergarment business, ok? Save yourself some time and forehead slapping.

And then I had a dawn-breaks-over-marble-head moment - um, just yesterday evening to be precise - which went something like this: how about you look in the yellow pages for an actual sewing contractor company? I mean, what do you have to lose? Five minutes? So, I did that, starting locally - found a couple - moved on out to the state - found more - then got giddy and Googled the whole damn country.

Found a whole bunch of them then! Within minutes, I was filling out RFQs and sending email and even making a phone call to leave a message. I have thus far heard back from the recipient of that message and am now awaiting an estimate. I have received an email response from another company and hope to hear from the others by tomorrow. With the exception of a place in India, of course. I mean, time appears to be on another plane altogether in that country. Which is fine, but it does take some getting used to. Oh, right, the India company was not in the US Google search, but rather was one I had contacted a couple months ago. Then it took a while for them to get back to me. And then, I wasn't sure I wanted to manufacture overseas and then, well, I changed my mind, so emailed them with my specs and now I'm waiting...

In the meantime, I will be identifying more sewing contractor companies to contact, working on more textile designs, and researching trade shows. Anyone out there have trade show recommendations for bringing stuff like hand/shoulder bags to market?

The strike-offs I was all excited about in my previous post turned out ok. Yeah, just ok. But I learned a few things. Digital printing on unbleached canvas looks faded from the get-go and canvas is just such a dead fabric! It has no hand and is rather uninspiring. It is incredibly affordable, though. *sigh* The second set of strike offs were done on oyster linen and heavy cotton sateen and they turned out much better. I love linen, always have. Yesterday I submitted 4 new designs to be struck-off on a cotton/linen blend. Soon I will be listing my fabrics for sale on my etsy shop. When that happens, I'll post the URL.

Tomorrow I will be visiting a silk screen company not far from here. It's owned by a guy who started out painting silk scarves about 30 years ago and now owns this shop that occupies over 20,000 square feet! I'm looking forward to that visit for several reasons: have never seen such a large silk screen operation, certainly not one that specializes in screen printing yardage, I have lots of questions, and I hope to work with this company to produce a line of home furnishings and bedding. But, that will come at a later date. I have shoulder bags to manufacture!

Strike-offs, sewing contractor search, India

2008-03-18T16:14:00.000-04:00

So, the strike-offs are shipping out from the digital printer today! The woman I spoke to on the phone said they look really good - but, hey, I'll be the judge of that, eh? Man, I hope they look really good. It would make my life easier if there is no color jiggling to be done. It is my hope, as well, that I won't need to go looking for bleached cotton canvas, should the design look too yellow on natural canvas. If that's the case, I'd rather compensate in the design file than go for bleached fabric. Yep.

Today I've gone through my list of contacted companies in India - both fabric printers and sewing contractors - and re-contacted them. Are they not getting my email? Are they not interested in potential work? Or do they think I'm too small a company or something? I never understand when companies don't respond to inquiries from potential clients.

However, then there's Mr. Anand in Mumbai. He got back to me within a week and then we talked on the phone. Hopefully, he'll be in touch again soon with an estimate and information on the samples I've requested.

I have a contact in New Bedford, MA - where a good deal of sewing of leather and fabric goes on - and, whenever I ask him about finding a sewing contractor in the area, he becomes really cagey. He says, "well, I don't know any". And, well, how can he not? He owns a company that makes products from leather and they are sewn right there in his facility. What's he afraid of? Anyway, this time, I asked if he would at least give me a clue as to who to approach for this potential information. He barked off a couple government agency titles and then had to go to a meeting. Crikey.

The strike-offs are coming! The strike-offs are coming! I can't wait to see them! [must.not.get.too.excited. must.suppress.all.glee.]

Fabric production, sewing contractors, stress

2008-03-15T14:33:00.000-04:00

Things are moving along pretty well. They could always be better, though, I think. Since I last posted, I've met with a total of 3 seamstresses, 2 of which seemed to me to be a good fit. The first one I wrote about was great - definitely talented, capable, etc, but just didn't seem like she was as interested the work as much as the other two. Now, that may not have been a good reason to rule her out, but I did.

Yesterday, I met with one of the seamstresses and she had a prototype for me to look at based on my design idea and measurements. It was a good meeting - confirmed things like the strap length I had chosen was a good one and that the shape of the bag wasn't as good as I had thought. So, we changed the shape a little - eliminating the side panels altogether - and she made some notes on things she had done incorrectly (the bottom panel and the opening with the zipper). She is going to produce a second prototype for me - this time out of 10 oz. canvas, so I can better see the structure and shape - and get back to me within 10 days.

The other seamstress had emailed me about a week and a half ago saying that she would soon have 2 prototypes done for me - one with a stiff interfacing and the other with soft. I'm not sure I want interfacing, but I don't mind seeing how it works out.

Now, I called both these ladies last Monday, leaving them both messages asking what's up, can we meet soon and please call me back. Obviously, the woman I met with yesterday called me back quickly. The other woman didn't call at all. I called her again this morning and just received a call back and a message that she's all stressed out and very busy with work and her son's baseball practice and that, while she can have 2 samples to me in the next week or so, she won't be able to do any more work for me until May.

This is no good and now I'm stressing out! It's not like I have any orders to meet, but I'd really like to get this off the ground, you know? Once I have fabric printed (I'll get to that soon) I'll need someone to produce a few good shoulder bag samples for me and the sooner the better. Damn it.

Ok - the fabric. Well, I sent a file to the digital printer and they will have 3 strike-offs (proofs) to me around the middle of this week. I decided to have strike-offs produced on three fabrics for comparison purposes, though I'm pretty much set on what base fabric I am going to use - cotton canvas. Perhaps I shouldn't have spent the extra $30 on the other 2 fabric samples, but there you have it.

Next, I have to order a large roll of the fabric and have it shipped to the printer. This saves me a LOT of money. Hopefully, it won't take too long for the fabric to get there. I'll be placing the order on Monday, Tuesday at the latest.

I've also been emailing companies in India - both in fabric production and sewing contractors. Thus far, I have received a reply from one fabric company representative, who included his phone number. I called him yesterday morning and we chatted for a bit. The company can accommodate fabric up to 58" and they do screen printing primarily, though he mentioned other methods and, truthfully, I couldn't understand him! He spoke quickly and with that lovely Indian accent, so there was a lot of "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" on my end.

The minimum run is 1500 meters (about 1640 yards) and each screen (= color) costs a mere $25. Compare that to a company I recently spoke to here in the US with a yardage minimum of 2500 at about $3 a yard plus screen costs of $250 for each color! I am waiting on an actual quote from the company in India, but first had to email the rep again with more info. I also asked him if he could recommend a sewing contractor over there so that I could keep costs down by having everything done in one general area. I have emailed some sewing contractors myself, but thus far have received no reply despite several attempts.

So, I really hope I can get things going with either this particular company or some other one in India, because I'm never going to be able to make money on these bags if I have to produce them here in the US - very sad to say. It was my strong desire to keep the fabric and accessories production here in this country, but I just don't think that's going to be possible.

Woo hoo!

2008-02-12T13:50:00.001-05:00

Well, I just got off the phone with the potential sewing contractor. A woman who, it turns out, lives one town over and who does alteration work for a small bridal shop just one house away from where I live! Talk about a small world.

I am quite pleased with her professionalism, her years of experience (over 20), the fact that she also has experience drafting patterns and her willingness to work with me and my steep learning curve! We are going to meet next week, when I'll be able to see samples of her work, read through her resume and just see how we interact one on one.

This is great! I know I shouldn't get too excited yet, but I was so dreading this process (see earlier post) - phew!

Onward and upward, yes?

Looking for a sewing contractor and computer problems

2008-02-12T11:12:00.000-05:00

My laptop took a tumble a week or so ago and is still in the process of being repaired. It not being enough that I'm annoyed at myself for the mishap itself, I'm also dealing with a repair shop not calling me when the computer came back from Apple (last Thursday!), but also with the damn thing not actually having been fixed! Ah yes. Apple says it was working when it left their facility. And the customer rep apologized several times for the inconvenience. But, what can I do now other than wait for my precious laptop to be returned to me as soon as possible?

In the meantime, I am using a friend's laptop, so at least I have internet access and can do research and send email. I am in the process of learning about the sewing industry, while also trying to find a sewing contractor. Admittedly, I am not up to speed in all that I need to know vis a vis patterns, samples, sewing techniques, cost per sample and materials. It's a long list, yes, but I'm working on it daily.

Currently, I have one person whom I found on craigslist who sounds like she has the right experience. I will call her today and see how things go. I've been reading posts and comments on the Fashion Incubator website - which is such a boon, I can't tell you. If you are thinking of doing anything fashion/sewing/textiles related - this is the site to bookmark and read daily.

Anyway, many business people have posted about and commented on articles concerning finding and working with sewing contractors. Sadly, it appears this is quite the daunting task. However, as one commenter pointed out, if you act business-like, do your homework, know what you need and know what you are talking about, then you should be all right. Granted, it may seem that you have found a good, reliable contractor only to have samples that are poorly done or that may not materialize at all, ever.

So, I am preparing myself for what may be a long, frustrating process. We'll see.

the business plan and whatnot

2008-01-20T23:17:00.000-05:00

I've always hated writing anything that resembles a report. Despite the fact that, in the end, I usually do well. It's that confidence thing poking at me, again.

I'm trying not to view the business plan as something unpleasant and painful - though I suspect I am not alone. It was so much easier to get the ideas and concepts out of my head when sitting and chatting with the business counselor. Still, I have managed to get a good deal down and it's a relief. I think I have enough to warrant some feedback, in which case I'll email this first rough draft tomorrow. I know how important it is to have a business plan and that such documents tend to evolve over time, so I shouldn't fret about it at this stage, really.

Oh, yes - and I registered my business name - ninapatina - on Friday! Very exciting. Though I keep wondering if I should feel any different. You know - more serious? Less humorous and optimistic? Hmpf. Anyway, I plan to ask the business guy a lot about taxes and what I need to do to stay out of trouble. I'll be working with an accountant, as well, which will take a weight off my mind. I don't want to wake in the middle of the night with a large question mark burned on my retinas. My dreams are strange enough as it is, thank you very much!

Small Business Counseling Pt.I

2008-01-16T21:53:00.000-05:00

Today I met with a small business counselor at the Chamber of Commerce. It was really good! I've gained confidence in myself and my ideas for my business. Before meeting with the counselor, I would have said that I don't have much of a mind for business and that I had no idea what to put in a business plan.

However, just talking with this man and answering his questions helped me to verbalize and sort out my ideas. They made sense! Not only to me, but to the counselor, too. He said that I know more than I think I know - and, I know that part of my problem is a lack of confidence. I often don't give myself credit and tend to second guess myself.

And this has got to stop.

In order to start a small business and get out there and sell myself as well as my wares, I have got to believe in my talents and ideas unfailingly. Not blindly, mind you. But certainly unfailingly.

That said, tomorrow I will begin writing my business plan. Also on my list is to begin looking for a seamstress contractor. And I need to price out the services of a pattern drafter. Thank goodness I already have leads in both these areas, so I have a point at which to begin.

I'll meet with Mr. Business Counselor in two or three weeks. Perhaps sooner, if I manage to get ahead of myself.

Another good note in the very New Year

2008-01-14T12:37:00.000-05:00

So, this year has started out well [*knocks on wood*] in many ways, mostly pertaining to my efforts toward starting a business. I made a really great contact while perusing hits on Google when researching digital textile printing, custom fabric, etc. She is the woman behind Daisy Janie and Seam Allowances.

After perusing both Jan's website and her blog, I left a comment and asked if she'd be willing to chat with me about the textile business. She was kind enough to not only answer, but to take a look at my online portfolio first, where she saw that I am serious about this textile design thing. Jan's work is very nice and I am thrilled to have had the good fortune to hook up with her. I think we are going to have a lot to email about - including possibly attending a Print Source show together!

I've already sent Jan an email filled with questions and am looking forward to hearing what she has to say.

yay for me!

2008-01-03T09:12:00.000-05:00

it's funny, but it just hit me this morning
that my surface design work is going to be
represented at one of the largest textile and surface design
expos in the USA - Print Source!

yep. i have an agent - it's a really small company -
a start up, actually. based in Italy and the US.
but anyway, the rep goes to these
great shows, so this means I have a chance to see
my work out there in the marketplace!

cool.

textile printing

2008-01-02T20:06:00.000-05:00

So, I've been doing a fair amount of research to identify digital textile companies in this hemisphere and, thus far, have come up with a list of six. [I know, I know - there are more! Give me time.] Silly me, I began calling between Christmas and New Year's Day and, well, I got lots and lots of voice mail. Which was ok. It provided me more time to do look into silk screen printing.

Most screen printers print what? T-shirts. Yep. Most were on vacation, too, but I spoke to a few and I have to give them credit. They were willing to entertain the idea of printing on yardage, though we had to think of it as printing on t-shirts. "Lessee, that would be 5 imprints across and 10 up, so that works out to....".

Granted, the chances I'll have a t-shirt printer produce silk screened fabric for me is very, very slim. All right, it ain't gonna happen. But I needed to see who could do what and at what cost. I have a contact who owns a small screen printing company and they print on yardage and have done so for years. The problem is I won't be able to get over to their shop to check the place out, show the owner my art work and get a clear idea of the cost until mid to late January. So, I'm antsy, what can I say? Also, I didn't think it wise to sit around and wait until said meeting/visitation came to pass without exploring other options and other suppliers.

Thus far, I am leaning heavily toward digital printing. The color range, the fabric widths, the fabric choices, the turn around time - and the cost per yard - are all very appealing. I received an informational packet from one company complete with a printed sample on oatmeal linen, fabric swatches, cost per yard and general company information. It got me very excited!

I am getting closer to my goal of seeing my designs on fabric. From there I will have items such as handbags sewn up as samples and go about selling them to local boutiques, as well as online. I think I'll hold a trunk show at some point - though I'm not sure where yet. I'll also use fabric swatches as part of my design portfolio when approaching textile manufacturers and home furnishings companies.

So, it's all good. And it's all part of making this year, this brand new year, as good as I possibly can.

polyvore's allure...

2007-12-28T13:32:00.000-05:00

i got lost in the myriad of cool clothes, accessories and backgrounds to create a set at polyvore! definitely a way to lose time, but fun, too.