pillows, pouches, a promo and P.S.

And now for a little experiment. For the very first time, I am offering ready-made items in my shop sewn from my original organic fabrics! Choose from pillows and pouches, Indian Summer sateen and Family Cottage canvas…all sewn by yours truly. I gotta say, it’s a kick to sew with my own fabrics. :)

 
As many of you probably know, I launched my own self-produced line of fabric in the summer of 2009. Having my own print designs on fabric has been a long time dream of mine. To stay true to my desire to be as earth-friendly as possible, I print exclusively on demand, in the US, on organic base goods. The digital printing process utilizes water-based, non-toxic pigment dyes and minimizes waste and water consumption. Printing on demand helps prevent fabric waste. I’m proud of that.

There’s a saying I like that goes like this, “Good. Fast. Cheap. Pick two.” In this circumstance, I have chosen to go with Good and Fast. That said, it’s not Cheap. Printing short runs comes at a cost and organic fabrics are more costly than conventional. That’s the downside. I’m sensitive to the fact that my fabric is not inexpensive. I wish that it were more affordable for everyone’s sake. What good is creating something for people if they are unable to use and enjoy it?

Meanwhile, selling handmade items can be a challenge and gives the ol’ “time/value” equation a real work out. (If you’re not sure what I mean, my friend Michelle has a great post about it on her blog.) That’s why I stated that this will be an experiment. I don’t intend to sew and sell a lot of items. I’ve slaved in my own personal sweatshop of mass production in the past and it’s not worth it. Now I’m doing my best to price things fairly based on my time and materials. I’m going to take it slow, see what the response is, and use my shop as a bit of a testing ground.

So, what’s the promo that I mentioned up top? For the next 4 weeks I am reducing the price on my organic print yardage by $10 a yard. From now until March 11, 2010, my organic cotton/hemp canvas will be $54/yard and my prints on organic cotton sateen will be $46 a yard. (Smaller cuts such as Fat Quarters and Sample Sets will stay at the regular price.) While I know these prices aren’t what anyone would call *cheap*, I do hope that this promo is helpful to you. Look at it as a small token of appreciation for all of the love and support you have shown me over the years as I navigate this thing I call my business.

P.S. Thanks to your votes, I won the Poppy Award for Favorite Handmade Eco Artist! More on this soon.