Filling up the shop

Happy Monday! I did quite a bit of sewing, promoting, and thinking this weekend....among helping throw a bridal shower for a dear friend! I realized I need to pay more attention to my etsy shop in the midst of completing Sew Cute! at home party orders - a task that is not so easy! I did have some wallets, coin purses and a bag sitting in my sewing room and made a goal to fill up my shop this week!

My cousin, Kaitlin, did this a month or so ago. She set a goal for herself to list one item a day for a week and see what happened in her shop. I started yesterday and listed a new item for Sew Cute! - I have branched out from basic, one pocket clutch/ wallets, to a wallet that has one main pocket, and then some credit card divisions. Here it is:

Find this in my etsy shop - click here

Wicasset by Moda Wallet

Today, I listed an item that is a bit more "springy". This floral mini-wallet is super bright and just wants to go inside your bag! I have a matching coin purse that will be unveiled soon!

In other areas of Sew Cute!, my huge order is slowly coming to an end! I have one and a half bags left to complete. I've learned quite a lot during this process as well as sewn every spare minute I have. Here are a few things I will put into practice:
1. Charge more for custom orders! They take time - more time to pick out the fabrics, go to the store, figure out which button the customer would like best, etc.
2. Put more in writing! I need to make sure I specify that custom orders cannot be returned. Customers need to be told to be very specific about their likes and dislikes if they are going to "trust me".
3. Order thank you cards and new business cards! I'm running low on business cards and I want to incorporate some matching thank you cards I can send to customers.

Finally, Here are some photos of a few of the orders I recently filled:

Cassie's Order: Black & White Mini-Tote, matching wallet and keychain

Melissa's Order: Custom Alchemy Order - Scoop Pocket Purse

Have a great day!

Sew Cute! Saturday & Sunday

This weekend, I got a bit of quilting done - both for Sew Cute! and my own projects. I finally finished the wallet/coin purse duo for a custom order. t The coin purse took a bit of work, I made two and finally perfected it with this one.

I also decided that I want to make a Spring table runner with some pink lemonade fabrics that I picked out last year. I started this project this afternoon. I should be done sometime this week.

Here's the pic of what it will look like finished:


Among other things, I found out that I sold a few items at Lucy's...and was very excited about it. I realized that with Spring coming, I should try out another store to sell my bags at. Today, I headed down to Portsmouth and checked out another store. It looks promising...so we'll see!

new happenings

My debut Sew Cute! at home party last Thursday was a success! I had about 8 guests and a great set of orders. One guest decided to host her own party in March and I have had three other friends contact me about hosting! This morning, I worked on cutting out some fabric for a few wallets that were ordered. My etsy site is pretty empty right now, so I need to post some new items that I made for the parties. I'm basically using it as an avenue for advertising, since the sales haven't picked up yet. Once these string of parties are done, I will look into more advertising. Maybe a blog giveaway...
Yesterday, while perusing the internet, I found a few great starter patterns for some new ideas. My brain is full of funky new items to sell - from wallets with zippers to clutches with metal frames. I found a great tutorial from the UK on how to make a clutch - clutch tutorial. Then, I found a seller on etsy.com that sells purse frames from the US for pretty inexpensive.

That's what I'm thinking about now. I will get some photos of my new projects up soon!

a few of my favorite things