Branching Out

This last week has been school half term holidays here.  I've had a great time with the kids and also some time away at Cherish 2013 women's conference but it has meant unfortunately there's been no time for sewing.

I did manage to keep up with a bit of paperwork and social media.  Last week I discovered and joined in with Handmade Monday and really enjoyed reading other crafter's blogs.

Although I didn't get to do any sewing last week I was able to arrange for some of my current bags to be available for sale in Had 2 Buy, a local shop on Bondgate in Darlington.  I'm quite excited about this new outlet for Handbags Just 4u . This is a lovely shop stocking a variety of handmade gifts, from jewellery, handbags and accessories to homeware and also exhibits Art work by local artists. They also have an online shop .

With the children back to school this week I'm hoping to get the sewing machine whirring again so that I can add some new bags to the website and build up my stock for my next craft fair, which is in early July.

And because there is aIways time to buy fabric....I bought this lovely oilcloth in Scottie Dog print....

....and also this black & white cotton print from Tempting Tonals by Freedom Fabrics.

I'm yet to finalise the bag designs for these fabrics but I'm sure I will be including some photos in a future blog post.

I'm off now to check out the other lovely blogs featured on Handmade Monday . Hope you have a great week.

More New Bags!

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was making a handbag in Prestigious' gorgeous 'Sixpence' fabric.  I'm pleased to say that it's now finished and here it is......

It's lined with hot pink cotton and has feature buttons where the strap meets the bag, these are covered in the same lining fabric.

What do you think?

So, what else has been happening at Handbags Just 4u?  This last week I've been busy preparing for a craft fair (will blog about this very soon) and have made these beach bags in VW Camper Van fabric.....

These are lovely big bags which hold all the essentials for the beach.

In between making I have had some time for searching the internet for lovely things and came across Handmade Monday.  Here various crafters can link and share their blog posts with one another.  What a great way to make some new crafter friends.  Hello to everyone, I look forward to checking out your blogs.

My First Craft Stall

I haven't updated my blog over the last couple of weeks as I've gone into production mode & haven't had much time for writing.

I was given the opportunity to show my work at the ladies evening at my church. This was to be the first time I would 'set out my stall' so to speak. I really wasn't sure how many bags I would need to take so I spent much of the 3 weeks leading up to the night making as many as I could!

Here is a photo of the final layout.

Thank you to my husband, John who made the stands for me to hang some of the bags from.

This evening was a great experience as I am booked into my very first craft fair soon.

I recently read a blog post about falling sales at craft fairs and the writer was saying that the success of these events shouldn't just be judged by sales on the day as there are other factors to consider which, though not easy to quantify, should be seen as opportunities. 

Although it would always be great to sell lots of product there were some other benefits I experienced from the evening which would be difficult to quantify in a monetary sense but I'm sure are of great value.

Marketing, advertising and PR:
I was able to reach a different audience, showing my products, giving out business cards and promoting my website. In an earlier post I talked about using social media. I've found it great for networking and have achieved sales using it but I was conscious that not everyone uses Facebook or Twitter.

Feedback on my products:
It was lovely to hear the praises people had for my work which was a real boost for my confidence. What was also very useful was the feedback from people about the types of bags they would like to see. A handbag for a lady is a very personal thing and as I've found out women have some very definite ideas about what they like. I've been able to take that feedback away & use it to help me plan what products to be making next.

A gauge for prices:
Pricing is always a difficult thing to get right. There are many ways to calculate the price but ultimately I want a fair reward for the work I've put into making a handbag. One of the things I learnt whilst preparing for this first experience as a stall-holder was to stick with my price formula and to not lose confidence and undervalue my work. If the client feels the product is worth the price being asked (assuming firstly they want the product) then they will pay that price. This paid off and I sold my most expensive bag on the night.

There are other things I learnt from the evening, however I've covered the main things here & I now have some useful tweaks in mind for my next stall. I will let you know how it goes in a future blog post.

New Bags

Last week I promised to post some pictures of the bags I've been working on. 

I couldn't resist this fabric when I saw it....so fresh and vibrant.  It's by Clarke & Clarke and is called Energy.  I've got it here in the Smoke colourway.  With our British winter lasting longer than usual this is really helping to brighten things up a bit.

Here I've teamed it with lime green and cobalt blue cotton linings.

I've also made a handbag in the same fabrics.

Now I appreciate this might be a bit bright for some so I've also made a tote in this lovely navy fabric by Prestigious called 'Sixpence' and teamed it with a hot pink cotton lining.

I plan to also make a handbag in this fabric too and will post pictures when it's ready.

Great British Sewing Bee and Threads

I don't know about you but I've been really enjoying the Great British Sewing Bee (GBSB) on BBC2 over the last 3 weeks and am looking forward to the final.  I do however think the series is too short.....hope they'll be another series soon.

My favourite is Lauren,  I loved the jacket she made last week.  It's beyond my current skill level so I'll just admire from afar for now.  Lauren has a tutorial over on her blog www.guthrie-ghani.co.uk/blog for those lovely patch pockets which she made on the show.  I think I'll give those a go, they would look fabulous on a bag.  
 

It's been lovely to see a renaissance in sewing and after GBSB I bet they'll be an increase in sewing machine sales.
 

There was a time when practically every household had a sewing machine.  My grandmother made her family's clothes and taught my mum to sew.  My mother then sewed her own clothes up until about the time I was born by which time sewing was beginning to go out of fashion.  There was still, however a sewing machine in our house and I now sew on my mum's latest machine (on almost permanent loan).
 

Between my mum and I we have what is left of my grandmother's sewing thread collection.  Many of these threads hold memories....mum can still tell me what her mum made with them, now well over 50 years ago.  For example there is a reel of red cotton which was used to make a dress for my mum when she was 4! 

This photo is a selection of some of the older ones, I love the wooden cotton reels.

The reason we have so many is that my grandmother would buy two reels of each colour for what she was making.  I recently ran out of thread mid-project late on a Sunday when the shops were shut.....I wished I'd followed my grandmother's example.  So my top tip....make sure you have enough thread!

I'm working on some new bags for my website Handbags Just 4u this week and will put some photos on my blog next time.

Embracing Technology

When reading this post you will gather pretty quickly I am no tech expert.  I love making my bags, however if more people than just me are to see them I know I need to embrace technology. Here are a few things I've done to set up an online presence for my new business.  This isn't rocket science, so here goes.....

 

1) Social Networking
Like many I've used Facebook & Twitter for keeping in touch with friends, colleagues and acquaintances for quite a long time.  It's only recently I've started to use these social networking sites to reach an audience for business.  I'm amazed that my bags have reached people that I don't know simply by my posting a picture, a friend liking or commenting on it and then their friends liking/commenting.  I guess if we're honest we're all quite nosey....we like to see what others are up to.  If you haven't got a Facebook page for your business you could be missing out on sales (assuming your target customer use Facebook). So far, the majority of my sales have come via this route, and it's FREE advertising!

 

Check out Handbags Just 4u's page www.facebook.com/handbagsjust4u

I can also be followed on twitter www.twitter.com/handbagsjust4u

2) Blogging
Now as you can tell I'm really new to this. I enjoy reading blogs, they open up a whole world of writing on various subjects. In particular I love the sewing ones (well I would say that wouldn't I?), loads of lovely fabrics and ideas.

I've begun my blog to keep a record of my journey and to share any tips I might pick up along the way. And let's face it, a blog is another way to get your business name out there, and again it's FREE!

3) Website
The idea of setting up a website filled me with fear. I haven't a clue about web building and graphic design, however I found a company which enables you to build a website without the need to be know loads of technical stuff www.create.net. They have a range a templates to choose from and it's really quite simple to add your content. Now this isn't free but it is reasonably inexpensive depending on the options you choose.  A really good place to start.  Initially there is a free 30 day trial, which was enough time for me to create the first draft of my website and to make the decision to go ahead.

 

My website is www.handbagsjust4u.co.uk I'd love you to drop by and take a look.

 

Whilst none of these things were that complicated to do it has taken a lot of time and will continue to take time. Keeping content up to date, adding new content all takes dedication and effort but in a short space of time I've seen the benefits of this.

My next techy project is to start using Pinterest,  I'm always finding things I'd like to 'keep' online & this seems like the answer.  Does anyone have any experience of this they'd like to share?

How It All Began

Firstly who am I? Well, I'm Vicki, I'm a wife and a mother to 2 young girls and now owner of Handbags Just 4u, making handmade bags in beautiful fabrics.
 

I didn't really start out intending to set up a handmade handbag business. So how did I get here you might ask? It all began with some handmade children's aprons. My daughters both needed new ones and I thought I'd make them. I'd not used a sewing machine since I was a teenager but with some training from my mum I was up and 'stitching' in no time.

I made the girls aprons, then some for my niece & nephew too. I had bought way too much fabric (something which has become a bit of a recurring theme for me!) so continued and made some more. Along the way I'd also attended some card-making classes which I really enjoyed. Very quickly I'd got the crafty bug & had a collection of cards and fabric items, more than I could possibly use myself & thought how about selling my crafts?
 

I set up shop on an online marketplace and also a Facebook page.  Whilst I had positive comments about my products I didn't have any sales (not counting family!) over the first couple of months.  I know it can take time to get going but I wondered if it was all a bit haphazard. I was making a bit of this and a bit of that without much of a plan & to be honest my products were similar to many others available on such websites.
 

The turning point came with one simple tote bag. I posted a picture of a tote bag I'd made on Facebook and within a couple of hours I had orders for 3! 

I then made some more and also some shoulder bags, which again proved popular.
Going by my Facebook stats, my bags were my most popular products in terms of 'likes' and comments and were therefore reaching far more people than anything else. I love handbags, as many girls do. I've spent many an hour online looking at various styles, sizes, and fabrics and enjoy putting it all together to make something that others will love and enjoy too.
 

It became obvious handbags was the way forward for me.....
 

.....in my next post I'll talk about setting up my website.