How to Sell your Own Sewn Products on Etsy and Beyond!
LISTEN NOW or find the Fairface Podcast on your favorite podcast channel
Show Transcription
Hello my friends! Welcome back to another episode of the Fairface Podcast!
Tomorrow is the first official day of summer, though you wouldn't know it in Seattle right now...because it's currently 50 degrees and raining but I'm not going to let that stop me from being very excited about the new Maker's Courses that I will be launching, in our new Cut, Sew, Grow! Course series. That's what I'm going to talk with you about today.
Sewing your own products and selling them online
I have often thought, there is way too much that I have learned over the last 12 years about what it takes to sew and sell my own sewn products on Etsy and our website, for me not to share it!
Creative makers, like me, who love to sew their own creations and want to sell their products online on sites such as Etsy, Faire, or their own website and need a little guidance on how to do that.
Currently selling their sewn goods online or other venues but wants to learn how to scale their production so they can sell more and earn more money.
Honestly, It's everything I wished I had known starting out, so you don't have to try and figure it all out on your own!
My Story Sewing and Selling my Sewn Products Online
I started out as an Etsy shop maker, maybe just like you, in a small 2 bedroom apartment.
Before leaving for my other job at a school, I would cut each washcloth (Fairface Washcloths is my brand, by the way) by hand, with a hand held rotary cutter and cutting mat, I think 4 layers of flannel was the most my hand cutter would cut through. And then I sewed each washcloth with a Kenmore sewing machine.
Cons of Cutting and Sewing Everything Myself
One by one, order by order, I tried to stay ahead of inventory, which sometimes had me sewing late into the night after getting home from work.
One order in particular, I remember, I received for 100 washcloths, so you can imagine how long that took me to do by myself, how high that stack got and how small that little bedroom felt that I was cutting and sewing in.
I didn't really want to hire somebody to sew for me because it was hard for me to trust someone to make my washcloths at the high quality I expected, and I also wanted to make all the money from each sale, and plus, I honestly didn't really know how to hire out anyway.
So I kept up this pace for, if you can you believe it, 5-1/2 years until I finally accepted the fact that I just couldn't keep doing it this way, all on my own,
1) for my sanity,
2) for my quality of life, and
3) because I also couldn't scale and grow my business and my income if I was the only one making every washcloth AND doing everything else that it takes to sell a product and run a small business on top of that!
Benefits of hiring a Seamstress and Cutting in Bulk from Home
At the time we were able to say goodbye to our small apartment and move into a rental house with more room, I also took the leap and hired my first contract seamstress. I invested in fabric cutting equipment and created a large scale fabric cutting system, all that I could do from home, for under $300, which included my electric rotary cutter and the extra tools and supplies.
I can honestly say, the benefits of hiring a seamstress and creating this new bulk cutting system were unreal!
This scaled my fabric cutting abilities
- from the low double digits (and hours of work)
- to 1,000's of washcloths cut and sewn each production cycle in record time, compared to the way I had done it before.
Systems to Streamline Fabric Cutting, Sewing, Inventory management & More
Along with these changes I also developed and implemented systems to streamline the way I could
- Hire future contractors,
- Track the materials and inventory I gave out,
- Track materials and inventory as it came back in,
- How I managed a production timeline
- And created a step by step process to launch new products
All so that I could scale my products and business to a much larger level so I could
- produce more,
- sell more, and
- make more money by growing my business and income
all without the crushing responsibility of having to do it all myself. Because I just couldn't.
Why You Shouldn't Do It All Yourself
If you are someone who makes and sells your own sewn products or wants to, I know it can be hard to imagine what it would entail to scale your business or hire someone to help you.
The difficult thing is, that trying to do it all yourself so you can keep a tight reign on it, or not wanting to spend any more money, or you just don't know how to do it any differently so you just keep doing the same things, isn't helping you or your business, or your financial goals if you can't keep up with making your own products and doing everything else on top of that, yourself, and the way you're doing it now.
It takes a mental toll, and sometimes even a physical toll.
Not only did it often feel crushing for me to try and get all my washcloths cut and sewn and orders out doing it all myself, at a smaller piece by piece construction, but it started to affect me physically too.
My neck started tightening up, which affected my back and I had a lot of neck and back pain that made it hard to sleep and function every day.
I know it was from the tension and the stress of trying to keep up with everything without the best systems in place that could have helped me scale and streamline my production process so much better.
When you're knee deep in it, you feel like you can't even stop to evaluate or change anything because you don't have time to stop and even if you did try to stop, everything might fall or pile up to the point of no return.
Why I'm Sharing Everything I Wish I'd Known When I Started My Own Cut and Sewn Product Business
It has been 12-1/2 years now since I launched my Fairface Washcloths business, and I have learned so much over these years that it feels like such a gift to be able to share what I've learned with you, so it doesn't have to take you 12-1/2 years.
You can implement changes and systems to help scale and streamline your production and your business and grow at a pace you could have only imagined.
I want you to be able to implement these things so you can melt away a lot of the stress you might be feeling right now.
Sometimes you just want someone with experience to tell you what to do. You can think of me like an older sister who's gone through it already and learned through trial and error what works and what doesn't and who has your best interets at heart and wants you to succeed. Because I really do. I wouldn't be taking all this time to create these courses if I didn't.
There's a reason you're a maker. It's in your blood. I know what that feels like. I am drawn to being a maker and creating products that offer value to the world, too.
You have a talent to share with the world.
Let me help provide the structure, so you can provide the magic.
Cut, Sew, Grow Courses can Help You Cut, Sew and Scale Your Own Sewn Product Business
Whether you're looking to turn a hobby into a business or you're looking for extra help with your existing sewn product business.
Our Cut, Sew, Grow! courses are made for many different types of Makers who sell their cut and sewn goods through:
- Etsy Shops,
- or their own websites,
- or maybe you like to do street and craft fairs, or pop-ups
- and more.
You need the structure to stay organized, systems to help you scale and streamline your processes so you can keep focusing on what matters most to you, sharing more of your beautiful creations with the world.
I want to be the voice that helps guide you through the steps that it takes to scale and streamline your production and processes of your business so you don't have to struggle anymore.
It's a voice I often needed, but didn't have when I first started.
I have trusted systems that I have developed and improved over time that are easy enough for anyone to implement and follow.
Our Cut, Sew, Grow Courses will be launching soon, hopefully by this fall, so if you're interested, do this:
1st Follow our new Instagram page @cutsewgrow for updates on our course launch plus you'll get FREE tips on sewing, scaling your production, and many other aspects of selling your sewn products online
2nd go to our website page: FairfaceWashcloths.com/courses and sign up on the waiting list (there is a link at the bottom of the post)
3rd Listen & Subscribe to our Cut, Sew, Grow Podcast on Spotify, Apple, or your favorite podcast channel (or right here on our blog)
More information on our Cut, Sew, Grow Courses will be coming, so be sure to stay in touch!
+++++
And along those lines, I would love to get to know who you are!
Go over to our Instagram page, @cutsewgrow and leave a comment or send me a DM
You can leave a comment here, below,
or Email me from our website, FairfaceWashcloths.com/contact-us.html
- Tell me what your small business is,
- what you make,
- what you love about it
- what you're struggling with
- and what questions you have
I would love to hear from you and learn more about your products and business!
I'm excited to move forward with these courses and to share what I have learned and mastered over these 12-1/2 years so it can help you too!
And if you're interested in learning more about what I make and sell online, Fairface Washcloths, visit:
our Fairface Washcloths Etsy Shop
or our website, FairfaceWashcloths.com
Plus, if you haven't listened to Episode 14 of the Fairface Podcast yet, back in the archives: Bringing a product to market: a maker's perspective, you can go back and give that a listen for a bunch of tips I shared there as well.
Thanks so much for listening and I'll see you next time!
xo Shannon
No comments:
Post a Comment