How I Cut, Sewed & Grew my own Product Business

Cut Sew Grow Podcast: Episode 2

My own @CutSewGrow Story: How I Cut, Sewed & Grew my own Sewn Product Business

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LISTEN NOW to the Cut, Sew, Grow Podcast or on your favorite podcast channel

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Hello my friends! Welcome back to another episode of the Cut, Sew, Grow Podcast! It's so nice to have you here.

I thought it might be helpful for you to hear a little bit more about My Cut, Sew, Grow Story, so you know who you're learning from.

Who I am

As you may know, I am Shannon Sorensen, the Founder and CEO of a specialty washcloths brand, Fairface Washcloths. I have been making and selling our soft flannel washcloths for over 12-1/2 years and it has come a long way since the beginning.

Today I'm going to share with you the winding road that has brought me to where I am today with my sewn product business, and hopefully give you some insight into your own journey making and selling your own sewn products.  

The Start to my Sewing Career

Contrary to popular belief, I didn't start out making washcloths.

I had used a sewing machine a little bit way back in middle school, when I had HomeEc and we learned how to sew aprons. Mine was made with cute white cotton fabric with little red strawberries on it, and I surprisingly, I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself.

I used to like to hop onto my mom's sewing machine and try sewing random projects, while I was growing up, but I got my first sewing machine as a gift from my husband back in 2009. I had told him that I really wanted one, and he did some research and surprised me with one for Christmas, so I was really excited. 

My First Sewing Projects

My first sewing projects on my new machine were pretty much refashioning clothes. Do you remember the refashioning craze? Maybe it's still going on, I don't know.

Basically it was about taking oversized clothes or other things made of fabric and turning them into something you could wear or something else entirely. 

Like I turned a men's shirt into a cute ruffled skirt. I would buy clearance t-shirts at Old Navy and cut them up to sew ruffles on them, I turned a clearance Anthropology tablecloth with this really cute bright fabric, into a cute apron and place mats. Anyway, I was obsessed with doing that for a long time.

The Birth of my Sewing Blog

It was at that same time that I started a creative and sewing blog, ShannonSews.blogspot.com, it's actually still there, and I'm trying to revive it. I need to go back and do a lot of editing, but hopefully I'll be able to start sharing some new projects on there to make it more current. 

On this blog, I would share all my creative sewing projects and link them to craft parties.

Do you remember online crafting or sewing parties? I don't know if anyone still does that, it was kind of the early years of blogging at that point, but basically someone would host a sewing or creative party and you could link your projects from your blog to their website gallery so everyone could look at each other's projects. 

It was a lot of fun, and if you were lucky, you might be spotlighted and have your projects featured on one of their blog posts, which was a big deal to me. I was lucky enough to have that happen several times, which was really cool.

I got to know the sewing and crafting community through those online sharing parties and it was full of such creative people, and honestly, still is.

I also started sewing cute baby bibs and burp cloth sets for friends and family and diving into sewing decorative pillow covers...like shabby ruffled pillows. Do you remember that craze? I did that, along with dreaming up some fun and unique designs of my own. 

Sewing and Selling my Sewn Products

My First Etsy Shop

Sewing these pillow covers and baby accessories is what prompted me to start selling my own sewn products on Etsy and I opened my first Etsy shop, Shannon Sorensen Designs. 

Back in those days, I was working with kids at a school part of the time, and sewing and creating and blogging and making YouTube videos of what I was doing, in my non-working time. 

Turning my sewing hobby into a business, had a big learning curve, there was a lot I had to figure out, about setting up a business, creating a logo, how taxes worked, how to run an online shop, all the things. 

I learned so many things along the way. 

It was kind of one of those things that you had to keep moving forward and learn as you go, as opposed to reading a bunch of information and not acting until you know everything. Otherwise, it would have taken me a million years to start. 

So I started making decorative pillow covers, ruffled aprons, cute baby bibs and burp cloths sets, and soft baby blankets, and selling them in my Etsy shop. It was as thrill every time I got an order! 

Selling my Sewn Products on Consignment

At the same time I was selling on Etsy, I was also selling at a local store, on a consignment basis, so I got to set up a little display with my cute pillows tucked in vintage dresser drawers, handmade aprons with ruffles and polka dot bows hanging in a different section and my baby bibs and burp cloth sets were set up in baskets in another section.

Small Sewn Batches, Big Time

Making each of these items, cutting and sewing them one by one, took a lot of time, but at the time, it was so fun to see my designs come to life and such a thrill to think that someone saw what I made and loved it enough to buy it and take it home. That was just the coolest feeling.

Early on, I was so caught up in making these beautiful detailed products, that my sale prices really didn't reflect the time and materials it took me to make them. 

It took hours and hours to sew and hem all those hand pleated ruffles, adding each embellishment piece by piece. 

Two of my "Shag" designed pillow cases, as I called them, were made entirely of rectangle pieces of soft fleece that I cut and sewed individually piece by piece to the front of each fleece pillow case. Time consuming? Yes. One was a completely covered by those pieces and the other was in a heart design.

Both pillow cases were super cool, but the price tag didn't reflect the hours and hours of labor, plus material and supplies. 

I think at that time I was so focused on creating versus selling, I didn't value my time or materials (some of that I was still paying retail prices for) as I should have. 

You live and learn.

How did I get into Making Washcloths?

The Story of Fairface Washcloths

The story of how Fairface Washcloths came to be, really has to do with my personal story with infertility and rosacea. There are several episodes on The Fairface Podcast, where I talk a lot about that, so you can go listen to those if you want to.

Invitro & Rosacea

But the short version, is that I have always had sensitive skin, but it wasn't until the end of my husband and I going through invitro, that I developed full blown rosacea. 

My hormones were all over the place from the treatments and pregnancy (which sadly ended up being ectopic), and my skin was going crazy. It was red and itchy and irritated and basically out of control, which lead me to a dermatologist, who diagnosed me with rosacea.

From that point on, the skin care routine I had always followed, was just way too abrasive and irritating to my now even more sensitive skin.

I tried washing my face with just my hands, but it didn't always get all my make-up and sunscreen off and when I tried baby washcloths they were still too abrasive. 

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

So that's when I started researching and trying different fabrics that would be much more gentle to my sensitive skin, the way I needed a face cloth to be. And the first Fairface Washcloths were born, basically out of necessity.

I often say they are the washcloths that saved my skin, because they really did. After testing out different fabrics, the plush, soft flannel I landed with is calming to my sensitive skin and gentle enough to use on my sensitive face without causing redness or irritation. 

Protecting our skin barrier is so important anyway, especially for those of us prone to irritation and sensitivity. 

Because these washcloths had worked so well for me, I knew deep down that sharing these with other people with rosacea and sensitive skin, was very important work that I needed to do.

Sewing and Selling Fairface Washcloths

So I went through the process of deciding on a product name (there is an episode of the Fairface Podcast where I talk all about that - it's called, The Story Behind our Name: Fairface Washcloths, Episode 12) which I'll link in the show notes.

I started making these soft flannel washcloths one by one, and adding them to my Etsy shop, along with my pillow covers and baby accessories.

And before long, the washcloth orders way exceeded the other things I was making and selling. I eventually decided to just sell out of the other products I'd been making and decided to focus solely on my washcloths brand.

I shifted the washcloths to their own independent Etsy shop, Fairface Washcloths (where they still are today) and started our own website, FairfaceWashcloths.com.

Going from Small Batch Production to Large Batch Production

So back in the earlier days, I was still cutting my flannel with a hand held rotary cutter, and I could maybe cut, I don't know, 3-4 layers thick at a time, and the Dual-sided washcloths I was also making, that had a flannel front and a terrycloth back, because of the bulk, I was cutting terrycloth out one layer at a time. 

The labor was time consuming and I was also sewing and shipping every order myself, before and after my job at the school.

So again, two words: Labor intensive.

Fast forward several years beyond that into the future, and I finally: 

• Created my own large scale cutting system that I could do from home, (I could set it up and also take it down and store it)
• Hired extra sewers 
• Created systems to mange my materials and inventory... 

So I could scale my washcloth business in order to- 

• cut more, 
• sew more, and 
• sell more.

And that is why I decided to share everything I have learned over the last 12-1/2 years with you, in our Cut, Sew, Grow Courses.

If you are like I was, cutting and sewing everything on a small, labor intensive scale, and want to learn how to: 

• Cut large quantities in bulk, from your home or studio space, 
• To hire someone to help you sew so you can produce more, 
• and to have proven systems in place to streamline and manage all of that, 

then you will really benefit from our Cut, Sew, Grow courses because I get very detailed on how I did it, and how you can do it too.

Game Changing Shift

These things I implemented were a game changer for me. Instead of just cutting small batches of washcloths at a time and sewing as many in a row as I could, I was cutting hundreds of washcloths at a time and along with my sewing help, we could turn out thousands of sewn washcloths in one production run. It was night and day from the small scale production I had been doing. It literally changed everything.

Cutting Fabric in Bulk

So if you are making things that can more easily be produced in larger quantities, things like cloth napkins, pillow covers, pillow cases, placemats, hair scrunchies, headbands, baby blankets, the scope is endless, I can show you how to do the same things I did with mine, to get your own large scale cutting system set up at home and teach you how to hire more sewers to help you and show you how to organize and manage all of that so your materials and products are always accounted for.

The growth I experienced was incredible once I implemented all those things and I'm really excited to share it with you!

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope this episode has been helpful to see how I started and where I ended up and kind of everything in between, 

AND that if you have dreams of selling your own sewn products, that you can see that it really is possible and I would love to be able to help you do that!

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Remember to 

FOLLOW US on Instagram @CutSewGrow -and please come and say hi! I really want to learn more about you and what products you love making.

+ To keep up with our Cut, Sew, Grow course launch, to help you cut, sew and sell your own sewn products successfully- SIGN-UP on our no obligation waiting list FairfaceWashcloths.com/courses 

And be sure to 

SUBSCRIBE to this podcast so you never miss one of our weekly episodes!

SHOW NOTES will be available to read for this (and all) episodes as well, on FairfaceWashcloths.blogspot.com. 

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If you're interested in trying our soft washcloths for your sensitive skin, 

visit our Fairface Washcloths Etsy shop or 

FairfaceWashcloths.com

Thanks so much for being here! I'll see you next week!

xo Shannon

Fairface Podcast Episode 49: 

How to Sell your Own Sewn Products on Etsy and Beyond!

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LISTEN NOW or find the Fairface Podcast on your favorite podcast channel

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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!

Our new Cut, Sew, Grow Sew and Sell Courses are geared for:

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.

AND for someone who is:

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! 

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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

4 Things to do Now for your own Sewn Product Business

Cut, Sew, Grow Podcast Episode 1: 

4 Things you can do right now before starting your own Sewn Product Business

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LISTEN HERE or on your favorite podcast channel

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Intro:

Hi welcome to the Cut, Sew, Grow Podcast!

A place to get all the best tips and advice for sewing your own products and selling them online. 

Whether you're just getting started or want to boost the productivity and growth of your current sewn product business, you're in the right place!

I'm Shannon Sorensen, Founder of Fairface Washcloths, my own successful cut and sewn product, 

and I'm also the creator of our new Course Series Cut, Sew, Grow, where I share everything I've learned over the last 12-1/2 years to help you sew and sell your own products successfully too. 

Be sure to follow us on IG @cutsewgrow and Spotify so you never miss an episode! Thanks for listening! 

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Show Notes:

Hello and welcome to the very first episode of the Cut, Sew, Grow Podcast! 

We're going to cover a lot of topics in this series all around creating your own sewn products and selling them online.

Remember, 

Our Cut, Sew, Grow Courses will be covering the topics we talk about here in much more detail, so 

1. Make sure you get on our waiting list at FairfaceWashcloths.com/courses so you know when I'll Cut, Sew, Grow courses will be available

AND 

2. Follow our new @cutsewgrow Instagram account for FREE tips and advice on sewing and selling your own products online (& to get updates about our courses will launch!)

Our Cut, Sew, Courses

Are full of incredible information. I basically share everything I've learned and mastered over the last 12-1/2 years, making and selling my own specialty washcloth line, Fairface Washcloths. 

I'm sharing pretty much everything I wish I had known when I was starting my own sewn product business and I'm really excited to be able to share all of this with you.

The Overwhelm of Starting a New Sewn Product Business

Since you're here, I'm guessing you're either currently selling your own sewn products or you would like to. 

I remember what it was like trying to figure everything out when I was first getting started with my Etsy shop and products. It felt more than a little overwhelming. 

I remember always feeling a sense of dread, am I doing this right? Over and over and over with just about everything. It was a sharp learning curve with so many things.

• Am I choosing the right business name? 
• The right product name? 
• Am I getting the right business licenses? 
• Am I doing my accounting right? What if I get audited? 
• How does this website work? 
• What's the right URL for my website? 
• Am I choosing the right keywords?
• How do I find fabric and materials for my products? 
• How do I get wholesale pricing? 
• What about product labels? Will I get fined for putting the wrong information on them?
• How should I ship? Envelopes? Boxes? How do I get them at the best prices? 
• How do I price my products? 
• How do I package my products?
• How do I market my products so people even know I exist?

The funny thing about all of those fears, is they were all really unfounded. My husband had to talk me down plenty of times. 

So let me be, possibly the first person to tell you, even if you make a mistake or two, you're doing great. There's just a big learning curve so take a breath and just keep doing your best to figure it all out.

And that's where our courses can be incredibly helpful, to let you know that your fears are normal, and help guide you in the right direction, so you can let go of some of that dread. 

In today's episode I'm going to share:

4 Things to do Now before you Start your Sewn Product Business

and whether you're just getting started or you're already selling, these 4 things can help you too, just like they helped me.

1. Keep records like you're already a big successful company

This great advice actually came many years ago, from a friend who was starting her own business and she had heard it from her friend who was running her own successful business. 

She said, "Set up your business right from the beginning like you are much bigger and more successful than you are right now."

Basically, write down everything you do, like you would be training a new employee. Keeping records from the very beginning will help you down the line. It will be much more time consuming to re-create later, than to just do it now, as you go.

For example, you may not even imagine hiring an extra seamstress to help you with sewing, or hiring a part-time person to help with shipping, but if you increase production and scale your business like I know you can, you may need those extra people even if you can't see it now. And you'll be glad you recorded everything you did, in detail. 

2. Start building your audience early (thru blogging, social media, podcasting, etc.) 

I actually started a blog and had readers before I ever started selling my sewn products. I started it initially just a creative outlet, and I didn't know it would turn out to be a valuable tool. It connected me with a community of people and gave me a good foundation to launch products.

3. Set up all your Admin (things like opening a business bank account, getting the right business licensing, setting up your accounting, and file storage, etc.) 

You can modify some of these things as you go, which will probably be the case as you find what works for you as you start to run your business, but getting all of this set up before you start is the best way to start. 

4. Test some of your products to see what sells

I didn't start by selling washcloths, though that did come soon enough. I started sewing and selling decorative pillow covers and baby blankets and accessories on Etsy. 

By starting with a few different types of sewn products, I could see what I enjoyed making and what other people were interested in. Doing this may help you find the right fit a little easier.

Soon enough, my washcloths were my main seller in my Etsy shop and those pillow covers with the zippers that took too much time? Not so much. In the end, that wasn't something I really enjoyed making, so once I sold off my inventory I just focused on the washcloths...and the rest is history.

I hope these tips help you as you're starting out and remember we will deep dive into all sorts of useful topics in our Cut, Sew, Grow Courses, so be sure to gett on our Cut Sew Grow Course no obligation waiting list so you don't miss our launch!

+ follow us on our new Instagram account @CutSewGrow for FREE sewing, sewing, scaling and small business advice!

Our Cut, Sew, Grow! Courses will deep dive on topics like

• Choosing which sewn products to bring to market 
• How to source materials 
• Different methods and ways to cut and sew and scale your sewn products
• Hiring and managing contract help and materials
• Managing inventory 
• Testing your products in the market
• Launching new products
• Pricing your products 
• Labeling your products
• Product packaging 
• Product photography 
• Different ways to market your products 
• How to ship your products 
• The ins and outs of selling on different online platforms
• Selling your products at local in-person venues
• Wholesaling your products   
• What to do as you grow

As you can see, there are tons of different topics that are really valuable for you as a business owner and as someone who is interested in sewing and selling your products online.

All of these topics and more are covered in our Cut, Sew, Grow Courses, so stay tuned and follow us for more information!

Thanks so much for listening! I'll see you again soon!

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Thanks so much for listening! I hope the tips I've shared will help you as you move forward sewing and selling your own products.

Be sure to:

1. Get on our no obligation waiting list for our new Cut, Sew, Grow course launch, on FairfaceWashcloths.com/courses 

2. Follow us on Instagram @CutSewGrow

I'd love to hear from you and find out who you are, and more about what products you make and how I can help! DM me on Instagram or you can email me through our website, FairfaceWashcloths.com/contact-us

I look forward to hearing from you and I'll see you at our next episode!