CoStarting Week 2

The word of the week is 'Growth'.

It's been really cool to see my skills getting more refined and tasks becoming easier. A few examples: shooting and editing videos was really frustrating at first, but now it's not such a big deal. Even seeing my sewing skills improve from week to week is really neat. Today, I picked up a pattern I hadn't used in a long time that gave me trouble about a month ago, and it was much easier and quicker today.

This week, I also started branching out in the products I've been creating. My second video was of a matching dog bandana and headband, my first human product for my shop. I've been nervous to make things for people, as people can be very particular about how their clothing and accessories fit and look. But like everything with the CoStarting Cohort, I just pushed through the discomfort and went ahead and posted it. I try to remind myself that buyers are not expecting handmade products to look and feel identical to store bought ones.

The other part of my business that I've chosen not to focus on as much, reselling, has been a bit of a focus, too, as I try de-clutter my work space and make it comfortable for creation. I sold two large lots of clothing which takes a big chunk out of my room and gives me a nice handful of cash to focus on other things.

I joined a few Facebook groups to start networking with other seamstresses and creators, and I became really inspired by some peoples' work with patchwork using the scraps from other projects. I really wasn't sure how this would work, but I felt positive about it, and I dove in. I made a cute little patchwork pillow that I really adore. And I think I'll continue creating patchwork pieces with my scraps, as part of what I'm trying to achieve is to do away with textile waste.

Here's the full breakdown:

1/13:

Created matching headband and over the collar dog bandana and filmed it for my channel. In the background, sold two lots of Anthropologie clothing, which felt good to get all of that stuff out of my space. Worked on the styling of a vintage button down turned mini skirt.

1/14:

Edited and published my second video. Began sewing patchwork material without knowing what I wanted the final product to be. Finished sewing an upcycled dog bandana from a graphic tee.

1/15:

Photographed a friend's dog in the bandana I made the day before. Continued and finished my patchwork pillow. Made a funny video of the first week's bloopers to share on the team call. Had the team standup call and got to see everyone's progress over our first week. Received some great feedback as well as being inspired by the others' projects.

1/16:

My tweet was 'liked' by Dan Pontarlier who is a sustainable fashion activist and designer which is really cool and introduced me to a few existing faces in the community. Also, figured out why my Google Analytics was not tracking activity all by myself which was empowering lol.

1/17:

Shot all the footage for my two videos for week 2. Created two pieces I'm proud of for the videos: a velcro closure dog bandana and a boho kimono made out of an old robe.

1/18:

Decided to try an old pattern that was tricky for me about a month ago, the raglan tee. It was much easier now that I've gotten better at sewing and I made a really cute tie dye shirt in a size medium and listed it on Etsy. I had to spend most of the day investigating a rat emergency at my parents' condo which was less than satisfying, but I still managed to get some progress made.

1/19:

Finalized video #3 and uploaded it to youtube. Had a good conversation with Sven about having a deeper conversation in the future regarding planning and scheduling my content. Photographed a friend's dog in a bandana from earlier in the week and listed it on Etsy.