Setting up Shop - Products

The last couple of months and the past few weeks especially have seen me do a more than average share of new designs and samples. My focus was to have my shop opened and well stocked by the Navratri in early October. The Navratri came and went by and it has been three weeks since then and I am still not done, but am pretty close.

It is a challenge to do everything you have to do to get started selling online, and I have to admit that I do struggle at a few things. I had not planned on doing any gadget cases a few months ago but when I see the market for them I have certainly had to have a second look and do a few designs. Designing the case was the easy part, but doing the loop or the closing mechanism was where I had no clear direction.

A few different designs I cut out

I drew  lot and cut out about 10 different combinations in paper and a few in leather to see what works and what does not. I finally picked up two from the batch and made a complete finished sample with them. Somehow I was not fully happy with the loop as I thought that they were adding a lot of bulk to a clean simple design; so I made a case with a simple snap button that keeps the look very clean and minimalist.

One case with three different closing styles

Setting Up Shop - Pictures

Opening my online shop has now taken way longer than even what I could have imagined in my dreams. It has been a very slow ride with a lot of learning in the process, every thing has to be thought out and executed with care. In my case I have been doing a lot of things a few times over to get them right.

A couple of days ago I started photographing some of the products that I have made in the past month or so, and getting the pictures just right has been a big challenge and I will still call it a work in progress. Although I have taken three rounds already, every time I shoot some pictures I see them and realize what mistakes I have done and what can I do to make them better.

Take two

For my very first attempt I just used a bed cover as the back drop and the background in the pictures ended up being very grainy. I tried a couple of different sheets but it was far from anything even average. Eventually I bought a special fabric curtain that photographers use from a wholesale photo goods shop in Chandni Chowk. It is a fairly big piece of fabric without any seams to join it and is fairly light, I believe it is some sort of a synthetic material.

Take Three

I used the curtain over the bed cover so that the background comes as a solid white, but I used it during the day and the colors on some of the pictures came out to be brighter than they actually are. I learnt that the the day time sun is not ideal light to get true colours, so I did the whole exercise again at about 7 am to catch the early morning light. The colours came out to be much better, but looking at my pictures I know I have a lot to learn and a long way to go.

Festive season in India

The month of September/October corresponding to the month of ‘Ashwin” according to Hindu Calendar holds significant importance in Indian culture as almost all major festivals are observed in this period. Hindus observe a 10 day ceremony of fast, rituals, celebrations, fiests to honor the mother Goddess and triumph of Lord Rama over Demon Ravana, this 10 day period is known as Navratri.

This celebration starts with prayers, fasting, dancing and ends with the festival of  Dussehra. Navratri and Dussehra is celebrated throughout the country at the same time, with varying rituals, but with great enthusiasm and energy as it marks the end of scorching summer and the start of winter season.
The tenth day after Navratri is called Dussehra it is also called Vijaydashami, on which a number of fairs are organized throughout India,  which culminate with burning effigies of Ravana. The day marks the victory of Lord Rama over Ravana.


Ravana with his 10 heads

A lot of local traditions and crafts have been a part of the culture for centuries. The biggest fascination for kids are the effigies of Ravana and his siblings, the burning of the effigies symbolizing the victory of good over evil.

Ravana and his siblings take a truck ride in Delhi

Setting Up Shop

My online shop has been in the works for months now, I did not want to just start it without having all the pieces in place first - but it has taken me way longer to have things in place and organised. If I had not broken my wrist earlier in the year then things would have been way different, but I had to take up tasks that I had not planned for initially.

Anyhow, all that is past now and I have been able to complete my Etsy shop though I do not have anything available in it right now. Working on all the aspects of it, specially the policies took a while to complete. I am almost done with everything and it seems alright for now, any kinks I will have to sort out as I move forward.

I did take the help of a few resources while I wrote down the details; some specific ones are Handmadeology, Life, Craftiness and Everything Else and there was another blog from an Etsy seller which had very detailed and relevant information. I do not have the link or search for it right now, but this lady makes amazing suede moccasins and is a full time photographer, I will keep on searching and post a link to her blog.

I have not stopped Blogging

It is not that I have stopped blogging, but I have been terrible at updating this blog; though I have so much that I want to talk about - There is so much happening with new designs and new materials.

When I straited this blog I never thought that sometimes I will not even have a post for a complete month - and that is exactly the case today. I am getting on here after a hiatus of 30 days. Initially I could not blog as my computer gave way, and it took abut 10 days to have it repaired. After that I just kept on thinking I will do it tomorrow and that tomorrow never came till a whole month went by.

Lazy at blogging - that's me

I had planned to start selling my wares online by this time, but then last month I decided that I should concentrate on doing a few more designs before I get on with the selling part, it is better to start something the correct way a little late than something not perfectly correct right away. I am working from morning to evening these days so that I can have it started during the Navratri considered to be the most auspicious days here in India - though I am running late but I still might be able to catch up; at least I am trying.

First Inner Tube Bag - DONE

The inner tube bag that was almost done has been finally completed. I know it has taken me way longer to have just one design done, but my teaching assignments have kept me very busy since the last three months. I have been able to save some money over this period and can now concentrate more on developing and selling my work.

I will be teaching one class in the evenings over the next few months and will be working full time on taking leftover studio forward. I just hope I can get closer to where I had envisioned myself at this time of the year when I wrote my business plan about six months ago; at this stage I am no where close.

Here are some pictures of the bag being completed and the final look.

Stitching the inner lining and internal pockets

Aligning the inner and outer sections together

Here it is - FINALLY

Taking Shape

It has been almost a month since I completed the task of cleaning the inner tyre tubes and have not been able to do much ever since. I did draw and cut up a couple of new patters but am yet to try any of them on fabric or other materials. My pattern making teaching assignment has been keeping me busy of late as I am taking classes during the day and evenings too. I decided to take on an additional evening class as I have already prepared the material and the only extra effort is spending the time to teach the physical class. I did not know if I will get a class going forward as some students will return to colleges in September and the enrolment here might just drop. It would also leave me with some much needed buffer cash going forward.

We have had four days of holidays this week on account of Raksha Bandhan, then the weekend and Monday being the Independence Day. I was able to execute one of  my initial designs which I had perfected with the newspaper bag. It took me most of the day to have the body of the bag stitched up, I had to experiment with some pieces of rubber on the sewing machine before starting but I found it easier to stitch than thick leather or hard canvas.

Here are some pictures of the days work and the waste inner tyre tubes taking the shape of something useful.

Cleaned tubes lined up for cutting

Cutting the pattern

More cutting

One side fully cut out

Leather strips to join the pieces

Making a straight edge

Aligning the pieces together

Pasting the leather strips

Sewing the pieces together

Sewing the two sides together

It has almost taken shape now :)