I think part of the problem with blogging is convincing yourself you have something worth saying for public consumption. I'm not really convinced that I do most of the time - even when it's relevant to Row West. Anyway, since blogs are kind of pointless unless you update them regularly, I'll give rambling a try and see how that works.
So, the 1.5 man show continues here in the midst of Fall madness with crazy deadlines and requests for new gear. I've had to develop a women-specific quickdry shirt design which has been pretty successful overall - a close fit in the upper body and looser at the waist - kind of opposite to what I'm used to with the spandex designs. If I had a decent female mannequin, I would post a photo of it. Mannequins - let me tell you - the perfect one doesn't exist. Emaciated weird body types are all that's available. Apparently athletic mannequins (especially female ones) are in very low demand because the only ones I've ever seen are the roid-monster ones at Sport Chek. The only nice mannequins I've ever found are by La Rosa in Italy and I can't really afford to import those. A market with a missing product - I'd do it if I wasn't getting killed by lack of sleep from filling rush orders for rowing gear (not complaining - it's better than being unemployed, that's for sure).
Finding good help is hard but it's universal from what I hear from other small business owners. I'm friends with Andy, the owner of Vancouver Island Salt Company and after just a few months of employing helpers, he's got a bank of stories to curdle the blood of any entrepeneur. I really need two more people - a fast serger jockey and a fabric cutter who has the necessary skills of head-math, spacial strategizing, and manual dexterity with a cutting tool. Ideally; people who like the kind of media I have on while working too. But that's a tall order since, aside from mainstream tv, I like cartoons, documentaries, audiobooks, CBC radio podcasts and sci fi movies.
If I can ever get my workshop finished enough that it's not visually embarrassing, I'll give a photo tour of the madness here. It's kind of like someone put a sweatshop in the middle of the matrix.
Anyway - Chris Clay at Digital Bloom just finished a sweet website update for me so I'll be back to adding products in the wee hours when I'm needing a break from sewing.
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Friday, September 30, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
School is coming. Fast.
Welcome to the month of September. It was a busy summer at Row West. In early summer, I got the equipment to do Dye Sublimation - the process in which you can actually dye fabric with the output from a inkjet printer. Not just any printer, mind you. Mine takes rolls of paper 44" wide and it's only a medium sized printer. Lots of experiments and ideas have been bubbling. The kids have been enjoying the test garments - lots of comic book images and so forth going onto drifit shirts.
Running Row West as a tiny backwoods company is always a challenge in terms of juggling workload and family time but it's also fun a lot of the time. This summer, the kids have been living half the time in the loft of the workshop, building lego and playing with Transformers while I've been down below getting the orders out the door.
This time of year is divided between getting the earlybird orders out to the schools and preparing uniform packages for teams who are yet to have their first crew meeting. New clothing ideas are on the table and I hope I can find the time to get more of the Row West website posted so that some of these new ideas can make out into the open.
Jeff Somerville in Peterborough is ready to rep Row West in Ontario (and beyond!). I'm working on getting the infrastructure out to him so he can make a presence at this Fall's regattas. I will post information in the regatta attendance section of the site once I'm sure where Row West will show up in Ontario. I'm excited to work with Jeff. He's got lots of inspiring ideas.
In Victoria, as a side-interest to making clothing, I also love toys - and designer toys in particular. As a result of this, I've got a good relationship with Cherry Bomb Toys - a vintage (and new) toy store on Broad Street downtown. They retail a jacket designed by owner Biagio, and myself and made by me. Same fabrics as the Row West Helo jacket but a much different fit - with lots of pockets for action figures. It also has velcro removable arm pockets. At their upcoming October Toy Show, I expect to have a vendor table there with a product line never before seen by rowers. It may have nothing to do with clothing at all. Cherry Bomb is my kind of company - family run 7 days a week, raising their baby amidst towers of GI Joe and Transformers. I do love small business.
Running Row West as a tiny backwoods company is always a challenge in terms of juggling workload and family time but it's also fun a lot of the time. This summer, the kids have been living half the time in the loft of the workshop, building lego and playing with Transformers while I've been down below getting the orders out the door.
This time of year is divided between getting the earlybird orders out to the schools and preparing uniform packages for teams who are yet to have their first crew meeting. New clothing ideas are on the table and I hope I can find the time to get more of the Row West website posted so that some of these new ideas can make out into the open.
Jeff Somerville in Peterborough is ready to rep Row West in Ontario (and beyond!). I'm working on getting the infrastructure out to him so he can make a presence at this Fall's regattas. I will post information in the regatta attendance section of the site once I'm sure where Row West will show up in Ontario. I'm excited to work with Jeff. He's got lots of inspiring ideas.
In Victoria, as a side-interest to making clothing, I also love toys - and designer toys in particular. As a result of this, I've got a good relationship with Cherry Bomb Toys - a vintage (and new) toy store on Broad Street downtown. They retail a jacket designed by owner Biagio, and myself and made by me. Same fabrics as the Row West Helo jacket but a much different fit - with lots of pockets for action figures. It also has velcro removable arm pockets. At their upcoming October Toy Show, I expect to have a vendor table there with a product line never before seen by rowers. It may have nothing to do with clothing at all. Cherry Bomb is my kind of company - family run 7 days a week, raising their baby amidst towers of GI Joe and Transformers. I do love small business.
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