I'm excited to announce we sent our first collection of items to a boutique in Elba, AL yesterday. Here's the link to it on Facebook. www.facebook.com/myhappyplace11. I can't tell you how exhilarating it was to walk away from the counter at the post office knowing that these items I've been working so hard on will finally be displayed and available for purchase.
Our work is available on our facebook page as well, but there is nothing like being able to see the items in person and touch the fabric with your own hands. Our first line of clothing is called "Cheer"looms, a play on Cheirlooms which is short for Chandler Heirlooms. We thought "Cheer" was appropriate since the line focuses on children's game day wear for the University of Alabama and Auburn University. We will eventually branch out to other school colors but our focus this year will be for these two schools.
Here is a picture of an experiment with fabrics. I was very uninspired by these fabrics when I received them and struggled to create anything. I ordered this fabric online and was disappointed to find the elephants were larger than expected and the hounds tooth print was smaller. Since I had blown our budget and could not order more fabric for our first collection, I began to play around with them and came up with this little jumper that has already sold, hence the monogram.
From there, I created the little play set below.
I now like these fabrics and plan to make a ladies skirt to coordinate with the children's clothing.
I love how the black row of smocking on this top looks like hounds tooth.
Even though we are HUGE Alabama fans, I quite enjoyed creating this little Auburn outfit.
I especially like the bottoms and the embroidery on the behind.
Since the original creation of the " 5 Little Dresses" (see blog post with that name), I have been designing with a variety of fabrics I have on hand. I look forward to being able to purchase some of the beautiful fabrics that are on the market now, but until then I'm using my imagination and the fabrics I now have. The chic term for this is "Up-cycling". Yeah, that's it....I'm up-cycling. I'm a GREEN company!!!
Here's a close-up of the machine embroidery that I digitized a couple of months ago. You can also see the real color of the dress better.
I created this little smocked watermelon dress a month or so before the one above. This is an original smocking plate I came up with to pull the colors of this dress together. Again, I'm using fabrics I have on hand and would probably be choosing other fabrics if I were able to pick from what is on the market today.
It was so fun to put the items together and we now have our own label.
The "Hang Tags" were another challenge and we came up with this for now.
Once we become a million dollar company I will share more of our humble beginnings. Right now it's just not as fun.
After I left the post office yesterday, I stopped by a boutique here in Lumberton and just savored the time I spent in there. I looked and lingered as long as I wanted. It was such fun, especially since I have been secluded in my sewing room for months now.
I was also getting more inspiration for future creations. I realize there are a lot of huge companies out there doing the same thing I am. I tried not to be discouraged by the things I saw but to be inspired. Who do I think I am trying to start a company from NOTHING? I can't help it. It is my passion and I am happier than I have ever been. I truly am in "MY HAPPY PLACE"!
