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comment by flac
flac  ·  2653 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: December 21, 2016

Sewing

It's christmastime in the flac household, so I have to make a shit-ton of presents for people.

Shirts for my cousins:

It's funny to me that there are so many types of tacky patterns out there that have absolutely no crossover with the types of tacky patterns I would wear.

Vest for my brother (will upload later)

Pillows for my mom( also later).

Also, my sister wants to learn how to sew now, I split the cost of a new sewing machine with my parents for her Christmas present. I'm going to give her some lessons before I move (in 8 DAYS!!), and give her a copy of all my patterns.

Music

My violin player was finally free this week, so at long last the album is nearing completion (at least on the recording side). Here are two snippets with the standard disclaimer that they aren't fully mixed and I am paranoid about soundcloud yada yada yada yada.

thenewgreen

As you can probably tell, this thing is gonna be a bit eclectic. I've started describing it as either "math-folk", "freak-folk", or "folk, I guess?".

Excited that there's a finish line in sight.





OftenBen  ·  2653 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Dude, if there was a rack of those pug shirts at urban outfitters they would sell out in a day.

veen  ·  2653 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Punny shirts sell even better! Call 'em Pugnant or somethin'.

OftenBen  ·  2653 days ago  ·  link  ·  

rePUGnant Apparel by flac.

flac  ·  2653 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Oh my GOD, now I have to do it. Added to my list of novelty shirt business ideas

kleinbl00  ·  2653 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I mean...

Startup costs on Etsy are zero. Burn through some shirts just to see how fast they sell. The great thing about big online marketplaces is you get to refine your sales strategy in realtime.

I can't say that your fashion sense matches my own? But I can say that your fashion sense matches several fashionable people I know.

Just make sure you conduct your business such that it remains fun.

flac  ·  2653 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I'm definitely going to set up an Etsy once I'm settled in Portland, seems like a pretty good way of doing business.

kleinbl00  ·  2653 days ago  ·  link  ·  

In the meantime, start looking at your designs in terms of "what would I change if I were making ten of these?" Repeatability is profitability and efficiency is spare time.

flac  ·  2653 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Part of it is definitely going to be focusing on short sleeve shirts, they use about a yard less fabric and take an hour or two less time than long-sleeves. I also have patterns pre-cut from XS - XXL, which will help cut down on time.

coffeesp00ns  ·  2652 days ago  ·  link  ·  

this may sound crazy but you would get HUGE bumps from the queer community if you had your sizes in Mens and womens approximate sizes, and had masculine and feminine presenting people model the shirts. gender neutral shopping is having a sizeable push right now, and you functionally double your consumer base at no cost.

flac  ·  2652 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Not crazy at all - that's actually a pretty big part of my plan/hopes for the immediate future. If possible, I'd like to go one step further and make clothes specifically for gender neutral / trans* folx.

My bf is a trans guy, and I have a bunch of genderfluid/non-binary friends that I've been getting the measurements of/making clothes for to try and figure out what specific alterations work well for different types of bodies.

My big goal for the year is to learn a bit more about pattern drafting, and try and release a free shirt pattern for non-binary / masc. presenting folks.

(But also, just adding approximate sizes for mens/womens is a really solid idea, and somehow one I hand't thought of yet despite all the above...)

coffeesp00ns  ·  2652 days ago  ·  link  ·  

you should talk to the lady who runs Origami Customs - she might have some good info for you. She does a lot of intimates and swimwear for trans and non-binary people on both sides of the spectrum. Who know, she might have some more measurements to add to your alteration charts?

flac  ·  2652 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Ooh, hadn't heard of them before, seems like an awesome company. It's definitely worth a shot! I'm also suspecting that there will be some sewing circles in Portland that can be useful resources too.

goobster  ·  2653 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I've got a friend with a Daschund store. Do something weiner-dog related, and she'll sell a bucket of em.

steve  ·  2653 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Those tracks are killer. no disclaimers needed... just finish them and take my money already...

Rejuvenation  ·  2653 days ago  ·  link  ·  

You do have a very nice, engaging and creative hobby @flac. Keep it up! :)