New Pyjamas at Last!

In amongst my new orders waiting for me following the Easter break, was an order for a little pair of pyjamas. Several weeks ago, I wrote on here about how I could no longer find the butterfly fabric that I’d made the pyjamas in for the last four years, and how I’d finally found a decent replacement. I took a photo of the fabric, and added it to the website along with the new description, but had so far not had time to make up a pair for photographing.

In situations like this, it poses a bit of an issue- without a decent photo, outfits don’t tend to sell as well as customers prefer to see the finished result rather than use imagination. If a new outfit is one the same as an existing one, just in a new fabric, I do always try to add some of the older photos as well as a clear picture of the new material, but I know that this can sometimes lead to confusion- is the outfit going to arrive in the fabric on the main photo, or like the photo of the actual outfit? 

Of course, most people read the description and understand, and some do buy the new outfits on this basis. However, it still can’t look as appealing when looking to buy a nice outfit for a much loved dolly, when all you’re faced with is a close up view of some patterned fabric. I'm sure I must lose customers this way, so I do always try to keep the time that any item is on the site like this as short as possible! Sometimes though, if it’s a matter of add the new item without any actual photos of it, or don’t add it at all, well… there’s not really much choice to be made! It’s still better to get the item up and running on the site, after all- it’s definitely not going to sell if no one even knows of its existence is it?!

The pyjamas were one such item. Over the years my dolly pyjamas have proved to be one of the most popular outfits I sell- occasionally I sell a pair on their own, but more often than not they sell along with a dress or other daytime outfit, or else along with a set of bedding. Because of this, when the butterfly print ones finally sold out completely I knew I couldn't leave my shop with none in stock, but I just simply didn’t have the time to make up a pair of the new design just for showing. So a few weeks ago I had added the new design, accompanied simply by the fabric photo and the old photos to show a sample pair.

As expected, it took a while for there to be any interest in them. I still had no spare time as I was too busy with holiday preparations and getting ahead with my orders, so just had to accept that I may be losing potential sales for this one item. Eventually someone viewed them on the website, and once one person has done that it pushes them up on the ‘popular items’ list on the store. As a result they show up easier to anyone who is browsing, if they then look at them it pushes them further up and so on.

Once they’d been viewed once it was only a matter of time before someone took the plunge and bought a pair- which they did just after Easter. As a result I now had to find the time to make the first pair of them, as they were part of a customer’s order, which is a far easier task than finding ‘spare’ time! Of course, then there’s always the possibility that I wouldn't like the finished result…

Fortunately I was really pleased with how the new little pyjamas turned out- they’re pink and pretty and girly and sure to appeal to any little girl wanting to tuck her dolly up for the night. Or at least, they’ll appeal to all the mummies and grannies and aunties etc. who’ll be buying them, which is actually more important initially for me!!

Once made, I just had to find a few minutes to photograph them- a much easier feat than finding spare time to make them, and actually much more important, as they can then be shown in all their loveliness on the website. Even better, I've since sold another pair, and they are now high up on the popular items list where they've always been. I think Pink Ladybird Pyjamas may be the dolly fashion item of the year… at least in Little Dolly Clothes Shop world!

Back to Business

By the time the next Monday morning arrived, I was fired up and ready to get on with some proper work. I still had some ongoing things on eBay- one or two new things I’d found the time to add over the weekend, and some which I’d relisted due to them not selling first time around. As anyone who’s ever been serious about selling on the site will know, you do have to keep on top of how the items are doing, and check regularly throughout the day for any questions from potential bidders- an added task to my ever growing list which I could perhaps have done without!

Then of course there’s the usual start-of-the-week job. Not only the early morning routines of the school run, washing up, washing etc. but clearing up and finding the house after a weekend of having everyone home. Why the house needs so much attention I don’t know! My family aren't a particularly messy bunch; they can sometimes be a bit prone to not clearing up after themselves in the kitchen for example, but nothing major. However, the extra washing up and vacuuming that follows the weekend always seems to be much more time consuming than at any other time! Perhaps it’s just a case of Monday morning blues, and I'm just that much more tired after the busy-ness of a weekend…

Anyway, it wasn't until Tuesday afternoon that I finally got a chance to sit down and do some proper sewing. Not that I actually got any sewing done- just a load of cutting out. One of the disadvantages of having been so up to date of course, was a lack of fabric pieces sitting cut out and ready to be sewn, and so this task became the first step towards getting back down to business!!

The first couple of orders were very straight forward- both to cut out, and then on the Wednesday to get sewn, as they were simple bedding orders of only one quilt and pillow each. At least these were both easy in terms of making, and satisfying as it meant a couple of orders ticked off the list! Having managed to get them both made up and sent out by the Thursday, I instantly caught up to a fairly respectable level, leaving only one more order that was in danger of being delivered late if I didn't manage to find the time to make it up!

This was an order for two dresses, and two little pairs of pants, which meant it was a little bit trickier, and more time consuming than the previous two! I’d cut out the fabric ready along with the bedding sets, so everything was set for me to get down to making them, however by mid-week I was not only battling my family and ever growing jobs list, but a raging cold! It’s difficult to manage sewing when you have to stop every ten minutes or so to wash your hands, so for a couple of days the poor order once again had to take a back seat.

Fortunately my cold only lasted at its worst for only a couple of days, and by early the next week I was feeling much better and able to tackle the order once again. I was looking forward to making this one- I really enjoy sewing the little outfits which make for much more interesting work than my bedding sets. The bedding is great- it seems to be very popular and sells well, and whenever an order comes in for some, I know I've got a simpler task waiting which is nice when pushed for time! But the real satisfaction still comes from sewing the little dresses and outfits that my whole business started out from.

I’d already had one order in asking for the Velcro fastening option, which came in earlier in the year, almost as soon as I’d introduced it onto the store. At the time I wasn't very busy, and it followed my time ill with flu so I didn't really take much notice of how much quicker, or not, it made the outfit to complete. Both the two little dresses I now had to make up had this fastening choice, so I was also interested to see how much easier it was going to prove to be when time was more of an issue- is Velcro going to be part of the answer to speeding up my timescales?

We’ll still have to see, but it certainly helped with this particular order, as once the sewing was finished that was it- no hand sewing on of poppers to be done during the evening. The parcel was able to be packaged up and sent out that same afternoon- leaving my evening free… for folding the washing… and doing the ironing…

Back to School

By the time the first Monday morning of the new term dawned, and everyone was getting ready to return to their normal term time routines, I too was ready to get back to normal. Feeling refreshed from our holiday, and buoyed up by the good feelings from my clear out I walked my youngest to school in the spring sun, which was still shining, and let my mind wander over the day ahead. With the house suddenly empty of people, the first day of term can sometimes feel long and lonely, but at least I would be able to have a good clean around- without having to vacuum around my family!

I still had several things to list on eBay, so after my usual morning routines of washing up and washing, I began with those and continued the good feelings I had from all my de-cluttering. With the lovely unseasonably warm weather we were blessed with, that first day far from dragging by, went by far too fast! By the time everyone was arriving home from work and school, I hadn't even begun the cleaning that the house was desperately crying out for!!

The gorgeous weather continued for the rest of that first week back, which was a real bonus for getting the ever growing mountain of washing dried. It may have taken a long time to arrive this year, but once it did, spring certainly arrived in style! Everything seemed easier to manage- from the mundane chores such as the vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms etc. to the more enjoyable task of being able to enjoy the sunshine while hanging the washing out or walking my daughter to school.

The one thing that seemed to take a back seat that week was my sewing. I think, having got my orders so up to date before we went away on holiday actually worked against me on this. Because I knew that there was no urgency to get any sewing done while everyone was home for the holidays, I relaxed about the business and was able to just enjoy having my family around me for once. However, this feeling then carried through to the next week as I worked hard to catch up on all the housework, and my poor sewing got pushed back ever nearer to the bottom of the priority pile.

All of which is OK for a short while, but by the end of the week I was becoming very aware of the fact that where I had been so far ahead of myself, I was now in danger of delivering orders late. Not a good start to finally being able to shorten my turnaround times and push my business forward…!