Self-Employment: How it Works (or Doesn't!)

(awesome print by Popcorny, we have this on our wall!)

Right, so this post is kind of an extension of my 'Self-Employment Update: Six Months in' post from last week. It's most likely only going to interest people who feel they might like to be self-employed/free-lance, but you never know! I, for one, am always intrigued to hear about other peoples' lives, even if they aren't doing something I'm directly interested in doing myself (which is probably why I love Tilly's 'A Day in the Life Of' series of posts as much as I do; I seriously think they are some of the best stuff on the internets!).

So please believe when I say that I'm writing this post very far from the perspective of an 'expert' at self-employment, or as someone who is even doing it very successfully. But I do think that sharing some of my experiences and thoughts on this subject will be useful to someone considering venturing into creative self-employment specifically, and perhaps some other kind of self-employment or free-lancedom more generally.

Our Situation

I think it is important to explain that both myself AND Pat (Mr So Zo) became self-employed around the same time last year. Therefore our experience might be very different from someone who has a salaried partner/financial dependents/is single. I bring in income from a variety of sources (see last post) but Pat is a writer who works with one single publisher.

How it Works (or Doesn't!) Financially

It may be considered vulgar (like as a hangover from the 50's or something!) to discussed finances, but I can't really give a thorough picture of life as a self-employed person/couple without addressing the subject. Obvs I'm not going to go into figures, but here's how the income arrives:

Me:

• Most of my income presently comes from teaching sewing and pattern cutting classes. I don't teach regularly, my schedule is mixed. A few weeks could go by with no classes, or I could find myself teaching three or even four times a week. I invoice Sew Over It for my teaching every week or two weeks worth of work. I use eventbrite to organise my profits from classes I organise and teach at Super+Super HQ. 
• A few days after each Brighton Craftaganza event I organise I pay any outstanding invoices and calculate the profit I've made. These bursts of income are obviously as regular as the events themselves. Plus, the amount I end up with has a lot of variables, the main one being whether it was a one-day or two-day event (not as simple as two days being double the profit!). The profit I get from organising these events may be quite little compared to the amount of hours I put in, but the amount always makes that month a bit easier!
• I get a small amount of income from the selected sponsors of this blog. 

Pat:

• Pat completes a title approx. every six weeks/two months. When he finishes a title he can invoice for an advance. 'An advance' sounds very impressive, but isn't really unless you are Stephen King or something. Presently it compares to about one month's wages from his old shitty job in telesales. 
• Occasionally he is asked to do a small amount of work for other titles, like writing the introduction or something. This will be for a small one-off amount. 
• The books then take a whole bunch of months to be released. The ones he wrote all the copy for will then earn him royalties after the advance has been recouped. Obviously depending on how popular the title becomes but also how the book distributors have been dealt with, the monthly royalty cheques could be the equivalent of several month's worth of of shitty telesales wages or a small fraction of it!

As you can imagine (or maybe relate to), it can be difficult when we are both having 'lean' months. But when either of us are having a flush time, I employ a very important technique: squirrelling. As you may imagine from the name I have given it, squirrelling involves taking chunks of money to distribute into other (less accessible) places for the future. When I was a waitress getting paid in cash at the end of the week and receiving my tips in coins at the end of each shift, I literally had a multitude of envelopes, boxes and drawers to squirrel money away in. These days I have four active bank accounts for the purposes of squirrelling. It makes me feel secure knowing there are a few 'pads' of money around, even if I've been allocating some of it for a holiday or something. 

But there has been some scary patches since we became self-employed. Plus if your partner is going through a lean period, the urge can be to step up your own earnings, but that isn't always possible and can lead to extra stress. Likewise, knowing your own contribution is way down can make you feel guilty and stressed in a different way! Sometimes it feels like you really can't win. But when you do have a good month, knowing that your creativity and skills are solely responsible for that makes it all the sweeter and more exhilarating. As scary as it can be not knowing if your bills will be covered next month and as messed up as my sleep pattern can get because of it, NOT having the safety net of a dollop of a set salary to expect at the end of the month makes me feel much more alive, and somehow more adult. I feel like I'm participating in life more somehow. 

In My Experience... /Points to Consider 

There are some other points to make and lessons I've learnt over the last six months that I'd like to mention that could be relevant if you are trying to decide whether or not to quit your day job:

• Pat and I comparatively don't have much in the way of overheads, no loan repayments or credit cards to pay off. We don't have a car to run or keep taxed and insured. 
• Pat works entirely from home or a local cafe with good wifi, therefore his transportation costs are zilch. My work locations are more mixed. I work from home or Super+Super which is in walking distance. When I work in London the classes are always at weekends or in the evenings so my train fares (which can be extortionate in the UK) are always off-peak fares so I don't have to work for very long before I've recouped that outlay. 
• Recently we moved into a bigger (and therefore more costly) flat, even though we have chosen to live in one of the most expensive areas of one of the most expensive countries you could pick to live in! We made that decision because, seeing as both of us work from home at least some of the time, it was going to be better for our mental health to have some more space. Our new place has a little separate room that is now my sewing studio. To afford and justify this I no longer have a desk space at Super+Super HQ, which was a hard decision to make because I love those peops so much. But I found I wasn't using that desk space as often as I could've and it was being used in part as very expensive storage for my sewing patterns and laptop! Nowadays we can work in effectively the same room but he's at the other end so my sewing machine and swearing don't disturb his concentration as much as they used to! Plus our living room and bedroom aren't filled with bags of fabric constantly in sight like the last flat we lived in had become. 
• Going back to finances, although this of course makes sense anyway, being self-employed makes it particularly essential to have a clear idea of how much is in your bank account/s at all times! You have to either keep in your mind (which I am good at) or check regularly (which Pat has taught himself to do) what work you've completed, who you've invoiced and when you can expect to get paid. 
• Similarly, you need to keep a eye on when big outlays are looming. Whether that's something big and scary like your self-assessment tax bill, or a bi-annual utility bill, or something fun like a holiday or trip to visit friends you've planned. It helps you assess exactly how flush or lean things currently are and theoretically helps you get prepared. 
• Keeping an eye on how much work is coming up in the near to mid-future is a good idea too. If I know I've got a whole bunch of classes coming up for example, can help me decide whether or not I need to release some squirrelled away funds in the meantime or not.  
• This may be controversial, but unless you're running a business that relies on a long term business plan for momentum, I would suggest not to stress or even bother thinking about anything say, six to nine months or more into the future. Crazy I know but I think it just a waste of time. If there is anything that life taught me last year is that it can catch you off guard and throw up all kinds of potholes, but also exciting opportunities. Plus you'll naturally do some evaluating at regular intervals, so why bother to plan deep into the future when it may become clear that one element isn't working or you want/need to change tack from the path you'd previously set yourself on?
• There are HEAPS of awesome resources out there to help a self-employed person, be they of the crafty persuasion or not! Red Velvet has a lovely, inspiration e-course for carving out your dream creative job. The Design Trust is a killer website for aspiring self-employed designers/designer-makers, I well recommend signing up to their newsletter. Anyone who works from home could find support, advice and inspiration from this site, following the site author @judyheminsley on twitter is a good idea. 

Self-Employment Update: Six Months in...

Umm, where did six whole months go?! There I was last August, ploughing head-first into a schedule-less void of panic, then by November I'd scrabbled together a group of activities that I could collectively call 'work' and was vaguely financially keeping me afloat. Now I'm six months into self-employment and it feels like a good time to have another review and check the lay of the land. I was slightly reticent to continue posting about this subject as it feels a little self-indulgent and somewhat off-topic from sewing, sustainably or style, but the last self-employment update post received so many lovely comments from people who found it interesting and/or they could relate to my experiences so I've decided I'm going to continue to do so. If you want to pass on this one, come back on Monday when I'll be writing about something else, no doubt!

So what am I doing these days:

Teaching

This activity has gone to the top of the list this time because the amount of classes I'm teaching has increased a lot since November and therefore it has become a more significant activity financially:

• I have been teaching quite a few sewing and pattern cutting classes at Sew Over It in Clapham, South London as well as helping them prep and test patterns and instructions (for example the new Tulip Skirt class, pictured above). It's such a nice place to work. Everyone I've come into contact with through that place, both staff members and customers, I've found to range from 'really nice' to 'freakin' awesome'! As you may have noticed in the right-hand side column of this blog, they are now one of my sponsors. This is a reflection of how supportive the owner Lisa is of her staff. However, that's not to say that it is easy-peasy work, obviously it differs from class to class but I put A LOT of energy into those classes. Helping six or seven people through a complex garment project all day, keeping momentum and positivity and dealing with sporadic technical difficulties whilst not letting anyone fall behind definitely feels a bit like keeping plates spinning whilst on stage (I'd imagine)! 
• I also have a monthly 'Rework Your Wardrobe' class which takes place at Super+Super HQ in Brighton. These classes are really fun and it's wonderful to see some previously unwearable garments brought back to life. It's great to share the skills, techniques and approaches that a lot of us who have been sewing/refashioning for yonks may have started to take for granted. I also have another 'Intro to Commercial Sewing Patterns' class coming up at Super+Super. Amy and Claire who own and run this lovely space are very open to trying new classes and workshops, so I may rig up some others before the year is out. I love the freedom I have working with Super+Super, but the downside of teaching classes there is that I have to do quite a bit of organising and promoting. I'm totally spoilt by Sew Over It, where I just need to turn up and not worry about getting bums on seats!

Brighton Craftaganza

My baby contemporary craft market is a baby no more! It is now in its third year. How quickly they grow... Since becoming self-employed, I've definitely been able to devote more brain-space to how I want it to develop and grow. Interestingly, when I very first became self-employed I really tried to put a rocket under it and even researched options for making it monthly rather than quarterly, but I kept hitting brick walls. A few months on I think that was totally for the best and I now feel its strength lies in being less frequent and therefore a more special 'event'. I may have misinterpreted feedback, but it appears to be getting a rep as one of the better, more interesting craft/handmade fairs/markets in the UK. Hurrah for that! 

• My main Craftaganza tasks are still organising the actual events themselves. This year we are doing more events than previous years, so as soon as one market has taken place, I have perhaps a few weeks before I need to start it up all over again. Each event takes about three months of fairly intense part-time work, even though to the lay-man who doesn't know me, it may look like all I do is rock on up to the actual event and put some tables out and tell Pat where to hang the bunting! If only they knew... I'm not entirely sure Craftaganza is financially worth all the time and effort I put into it, but I do think we are doing good things for the local and perhaps national handmade/craft scene and by spreading the word that handmade is more special and valuable than mass-produced (which I guess is kind of what I try to do in regards to clothing with my other activities). 
• I'm still firmly involved in co-promoting and co-hosting our new Craftaganza Live free creative meet-ups. These are monthly events to provide opportunities for local creative types, very often designer-makers, to meet, have a drink and a chat. Each event starts with a talk by a member or members of the crafty/handmade scene about their work, business and inspiration. Last month's speaker was the amazing Eleanor Callaghan, designer of Etsy and Pinterest favourite label 'Dig for Victory' (one of her beautiful creations is pictured below). She's just opened a bricks-and-mortar shop and her whole story was totally fascinating. Tonight's Craftaganza Live will be featuring, umm, me! I'll be talking about my experience of starting up and running a craft market and hopefully imparting some helpful hints to sellers/potential sellers. Wish me luck, I'm really nervous!!!

Sewing and Blogging

The fact that I spend a fair bit of time sewing and blogging probably won't come as a surprise to you! But the reason that I'm adding it to my list of activities these days is because (in the very best sense) I now take blogging more seriously and no longer feel it's an indulgence to spend hours taking/editing photos and writing blog posts. My husband Pat helped me realise that I should be considering it one of my main activities, rather than just a hobby, because this blog is my calling card of sorts. It speaks entirely of my passions, skills and interests and has opened lots of doors for me. For example, I probably wouldn't be teaching at Sew Over It if I didn't have a blog that got me an invite to Lisa's book launch and a chance to put to her the possibility of teaching at her sewing cafe. Also, as mentioned above, I now have a small number of selected sewing-related sponsors that bring in an (albeit tiny) income.  

Mystery Projects

I apologise for the guarded nature of this section, but it is currently too soon to disclose the details of a couple of exciting projects I've got on the go. Maybe they won't pan out, maybe they will. Maybe they will flop, maybe they will be game-changing. All I can currently say is that both are taking a fair bit of my time and brain-space. 

One notable absence and lessons learnt...

If you have been paying close attention, you may have noticed that hat-making or any kind of sewing-for-money is no longer on this list of activities. I shall explain... The run up to Christmas was totally stressful. I know it is for most people, but I felt properly snowed under (excuse the pun) with organising the Christmas Brighton Craftaganza market, organising and teaching classes, rigging up some 'Sales For People Who Hate Selling' talks, making stock for some craft fairs I took part in, co-organising and promoting 'Miniclick-aganza' which was a combined photography and craft Christmas party (don't ask, surprisingly it was carnage!) and doing extra shifts at the hat-making job. I knew it was going to be a stressful time, which always has detrimental effects to my sleep, but I thought I saw an end in sight.

I took a couple of weeks off over Christmas to visit friends and family, although I was still sleeping very little. I thought that things would start to balance out in the new year, but they didn't. I had to immediately start organising the Spring Brighton Craftaganza, and the number of classes I was scheduled to teach amped up. For some reason, orders kept flying in at the hat-making business so things didn't let up there. I was struggling to spend time doing the things I love (like sewing and blogging) and I was becoming a physical mess. I actually have a draft of half a blog post saved I tried to write at that time (it was written at 3am or something when I was going through a phase of insomnia). It's such a pathetic mess of garbled thoughts, it helped me realise something had to give. 

I think if you are self-employed or freelance, there is a compulsion to 'make hay whilse the sunshines' and push yourself to do as much work/take on as many projects as you possibly can for fear that there will be a dry period just round the corner and you'll be thankful you made as much money as you could when you had the chance. Although dropping one of my income streams was going to make things tricky financially-speaking, I had to take one thing off the pile of activities if I was to get some sleep and leave some brain space for the other things I want to achieve this year (including the mystery projects). So I chose the hat-making as the thing to let go. It wasn't an easy decision to make because my boss is really lovely. But I kind of got to the point where it wasn't much of a challenge anymore and as the one thing that wasn't self-directed, I didn't feel as invested in it. Plus it involves working longer hours for less money than teaching does!

So apologies if this post has gone on a bit long! I'm going to publish a kind of 'Part 2' to this post next Wednesday that will be more directly useful if you are thinking about becoming self-employed/free-lance yourself. Not that I'm any kind of expert, or have even done a particularly good job of being self-employed in the last six months, but I think sharing my experience and some extra info may be beneficial to others.   

My Fabric Stash: The Whole Truth

Oh my goodness. I barely know where to start. Ok, no I do know where to start: by explaining what is happening in these pictures. This week Patty and I moved into a lovely bigger flat that has, wait for it..., a small sewing room! If I were the type to 'squee', I would be 'squee-ing' now. But because the new flat is also more expensive, I have sadly had to leave my lovely desk space at Super+Super HQ. Fear not, I'm still firmly up in their business, they can't shake me that easily. 

But what these things have led to, is the regrouping of all my sewing and pattern cutting equipment, including sewing patterns, notions and fabric all in one place for the first time since, umm, 2007 or something. Jeez there's a lot of it. AND I had a big clear out recently. Anyways. Whilst the rest of the room isn't quite sorted yet or ready for photos, my fabric stash has been collated and organised. Fancy a look? Firstly, for some reference, I must explain that this set of shelves is the same height as me. 

Starting from the bottom shelf (pictured above), on the left there we have all the double-knit, most of which is synthetic. The majority of it consists of solid shade pieces: navy, black, red and maroon. There's also some navy/white and black/white striped pieces. On the right there is a pile of garments which are lined up either for refashioning or for the fabric to be harvested. 

Second from the bottom (pictured above) is the jersey shelf! Oh my there's a lot there isn't there?! LOTS of lovely prints (including anchors, birds, floral and leopard), lots of stripes and a few bits of solid shades. There's quite a mixture of qualities too, from weighty pieces with heavy elastane content, to lighter more drapey pieces probably destined for batwing tops.

Next up is the most over-populated shelf (pictured above): wovens. There are a few pieces of trouser-weigth pieces on here, but most of it is lighter top and blouse weight pieces. Very few of them are big enough to get a dress out of, unfortunately, and as you can see there are SO. MANY. PRINTS. This shelf kind of gives me a headache to look at!

Last but not least is the 'top shelf material'! Hahahaha! I'm so funny. The above picture is my vintage fabric stash. This section has been curated pretty carefully, it's all thriller no filler. There are a few curtains plus some nice bits of cotton big enough for blouses, but also lots of smaller pieces that are perhaps destined to be bags or cushion covers. The lace on the right isn't vintage, but I ran out of space on the other shelves. 

'Very nice, Zoe', you may be thinking, 'Looks pretty neat and tidy, if a bit excessive'. But wait, I did promise the whole truth: 

This is what currently lurks round the corner behind the door! The bit of the lovely workroom that never gets on Pinterest! Yep, these bags contain more garments for refashioning, old knitwear for making into mittens, scraps of jersey only big enough for making pants, scraps of pretty woven stuff too small for garment projects, interfacing and Craftaganza supplies. AGH! Tell me everyone has a corner like this? Tell me this is the reality of craft!

It is frustrating that a lot of my fabric (having been sourced second hand) is in smaller pieces, thus limiting it's use. But seriously, I clearly have A LOT of it, in fact I have all the damn fabric I should ever need! Now I can see it all in one place together, I am more committed than ever to my Stash Bustin' pledge. How many years do you think it would take to sew through all this? And what about YOU? How does the size of your stash compare? 

Self-Employment Update

As you may already know, a bunch of months ago, I rather suddenly became self-employed. Some of my super-sweet readers have expressed an interest in hearing how life as a self-employed person is panning out. So here is a little update of where I find myself several months into it...

Brighton Craftaganza

This aspect of my self-employedness is currently at the forefront of my mind because our next craft and handmade market is looming close and I am eye-ball deep in the organising and promotion stages. My activities include:

• Writing and scheduling posts for the Brighton Craftaganza blog, in particular there are lots of 'Meet the Seller' interview posts at the moment to give visitors and other sellers an opportunity to learn more about the people who will be selling their work at the event.
• Co-promoting and co-hosting our new Craftaganza Live free creative meet-ups. These are monthly events (we just did our second) to provide opportunities for local creative types, very often designer-makers, to meet, have a drink and a chat. Each event starts with a talk by a member or members of the crafty/handmade scene about their work, business and inspiration. Past speakers have been Amy and Claire from Super+Super HQ and TheBigForest. 
• Pat and I have also created a workshop called 'Sales for People Who Hate Selling' which we have presented for a room full of designer-makers interested in improving their face-to-face sales technique in time for the festive selling period. The first date sold out of tickets super-quick so we lined up another which takes place this week. 

Teaching

You may well have seen before on this blog my announcements for the 'Introduction to Commercial Sewing Patterns' class and Vest Making sessions that I've been teaching at Super+Super HQ. Both have been going well, but some more attendees wouldn't hurt! I just freakin' LOVE teaching sewing and pattern related stuff. I get to talk to lovely people for a few hours at a time about the subject I am most interested in and get paid (a bit). In the New Year I plan to expand the range of classes I teach in Brighton at S+S, including a clothing alteration and mending class which there has been call for recently I've found. 

I have also begun assisting with a pattern cutting class at Sew Over It in London. In the New Year I will be teaching that Intro to Pattern Cutting class solo, alongside a 40s Tea Dress class (pictured above) and a Trouser Making class. It's pretty fabulous working at Sew Over It. It's a beautiful space with all the equipment you could possibly need, and cake in abundance. 

Hat-Making

The local sewing machine repair man Richard (who shared a heap of his knowledge in this post) who knows everyone in Sussex with a sewing machine, domestic or industrial, phoned me up shortly after the TRAIDremade studio closed down saying he knew a woman who was looking for a part-time machinist. When I became self-employed my income dropped to basically zilch so I contacted her with haste. 'That woman' was hatter Jill Corbett, I went for a trial and now I work for her between one and three days a week. 

Generally, I make her pork-pie (pictured above), fedora (AKA Snatch) or trilby styles in leather, canvas or moleskin using mental-looking industrial machines. It's been a real education learning how the pieces go together. I'm still getting used to making the leather ones: thick, tough leather really doesn't want to become a 3D shape! All her hats are made to order for specific customers across the globe. 

Random fact: milliners create hats for women, hatters create hats for men.

Making Stuff to Sell

This is quite a small category of activity because I'm not taking it super-seriously. Basically, I've been making lots more of the recycled wool mittens I made last Winter to sell at a couple of craft fairs on the lead-up to Christmas. I'll be sharing a stall with my mate Kirstin at this event and I'll be present (and hopefully festively tipsy) at this festive selling soiree at Super+Super HQ.

To be honest, I get a bit jealous of the sellers at all the craft fairs I visit and organise. Plus, having been thinking lots about selling due to the 'Sales for Peops...' event Pat and I have been working on, I thought I'd give selling a whirl this festive season. I won't, however, have a stall at my own event. I've learnt that at Brighton Craftaganza I need to be getting people inside the venue and checking all the sellers are ok (and eating sausage rolls), which doesn't fit well with trying to man your own stall and concentrating on making sales. I'm really excited to be the other side of the table and putting into practice the techniques I feel I've learnt. I'll let you know how it goes. Oh, and if I don't sell many, I'm all set for Christmas presents to give!!! 

Conclusion:

Being self-employed is wonderful but really hard work. I kind of imagined it would be both those things of course, but until I was actually living it, it is impossible to actually visualise how my new life will be. I thought I worked a lot when I had a full-time job and organised Brighton Craftaganza, blogged, sewed and made patterns on the side. But now I find myself working even longer hours; there is no cut-off between 'work' and 'being at home', especially after the acquisition of an iPhone, even though I have a desk space where I theoretically can walk away from. It's confusing knowing what task I should be concentrating on and when with no-one else to ask. Plus, taking time to plan for the future, even just a couple of weeks ahead, can kind of get forgotten. I'm trying to improve in these areas though. 

When I announced my self-employedness, lots of people left comments of their own experiences of redundancy and/or setting up on their own and their financial concerns. I can totally relate to many of these now. I'm making very little money right now, but I have two things I am very grateful for: 1) I live in a country that (currently, just about) has a welfare state that provided Pat and I with some housing benefit assistance that helped us out when we needed it most, and 2) Pat's recent book has been doing well, and he received a royalty cheque that meant we can keep a roof over our heads and food on the table for the foreseeable future. PHEW.

So, thanks masses to everyone who wished me well when I wrote about all this stuff previously. I'll get back to blogging about pretty dresses and refashioned T-shirts soon, promise!

Self-employment HQ: New digs for 'So, Zo...'

Again I'd like to say an enormous THANK YOU to everyone who left lovely and supportive comments on my blog post last week where I explained the changes Pat and I have been going through.  It's completely overwhelming, knowing just how many e-friends have our backs!

Many of you requested that I keep you updated on how being self-employed pans out. My first real move has been to literally move. I'm now time-sharing a desk space at the fabulous Super+Super HQ with my equally fabulous home-girl Kirstin (pictured above with me on Sunday when we moved in some of our belongings). Kirstin will be using the space to make her fabulous range of hand-drawn jewellery, which you can find in her Etsy shop. And me? Well, it's not yet clear what all my activities will entail, but some of the time I will be writing blog posts such as this one!

Super+Super HQ is a creative hub close to the seafront in Brighton. You may have read about it in Mollie Makes, issue 15, in the article written by sewer and journalist Len of the Seamless blog fame. The have a fantastic schedule of crafty and creative classes and events taking place on the ground floor (pictured above). I hope to be teaching a class or two of my own here before long. They also host crafty hen parties (including my own this Saturday!). The top two floors contain desk spaces for self-employed people including illustrators, textile designers, jewellery makers, e-commerce peops and so on.

In the picture above, the one on the right is ours! It doesn't look empty or at all neat any more. I chose to get desk space rather than working full-time from home, even though it incurs an extra expense at a time when funds are thin on the ground. Pat is now working from home almost all the time from our small, one bedroom flat. I couldn't see how both of us working and living in the same limited space 24/7 would be healthy, for either our businesses or our relationship!

So far so good, I'll update again in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, if anyone has any tips on how to structure your own working day, how to decide what activities should have time spent on them, and so on, I'd love to hear!

Plans, Dreams and Employment Schemes...

This post is unapologetically filed in the 'life' category. It contains nothing directly sewing or refashioning related, so if that is exclusively what you like to pop by for (and who could blame you!), you might wish to come back on Friday. Today I need to write an update about my personal circumstances, although that will have an inevitable effect on this blog and my involvement in the areas I'm most passionate about (sewing and sustainability).   

As a little background, I'd like to explain that for the last couple of years Pat (Mr So Zo) and I have joked about 'living the dream', i.e, where we both work for ourselves. I'm sure most couples have a similar on-going fantasy/conversation about changing some aspect of their lives to conform to their ideal, however vague or specific that may be. Well, I guess Pat and I have both felt a growing desire to put all the time, energy and effort we exert during the working week into our own goals, passions and endeavours, rather than trying to balance all the things we are trying to achieve alongside our full-time jobs. The idea of complete autonomy and freedom to plan your time as you seen fit is an alluringly idyllic one. 

But like most dreams, ours didn't feel like a particularly achievable one. There seemed no clear path towards making that leap; it just didn't seem to be within our sights so it was always a joke. And then in May, Pat got made redundant totally out of the blue. He was working at a soul-destroying telephone-based job so leaving it caused little heart-ache, but his temporary contract meant he was literally at home the very next day. It was a massive shock, and made things financially very tricky, but we decided to ride with it and see if Pat really could make a go of it as a freelance writer (and whatever else he needed to be to make ends meet). 

Carving out a freelance career takes time, and things were scary-tight but we were making it work by almost solely relying on my small wage. Then a couple of months later, BOOM! I was told the studio where I work was to close down. What can I say? I guess the financial crisis hits every sector and charities need to tighten their belts as much as every other business. Friday will be my last day.

In so many ways it is sad and frustrating, both on a personal level and more broadly in terms of the state of sustainable fashion. And if I let it, it could also send me into a state of blind panic with our wedding planned for next month our honeymoon the month after. But as sad as it is, I am also seeing it as the major opportunity I need to try to become self-employed. Since I found out the news about the studio closing, a couple of full-time jobs have floated my way, but I decided they weren't for me as this is my chance to carve out my own self-employed reality. 

So what form will that take? How am I going to support myself? The way I've realised I work best: with my fingers in several pies. The focus of all my endeavours will be the things I am most passionate about: sewing, sharing skills and knowledge, supporting and promoting handmade and craft above mass-produced. You, my friends, will most certainly be kept in the loop if you watch this space...

Sew Over It

The recent explosion of sewing classes and sewing cafes is an interesting phenomenon. I'm pleased to see a growing trend towards a DIY mentality and the increased desire to learn the skills our grandmothers relied on (if that is what this represents). I thought that maybe I could pick up a sewing-teaching gig at one of these places if I ever lost my job, and I enjoy looking at cute buttons and trims that they often sell as much as the next sewer, but I haven't really kept a close eye on the proliferation of these establishments.

However, I have recently been doing a bit of research because I've been brewing a plan to do a bit of sewing teaching in a different kind of environment and heard about Sew Over It through my enquiries. Based in Clapham, London, it seems to provide the best range of classes that I've seen, including mini-courses of around two hours focussing on specific skills like making button holes or inserting zips. I could see those being really useful for beginner-sewers who want to flesh out their skill-set without having to sign-up to make an entire blouse or skirt making course. They also run a mens' survival sewing class, which is SUCH a great idea. Plus, Sew Over It offers a drop-in option where you can use the space and machinery for £5 an hour and includes free tea and coffee. This is how I spent a chunk of last Sunday.

Normally, I wouldn't usually be interested in forking out to use a sewing space when I'm lucky enough to have that at work and home, but I was heading up to London to see Michelle (pictured above) and we've never really sewn/crafted together before AND she may be moving to that area and was pleased for the opportunity to explore a little more, so it all kind of made sense to go and pay Sew Over It a visit.

It is a nice place. It is very clean and pretty with lots of light. The downstairs area was being used for a class so we stayed upstairs which serves as the cafe, shop and drop-in sewing area. All around were examples of the garments and products that you can learn to make in their classes, or make at home using their pre-prepared kits and packs. IMO, the decor and feel of the place is pretty representative of the dominant aesthetic of current mainstream craft culture (Amy Bulter prints, teapots, cupcakes, you know). Which is fine. It's very feminine, cute and no-doubt inviting to many. But I do fear that this look puts off a some people who don't want to make things that are very girlie in style. And I'd be surprised if many guys turn up for their mens' survival sewing class and feel entirely comfortable sitting there surrounded by so much pink!This gripe isn't specific to Sew Over It: I'm just concerned how much experimentation and freedom to make mistakes you can feel in such a cute and pristine environment. I'm also worried that the message about using these skills to preserve your existing clothes and live more sustainably isn't really being put across when everything on display and for sale is brand new. They do offer a customisation class, but neatly sell 'customisation packs' with new lace embellishments and strings of pearls.

So, did I buy?! Yep. No I don't buy new fabric, but I do indulge in new patterns and notions from time to time. Sew Over It stock a decent selection of the newer Colette Patterns. I bought the Violet blouse pattern for Michelle for Christmas (don't worry about her reading this, she knows!) and the Clover trousers for myself. I've been eyeing this pattern up on the internet for a while, but with shipping from the US to UK, it was pricier than I could justify so I treated myself when I saw it for sale without the postage. And these leopard buttons! They are shell and so awesome that I'm sure they'd make the plainest garment special. I think I'll save them for when a thrifted solid colour cardigan comes my way and needs jazzing up.

So, what about you? Have you spent time in any sewing cafes? What was your overall experience? What did you like about it?

My Stash Amnesty: May 2011

I know that sewing your own clothes and accessories isn't a carbon-neutral activity. I wish it was, but I'm very aware that every time I put the 'pedal to the metal' of my sewing machine or overlocker, I'm contributing to the depletion of fossil fuels. Also, the new zips, thread, elastic, pattern cutting paper and whatever else I use during the process has to be manufactured, often packaged, and then transported and distributed before I get my mitts on it. Arse, I know.

However, I really believe that it is worthwhile to sew with fabric or old garments that have been sourced secondhand, or that we already have in our stash where possible, rather than heading to the fabric shop for every project. I think that can make a big impact on making this passtime of ours a more environmentally friendly activity. I know that can be tricky, particularly if you are just starting out sewing, but I bet that almost every sewer who's been at it for six months or more is sitting on at least 10 metres of fabric they've hoarded. I certainly know I am!

Which is what I wish to come clean about today. I have been sewing from secondhand and pre-hoarded stuff almost exclusively for quite a while now (I've only bought 2 metres of fabric since the start of this year) but I see my stash as a pile of potential, which is just sitting there when it could be turned into fantastic garments giving people joy to wear, or given to other sewers in fabric form for them to have the pleasure of doing with it what they will.

The vast majority of the fabric I own in Brighton (there's also a stash under the bed in my folks' spare room, but I'll deal with that another day) lives on a table at work. It makes more sense to keep it there as there's more space and that's where all my patterns also live. The big table in the studio is better for cutting out on than our little dining table at home, so I tend to start a project in my lunch break then bring it home to work on as pieces waiting to be constructed. The table where my fabric and garment mountain lives is where I'm meant to keep my bag, so every morning I am greeted with a duel pang of love and guilt when I see it all. So, the other night after work I stayed a while sorting and folding so it looks more organised (see above). As you can see, it now consists of three piles.

The vintage prints and patterns (basically fabric porn!):

Plain and modern prints/patterns. Pieces all big enough to form a garment or half a garment:

Odds and sods pile which includes scraps that could be used for contrast pieces, small pieces for undies-making, lace and garments awaiting refashioning inspiration:

Two examples of garments I have awaiting refashioning/fabric harvesting are; this super-pre-loved ratty shirt which has a lovely stripe. When I get round to it I plan to turn it into a Peter Pan collared blouse like this, the process of which I plan to document and make a kind of 'how-to'. Coming to a computer near you soon....

Also, this dowdy dress. the print is a pretty autumnal floral design which looks so 1940's to me. I've got a blouse pattern in mind for this too.

In total, I've got 34 pieces of fabric crying out to be made into something wonderful, but this number is set to rise. Almost every time we get a delivery at work (every two weeks), I usually ended up with a few more bits that aren't appropriate for using in our range. I really want to avoid my stash spiralling out of control. I find it overwhelming and difficult to focus on ideas for new projects when there's so much raw material staring at me. Plus, I know I'm in a very fortunate position to be able to add to my stash with secondhand textiles, so if I can't see myself using something, I want to share the love.

Basically, I'm firmly recommitting myself to my Stash Bustin' pledge. My aim is to log new additions every two weeks if the delivery results in aquistions for myself. Then I plan to use or give away at least that number of pieces until the next time I receive some more stuff, you with me? So if I end up with two refashionable garments and three pieces of fabric one week, I have to use or give away at least five items from my stash before I'm allowed any more. Plus there's the not-so-small matter of that heap of fabric lurking at my folks'. I'm off there next weekend so I'll dig through it whilst I'm there. I'm looking forward to the Me-Made-June '11 celebration meetup/fabric swap to offload some of my long-hoarded treasures. I hope to see you there! I also know some lovely ladies who are starting out sewing, so I plan to flow them some nuggets along the way to hopefully encourage and inspire them further.

So, what are your throughts on your stash? Are you a 'the person with the most fabric, wins' or more of a feng shui'd manageable stash kind of person? Is feeling guilty for owning lots of fabric a commonly felt state, or am I just mental? 'Your thoughts on a postcard...'or in the comments section please!

Impulse Projects

Now, these two new projects of mine don't have a lot in common, I grant you. One is worn on bottom, the other on the top. One is made from woven fabric and the other is from stretch/jersey. So why am I posting about them together? Well, two reasons: 1) I'm trying to catch up with all the things I have lined up to blog about, and 2) they are both impulse projects.

By impulse projects, I mean that I didn't plan on making them that day. In fact, I started making them the split second I had the idea for them. You know those annoying times when you have a pile of fabric and a pile of patterns but somehow they just don't seem to provide a suitable combination for a new creation? Well, I'm talking about the opposite occurance, where the fabric and pattern scream at you and demand to be made THAT INSTANT. I'm not saying that this is a regular event, it's as rare as my boyfriend doing the hoovering unsolicited (i.e, about once every three months. Don't worry, he's stopped reading my blog which is why I can get away with comments like that). But a couple of these occurances have cropped up on me very recently so I'd best get explaining myself.

The first on the agenda is this natty high-waisted skirt of a particularly nautical persuasion. This impulse creation was actually part of a small run I made at work. Normally my boss makes the decisions of what gets made that week from the donated fabrics and garments we receive, because we have very little time to spend on the design process and she is a much more inventive designer with a better grasp on our customer base than I. My design input tends to come in the form of suggestions for details and adaptions, though occassionally I do have an idea of some garments to make which I 'pitch' to her and usually get accepted, which is what happened in this case. The stripey twill came in, I remembered some leather cut out anchors we got some work experience kid to do ages ago, and a design was born. As I might have explained in the past, if I am in love with a particular style and there is sufficient fabric as to not limit the number I'm making for the range, I am allowed to cut an extra one for myself. It's a little perk of the job, which isn't very well paid so the odd garments here and there is a welcome form of payment! PLUS we are representing our brand by rocking the garms, no?

Now, I'm not a pastel kind of girl, but my gut was telling me I could rock this colour as it should sit well with the navy and red elements in my current wardrobe. Plus I had a spare navy leather anchor already cut out and sitting in my stash I was planning on using for a bag project but never got round to using. That's how into nautical stuff I am, I have spare anchor details cut out and ready to go!

So, I made it up, using my lunch break to stitch on the leather bit as that takes ages and I didn't want to be cheeky and do the time-consuming bit on the clock. It's got a simple back slit to allow for movement, and a zip with exposed zip teeth (this is the method I use for most of the zips I put into skirts and shorts for work because I find it's the quickest). I'm actually really proud of this garment because I've made it with the cleanest finish I know I am currently capable of. That is in part massive thanks to the lovely, well behaved twill fabric, also because I concentrated my arse off and wanted to do a good job. My only gripe is that it came out maybe two inches shorter than I would have preferred. Unfortunately, there's no hem allowance to take down to correct this, but it's more than wearable as it is. I was kind of thinking it might look cute to run with the anchor theme and pair it with my ship shape navy blouse:

The second impulse creation wasn't part of our range. The fabric is some incredibly silky slinky jersey in a difficult-to-describe mustard/yellow/gold colour. I have a massive thing for mustard/yellow shades so absorbed this fabric into my stash through some form of osmosis, as I don't recall taking it. It was little more than a bunch of scraps, no longer useful for our range, so taking it from the work fabric stores wasn't as naughty as it sounds! But since its absortion, it had been sitting in my stash for months crying out to be busted.

I already had a couple of projects on the go at work (I tend to have separate sewing projects on underway at work than the ones I have on the go at home) but this was screaming to be made into a scoop-neck, gathered sleeve top instead. I had the pattern pieces so I cut it out during my lunch break and stitched it together at the end of the day. Cutting it out was no easy task as there was very little of the fabric left, therefore it has short sleeves and is slightly shorter in length than I would usually go for. The fabric is really fine, so I simply left the sleeves and hem edges overlocked rather than than overlocking then turning and stitching to finish them as I would normally. I harvested a tiny thin strip of the fabric to use as neck binding. The entire construction was completed on the overlocker, making this lightening fast to construct. The result is quite a skimpy little top, which will push my comfort levels when wearing (bit conscious of my belly!) but I'll give it a whirl.

I did think it might go with my massive flower mini skirt which is threatening to be a lonely wardrobe-orphan, if the world can handle that much of my flesh and form at one time!

Have you had any impulse project experiences, where the elements suddenly came together and demanded action? Were you pleased with the results?

Warehouse Dreamin'

I would like to share with you today a long held fantasy of mine: living and working in a warehouse space. Basically, a big industrial or ex-industrial space, all brick and concrete, with lots of light and air in which to spread out to live and create. Big areas to share with my boy and other invited ‘creatives’ in which we would work and generate ideas and hang out and relax.

I lust after potential sites for this dream lifestyle. My face is always stuck to the window of a train when it goes through an industrial area, taking mental snapshots. When I lived in Barcelona, my favourite jogging route wasn’t through one of the beautiful parks or along the Mediterranean seafront but through, you guessed it, the industrial area. I would take my mind off being a painful panting sweaty mess by playing my usual ‘That one, no, THAT one!’ game amongst the warehouses. Maybe it was watching ‘Heart Break High’ at an impressionable age (can someone corroborate that some of the characters did indeed live in a warehouse please? Did I imagine it?), but this fixation started a long time ago and seems to only have grown stronger. Hence already having a folder of images on my laptop full of pictures of inspirational warehouse spaces handily available to illustrate this post!

Because I would never want, not that I could EVER afford, a sanitised, pre-converted trendy warehouse pad with its token ‘original’ exposed brick work wall and fancy lampshades installations, nor would I want to live in something that resembled a filthy crack pipe-filled location of a scummy East London squat party: the not so tiny matter of making such a space habitable would come be a major issue. Adequate bathroom and kitchen facilities are not exactly standard in such a space, not to mention trying to keep warm in a space with such high ceilings made from such unsympathetic building materials. Having to make somewhere such as this habitable would undeniably be an exciting challenge (creating bed mezzanines, partitions between work and living areas, inventive storage solutions, open-plan kitchens, clothing rails which hang down from the ceiling), but not one I can realistically see me taking on.

With great sadness, I am slowly coming to realise that my fantasy will probably always remain just that for the following reasons. Firstly, acquiring a warehouse space is not something I am up to. I could never afford to rent such a space, and even if I was able to somehow locate one with a low enough rent, the legalities of actually living in a space meant for industrial means would most likely be entirely preventative. Secondly, if I was to consider taking the other, less legal road and found such a space unoccupied and apparently neglected, I’m just not gritty enough to attempt a squatting lifestyle. The risk of being kicked out and forced to move at the drop of a hat (been there!), abandoning all you’d created, would be too unpleasant and unstable. As would the increased risk of being burgled: imagine leaving my lovely sewing machines at home, not knowing if they’d be there when I returned. I’m just not strong enough for that! From what I understand, successful squats have someone physically there 24 hours a day, which would either make me something of a prisoner, or it would mean the need for flatmates, the lack of which has been the main benefit of our current digs and not something we are willing to surrender. Once again, I’m just too bohemian for the squares, but too square for the bohemians!

So, does anyone else harbour similar habitation desires? Has anyone actually lived in a space similar to these? If so, how did it come tp pass? Are there any other types of buildings that were not originally meant for living in, that take your fancy? Do you have anything to share that might give me cause to not give up on this dream? Does anyone know of any available and cheap warehouse spaces available in the Brighton area?!