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!