According to Blogger, this is my one hundredth post! Things are looking up since the last time I posted. The problem of the leaky nappies has been solved. They just need slimmer fitting inserts. I'm really glad! I think maybe I jumped to worst case scenario, especially since other people I asked about it were suggesting maybe the suedecloth was repelling or the PUL had de-lamination issues and pretty much every single thing in my shop was made from the same fabric!
I'm think I'll have to make some inserts for the remaining Rocket Bottoms nappies so that no one else has the same problem. Inserts really aren't difficult to make, but the fabric to make them seems more expensive than gold! I just bought a metre, thinking it would be enough for several but it shrunk, dramatically! It's just under 80cm now, so it's shrunk by 20%.
I also ended up talking with a certain unsupportive person in my life, who claimed that they never said anything unsupportive to me. They said, I want you to succeed and do well, and then ruined it by adding a 'but'. But they did say they'd give me some money towards my business. I've actually already put in close to £200 now myself, mostly on boring stuff like threads, needles, bobbins, elastic and a couple of patterns. I do understand that you can't just keep throwing money at something though. There has to be a certain point where you need to quit if you're not making any money. I understand what my unsupportive person is trying to say, but I only just started out. Maybe we could have this conversation in six months time? I haven't advertised or done any kind of marketing yet.
I think I can make money on pocket nappies but only if I don't sell inserts with them. They only consist of two pieces of fabric, so now that I know they work okay I should maybe focus on them. I'm not sure hybrid nappies are going to be profitable at all. They are cute though! Here's the latest one I made (it's not really finished and needs the threads cut etc.)
The outer knit and inner velour came from my fabric stash, but if I'd had to buy new fabrics this would have cost £12.55 to make! That's not including the threads and elastics. I've always liked to sew things because I could make them cheaper than buying them, and yes, £12.55 is cheaper than it would cost to buy one. Hybrid fitted nappies cost around £24 on Etsy and most of them are US based, so you've got a minimum of £10 postage, making it £34 (you'd also probably be hit with customs when it came into the the country). So yeah, big saving on that, but I don't think I could justify making nappies for my own babies that cost nearly £13. Maybe I'm just cheap?! I have one more that I just need to make the soaker for. I'm not sure if I should make more. I suppose I'll just have to wait and see if they sell. It's difficult to decide on a price that people would be willing to pay, but will also allow you to make money.
Things seem more positive this week though. E has been offered a place at college, doing some kind of theatre design course. They teach you to sew and you make costumes for the end of year show that the drama students put on. It's a pretty low level NC type course (I don't know if they're still called that!) but it'll allow her to get into an HNC/HND course later. She's mainly interested in special effects makeup though. That and animation. S is also considering going to college, doing a course that starts in January. You don't need any qualifications to get on it. It's a kind of stepping stone to work and apprenticeships. I was worried about how he'd do in exams. I imagine he'd have been diagnosed with dyslexia if he'd been in school. I was wondering if we'd have to jump through hoops and pay a lot of money for some kind of diagnosis so he could get some extra help/support to sit exams. If he gets on this course he'll be able to skip exams. It's very outdoors based too, which would suit him, with animal care, horse care, horticulture, countryside management and that sort of stuff. It really doesn't seem like that long ago that those two were still in nappies and I was cutting patterns out of old newspapers and making hideous creations out of old towels. Someone once told me that with children, the days are long but the years are short. That seems so true!
I'm think I'll have to make some inserts for the remaining Rocket Bottoms nappies so that no one else has the same problem. Inserts really aren't difficult to make, but the fabric to make them seems more expensive than gold! I just bought a metre, thinking it would be enough for several but it shrunk, dramatically! It's just under 80cm now, so it's shrunk by 20%.
I also ended up talking with a certain unsupportive person in my life, who claimed that they never said anything unsupportive to me. They said, I want you to succeed and do well, and then ruined it by adding a 'but'. But they did say they'd give me some money towards my business. I've actually already put in close to £200 now myself, mostly on boring stuff like threads, needles, bobbins, elastic and a couple of patterns. I do understand that you can't just keep throwing money at something though. There has to be a certain point where you need to quit if you're not making any money. I understand what my unsupportive person is trying to say, but I only just started out. Maybe we could have this conversation in six months time? I haven't advertised or done any kind of marketing yet.
I think I can make money on pocket nappies but only if I don't sell inserts with them. They only consist of two pieces of fabric, so now that I know they work okay I should maybe focus on them. I'm not sure hybrid nappies are going to be profitable at all. They are cute though! Here's the latest one I made (it's not really finished and needs the threads cut etc.)
The outer knit and inner velour came from my fabric stash, but if I'd had to buy new fabrics this would have cost £12.55 to make! That's not including the threads and elastics. I've always liked to sew things because I could make them cheaper than buying them, and yes, £12.55 is cheaper than it would cost to buy one. Hybrid fitted nappies cost around £24 on Etsy and most of them are US based, so you've got a minimum of £10 postage, making it £34 (you'd also probably be hit with customs when it came into the the country). So yeah, big saving on that, but I don't think I could justify making nappies for my own babies that cost nearly £13. Maybe I'm just cheap?! I have one more that I just need to make the soaker for. I'm not sure if I should make more. I suppose I'll just have to wait and see if they sell. It's difficult to decide on a price that people would be willing to pay, but will also allow you to make money.
Things seem more positive this week though. E has been offered a place at college, doing some kind of theatre design course. They teach you to sew and you make costumes for the end of year show that the drama students put on. It's a pretty low level NC type course (I don't know if they're still called that!) but it'll allow her to get into an HNC/HND course later. She's mainly interested in special effects makeup though. That and animation. S is also considering going to college, doing a course that starts in January. You don't need any qualifications to get on it. It's a kind of stepping stone to work and apprenticeships. I was worried about how he'd do in exams. I imagine he'd have been diagnosed with dyslexia if he'd been in school. I was wondering if we'd have to jump through hoops and pay a lot of money for some kind of diagnosis so he could get some extra help/support to sit exams. If he gets on this course he'll be able to skip exams. It's very outdoors based too, which would suit him, with animal care, horse care, horticulture, countryside management and that sort of stuff. It really doesn't seem like that long ago that those two were still in nappies and I was cutting patterns out of old newspapers and making hideous creations out of old towels. Someone once told me that with children, the days are long but the years are short. That seems so true!
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