Feel free to contact me to respond to any of my posts! Thanks for reading...
- Melody Wilson
4/21/09
Toddler Hair Accessories: What's Out There?
Gymboree (hairpiece pictured) is clearly a leader in mass-produced hair accessories for little girls. There are also many clever moms producing unique custom hair pieces, selling on etsy or eBay. So, is there room for more?
Gymboree seems to have two advantages, besides the obvious cost benefit of mass-production. One is one-stop shopping. Moms shopping online will choose a hairpiece from the same site as the clothing they are buying, if possible, to save on shipping.
Their other advantage is outfit coordination. This is where cheaper grocery-store hair baubles often fall short.
It does seem that an independent girls' line like Pixyworld could benefit from having its own collection or hair accessories. My idea, as a mom of toddlers? Include an extra piece in every set of two, for the inevitable day when she loses one!
4/20/09
Standard US Sizing???
In soliciting our business, the overseas factory Pixyworld is currently working with proudly announced that they could grade our patterns for us according to "standard US sizing." Is there such a thing??
Even for women's clothing, I've found significant variation between brands. But in the children's clothing I buy, sizing is all over the map!!
In shopping for my boys (aged 7 and 9) I've found that the smaller brands tend to run on the smaller side. Gap Kids is long in the legs, good in the arm length. Sports brands like Nike and Reebok are right on, in my opinion. TCP is inconsistent in tops, but pretty good in bottoms. Old Navy has huge sizing variations from one pair of jeans to the next!
Are the cheaper brands trusting their pattern grading to overseas factories' "standard US sizing"?
Sorry, but I'd rather do my own grading. Then, even if my customers don't like my sizing, they can at least know what to expect from one collection to the next.
I knew it the day my 2-year-old sached into the kitchen where my husband had just arrived from work, struck a pose, and waited for him to compliment her new shoes.
I knew it when my 4-year-old became fascinated with filing her nails and having them painted.
I knew it when, a year before that when she was still perfecting the finer points of speech, she asked me for a cotton ball with "salsa" on it, for her facial toilette.
Isn't it great to be a girl??
4/18/09
A Basic Sewing Studio for Knits
I am indebted to the Leabu Sewing Center for not only repairing and maintaining my machines, but advising me on how to provide myself with the essential machines for my work, without breaking the bank.
Many designers do great work without sewing, but I design mainly by sewing. Since I began working mainly with knit fabrics, in developing the Pixyworld line, I realized that my sweet little Huskystar 219 (Husqvarna) wasn't going to be adequate for sewing my samples.
I first acquired a serger, used, which was a good start but a bit of a disappointment. It arrived broken, and after the first repair I was able to use it for awhile. I then started having trouble with the threads breaking, and Leabu showed me that it was because of a design flaw, not a problem that could be repaired. My new serger, only about $500, is the Janome 1110DX, and it is working just fine for me.
I then splurged on the MemoryCraft 350E, an embroidery machine which I needed to embellish my designs. It was very inexpensive for an embroidery machine, and I have had no problems with it so far.
Finally, I got my CoverPro 900CP, on sale for $300. Nearly all my hems are coverstitched, and it does fine with those. It does not have a narrow gauge setting, which I would have liked, for foldover necklines, but I am happy enough.
If I were to choose on more machine, it would be a 5-thread machine for topstitching. But at present I can use covertitch, upside-down, to create an approximation for factory samples.
"Online Shopping Concerns (ranked in order of most common response to least common response)
Fit of items
Hassle of returns
Shipping costs
Quality of items
Security of entering credit card number online
Finding right item or shop
Wrong item(s)/lost item(s)
None
MomFinds Consumer Insight:
Online shoppers' primary concern is that an item will not fit and that it will have to be returned at the consumer's expense. To address these concerns, we promote well-known brands (so that sizing is familiar), feature items that do not need to be tried on (i.e. handbags, sunglasses, gifts, etc.), and aim to select vendors with free shipping and return policies."
This confirmed what I had already felt: that, for items that are size-sensitive, going overboard to make returns easy and fast is really important.
Thankfully, I don't get many returns. My returns policy requires me to pay shipping both ways for any and all returns & exchanges. (Ouch!!)
But happy customers matter. I once heard a stat that said a customer who is happy with her purchase the first time will tell 3 friends about it; a customer who is treated well when returning an item will tell 10 friends!
So, as much as it hurts, don't cut corners on returns!
4/16/09
Date Change for Michigan Runway Shows
Designers and models can still sign up for Dressed on Washington Street, southeast Michigan's new annual fashion event!
The runway shows will now take place on Saturday, May 30. Pixyworld still has spots available for mini-models, sizes 18M to 7. You can contact me directly if you're interested.
In addition to the fashion shows, there will be an accessories show inside the What is That Gallery in Ypsilanti, MI. If you're nearby, don't miss this fabulous event!
4/15/09
Link Exchanges Gone Berserk
OK, I can see getting link exchange requests from all sorts of sites. Who really knows how google defines a link's relevance? On my webmaster dashboard, a link is a link. Even if they don't contain words like "baby" and "clothing," I'm willing to add most family-friendly sites to Pixyworld's Link Directory.
But I had to laugh when my husband, while building the link directory for his men's watches site, received a request to link to a page called Pimp Costumes! I am not making this up.
That is one enterprising webmaster!!
If you want to buy a pimp costume, do me a favor: just google it. If you want almost anything else, you can probably find it in my site's Link Directory!
