Lazy Saturday

Well, I wanted a lazy weekend, and lazy is certainly how I’m feeling this morning! It’s another cold and bright start to the day and having not really managed many early nights in which to enjoy reading this week, we take some time to chill out this morning and stay in bed with our books… and our constantly interrupting children!

Eventually we give in and drag ourselves up and out of bed, and after starting up the usual ‘weekend’ washing I log on to the computer for a quick check of what’s been happening with things before getting on with the sewing from yesterday. It’s been a good start to the day, I’m really pleased to see that there have been several views on the blog since last night and also a couple of orders have come in on the website. There’s been a lot more activity generally on the site too over the last few days which seems to be related to the blog- as the whole idea of writing it was to get the Little Dolly Clothes Shop name known around the web a bit more, it’s pleasing to see that it appears to be beginning to work.

I start browsing the fabric shops again as I still need to get the fabric sorted to continue selling the little pyjamas- another pair has sold this morning, and as they’re easily one of my biggest sellers I can’t afford to sell out. On the other hand, until I have a replacement fabric lined up, neither can I update the description or add the new design as an alternative item. However I just can’t seem to get focussed on thinking about new fabrics, so I decide I’ll probably leave this as a job for tomorrow afternoon.

I’m really struggling to get going today, the day is turning extremely cold and dark and it’s the weekend after the first full week with everyone back at work and school. My mind keeps going through lists of all the jobs that I need to get done, for both the business and the family, and the fact that Saturday is my only real day free from clock watching is making me feel guilty that I’m not working hard. However, I’m really feeling the cold today- even with several extra layers on, and I begin to realise that it would be easier to admit defeat and write today off as a working day. I had wanted to get all the sewing done from yesterday, leaving tomorrow as a lazier day for computer browsing, but obviously I am being told otherwise.

I manage to keep up with the washing which lessens the feeling of guilt a little, and I decide to go back to my fabric searching. Our son has a friend round for the afternoon, and they are very enthusiastically (and noisily!) playing on the Wii U in the living room. It’s lovely to hear their laughter ringing out round the house, and they do seem to be keeping the younger girls amused, but it’s not very easy to do anything that requires intense concentration while they keep shouting out!

I manage to publish the next day of my blog which I’m glad about- I’m still determined to get more up to date with it, and falling behind again won’t exactly help with this particular task! I turn to the fabric shops again, and take another look at some poly cotton I was half looking at earlier. There are two obvious colour options out of the four available, and as the nightie I also make is nearly sold out too, I decide that maybe I’ll get both colour ways and have the two items matching, but in different colours for a while. I ask Mike for an opinion, but a man isn’t much use when it comes to decisions regarding doll’s clothes. On the other hand, having an eight year old girl in the house comes in very handy at times like this!

Fabric ordered, and also some lace to trim it with, I spend the end of the afternoon starting on another tedious admin task. I’ve always preferred popper fastenings on the doll’s clothes as from my daughters’ experience they tend to stay fastened better than Velcro, they also don’t stick to everything else they get near or end up so covered in fluff that they simply won’t work anymore! However, although I sew the poppers on far more securely than I would even on my own children’s doll’s clothes, I do worry about them coming loose- especially if bought for younger children to play with. It doesn’t matter how many warnings you give, or how carefully I sew them on, or how careful parents and grandparents are with the outfits- if even one caused a problem for a small child I would never forgive myself.

Because I make it extremely clear that this is how the outfits fasten, I don’t think that anyone would buy the clothes and not be aware of the dangers. However, there may be people who buy them but would really have preferred a safer option, and there are almost certainly potential customers who will have been put off buying the clothes as hand sewn poppers were the only choice. I’m also limiting any future possibility of selling even at school fayres or anywhere as I think trading standards have strong opinions on this. I’ve decided therefore that this year I’m going to start offering Velcro as an alternative choice on all outfits, but I will still make poppers my preferred option and available to anyone who still wants them.

My new Valentine’s dress became the first outfit with this choice available, and I now need to add the option to all the other outfits on the site. This is a slow task as each has to be added individually, and I also take the chance to make sure everything on the item page is as up to date and accurate as it can be. Half a dozen outfits in and the house has gone quiet as the children have all dispersed to their own rooms, our son’s friend has left for home, and it’s near the end of the day. I’m too tired, and too likely to make mistakes now, so saving my work for now I switch off the computer and head instead to Saturday evening telly followed by an early night. Velcro can wait until tomorrow.