Possibly the most exciting parcel ever arrived this week.
A box full of fabric. A box containing full bolts of fabric. A box full of fabric just for me!
Not
only is this the largest amount of fabric I have ever bought but this
is also the biggest commitment I have made so far to 'A Crafty Hen'.
Usually I purchase one or two meters of fabric, make for example a baby
gift set, if the item does well then I will order more of the fabric,
and this method works ok most of the time. But sometimes an item can be a
'slow burner'!! It may not fly of the shelves for example, but slowly
and surely after say advertising the product it may start to sell well,
but this is when I often encounter problems! I go to reorder the fabric
and find that it is sold out or the fabric shop has reordered it and
then there is a delay, or worse still that it is no longer being printed! However much I like working with lots of
different prints in small quantities, it is a lot more time consuming
and really is not the most efficient way to work or to sustain a
business. It takes time and effort to get traffic to your shop, to an
item you have made so it makes sense once the the traffic is there to
keep it coming! So I made the decision in the New Year to take more
control of my fabric stock and the most sensible way to go about this
was to choose a few 'key' fabrics that I can create a collection from
and order these fabrics in bulk, making stock taking a whole lot easier!
And so there it was in the box! Five full bolts of organic fabric.
Grey elephants has long been a favorite of mine which is luckily shared by many of you. The deer never stays around for very long, so I've not had the chance to play around with the fabric, and the multi coloured elephants is also a favorite. The grey spots, well that's a staple fabric! But maybe it is bolt number 5, that excites me the most, as this is organic cotton fleece. I've been searching and searching in the UK for cotton fleece and have not had any success. I use to make baby dribble bibs and the occasional baby blanket and started by backing them with fleece, which is the most common fabric to find a dribble bib backed with. But I was never that keen on the fact that the fleece was polyester. Yes sure it absorbs and wicks away moisture and dries very very quickly, but to me, and this is only my opinion, a baby's delicate skin should have the kindest and most gentlest fabrics placed next to it and for me polyester doesn't cut it. But organic cotton oh yes! And it doesn't disappoint! It is very very soft and cosy making it not only perfect for dribble bandana style bibs but also for backing blankets. So watch this space, as they say! I am going to continue working with lots of different prints. I can't help myself! But these three key prints, the two elephants and the deer fabric will soon be available in bibs, dribble bibs, burp cloths, storage baskets and blankets and no doubt a few more items will slip in along the way, which I know will please many of you who get in contact with me asking for more of a range for your baby and nursery in these delightful fabrics.
