Today I’m linking up to the first Store Front Meet Up being run by Kelly at Blue Bird Sews

For those of you who are new around here, I’m Katy, and I sell under the name of The Littlest Thistle .  My business has up until this point been predominantly making and selling one of a kind artist teddy bears that I design myself from scratch, and make up in a mixture of mohair and faux fur.  I sell online at my own website, at specialist bear fairs, and have also had them in an etsy shop (which is currently moth-balled as it wasn’t a successful bear-selling venue).  This business is actually just a sideline at the moment as I work full time in the IT industry as a software test lead (one has to put food on the table and keep the roof over one’s head somehow!) 

Kelly asked us a few questions, so I shall do my best to answer honestly, and not sugar-coat the truth (I usually do this anyway, as anyone that knows me will tell you!)   
What’s coming next? 
Well for me, I’m moving away from the bears (see the ‘What’s selling and what’s not working’ section further down).  In their stead, I’m working more on bags, pouches and other little items to sell at local craft fairs.  There are a lot of things that I see floating around that great interweb that I have not seen available locally at the craft fairs I have attended.  I’m not sure if it’s that they won’t sell or just that no-one’s tried – I’m thinking the latter.  I’m currently in a design phase for things however, so it will probably be April or so until I have stock for a stall.   
I want to do a complete overhaul of the site and the blog design once I’m ready to launch the new stock, and bring my Etsy shop in line too.   I’m also considering maybe selling some of my photos.  I’ve been asked about them previously, but it’s quite an undertaking finding decent printers who can reproduce the colours well.  I also have a pile more photos to add to the site, which will be done at the time of the overhaul.  I’m eyeing up either the Easter weekend or the May Day bank holiday weekend for this task I think. 
What are you working on now? 
As I said above, I’m in design phase for some things, mainly playing with bags and frame purses at the moment, but I have a little list (currently about 100 items long ;o) ) of different things I’ve thought of.  There’s no way I’ll make them all now, but I’d like to build up a stock of a variety of things that have been sewn, including, perhaps, some miniature bears around Christmas time.  I’ve also been thinking of possibly selling some of my patterns so as I’m designing I’m writing things down, we may be some time! 
How are the preparations going? 
I’ve been stocking up on fabric supplies with a view to a variety of projects to suit all ages, especially during the Black Friday and post Christmas sales.  I also bought a large selection of zips and bag making hardware at various points over the autumn.  I now have a list of things I need to get come next pay day, such as thread, fusible fleece and interfacings, none of which are exactly exciting, but are actually integral parts of bag making and sewing in general.  Luckily I was able to get a trade account at a craft supply company, so although it means buying in bulk (by the 25-30m roll of interfacing for example!) it is a great saving over buying in a shop.   
What’s selling and what’s not working? 
What’s selling: Err, nothing right now lol  I’m not actually trying to sell right now, well, not actively so, although there are bears currently for sale on the site.   
What’s not:  My bears.  I love them dearly, but they are extremely time consuming to make (I would estimate at least 16-20 hours is spent between designing, transferring patters, cutting out the pieces, basting, stitching, unpicking round 1 basting, basting round 2, stitching round 2, insetting foot pads, stuffing, sculpting the face, sewing the nose, adding the eyes and ears, sculpting the paw pads, jointing, stuffing the body and closing up the bear seams), and they are also not cheap to make, with a fat quarter of mohair retailing at anywhere between £15 (for very short sparse pile mohair for minis) and £40 (for the longer pile and more luxurious finish)  Given that one of my larger bears can use up to a half yard of fabric, you’ll be able to imagine what materials alone can cost, and that doesn’t include the ultrasuede or faux cashmere for paw pads, glass eyes, a variety of joints, various weighting materials, stuffing materials and thread.   I’m sure I will come back to making them, but probably on a smaller scale (apparently there are only so many people with room for a 2ft bear ;o) )

So there you have it, my plans for the year.  I’ll keep you posted in this monthly link up series of how it’s going :o)