Piling Up

Sewing is happening, and although it's not January any more I'm not going to get down about it - it's better to get everything done properly than rush it for the sake of an arbitrary deadline. Not long to go now, though. My working Monday is far from over, so what better time to have a ten-minute ice cream break and set up the next episode of Judge Judy to attempt to take in over the noise of my sewing machines... this could prove fruitless. Happy Monday!

Colour Me In

We've had a little re-jig of the print colours for the new collection to better suit the crossweave fabric that's going to be used. The blue remains the same for the wishbone print, but here are the others to accompany it in some rich, earthy tones.

Finito

Little peek of the fully formed printed and sewn Jayne tank. The only difference between this and the real article is the fabric - and with the crossweave on its way, it's not long til it will all come together! Happy Wednesday, all!

Cracking Out the Inks

It's been a mega busy week, and I've just got the time to squeeze in this post before I head off to work. Luckily I have something to show for it!

Just a few snaps of what I've been up to in the studio (read: parent's dining room) - printing, printing and more printing. Looking forward to getting this baby all sewn up so we can get an idea of what will be going out to the world when everything is sorted. Fun!

More progress to come next week. Until then, happy weekend!

Snippet

As promised earlier this week, here's a shot of the linen look fabric with our very own print. Turns out it's Friday the 13th - but no matter, with the good luck coming at you from the wishbones on your screen you'll surely be immune from any suspicious happenings. I don't know about you, but I like the way it looks.

Now the small task of nailing down all patterns for each size is upon us... but when that's done we can actually get on and start making things! Looking forward to seeing what the finished pieces look like in this fabric with our prints. So close yet so far!

Dye-Print-Sew-Repeat

What a busy few weeks, with so much to get done and plenty of time spent at the day job... it's been hard to get photos snapped here and there. I did, however, manage to get a few of the dying and printing process we've been working on and road-testing for when production is fully underway in the new year.

The new website is coming along nicely, just need a bit of tightening up here and there and the all important photographs of course.

Hope your week is going well!

Mocking Up

There's been a fair bit of mocking up going on at Holoholo HQ, but this has been a particularly interesting example since it's somewhat out of my comfort zone... making boxes! These were just testing for size - don't worry, I am not expanding to making my own packaging. Prints, patterns, pieces and web design are quite enough for me to take on. The good news is that the sizes are pretty spot on, so the eco-friendly boxes we've sourced should do just the trick. The next task will of course be to design the branding for the packaging which will be screenprinted onto the boxes.

That brings us on to the first lesson of screenprinting 101 - BE PATIENT. Failing to do so will result in inadequately dried masking fluid, leading to blurred edges. Not ideal! Time to whip this design off and try again. S l o w l y this time...



And here's a little peek at another of our prints in action, Mr Acorn. All he needs is a beautiful dyed background now...



Lots to do, including fabric ordering for the final samples and attempting to get hold of some scanning equipment since our's has just given up the ghost. Never a dull moment!

Poppin' Corks

Next

The horseshoe print has come out to play and has found itself dancing along the bottom front panel of blouse #2. It's exciting seeing another print in action - although it will be even better when the fabric is dyed the correct colour. Something to look forward to in the near future! Overlocking has been a great success, and has really completed the blouses with the polished detail I've been aiming for. Therefore it's onwards with the finishing touches - the dying (as mentioned), threads, buttons and cuffs... and then onto packaging! Seriously can't wait to get that sorted, I do love a bit of tissue...

The Disneyland pilgrimage begins in the morning, so by this time tomorrow I am likely to be in the hotel pool having a chill before dinner. Have scheduled a post for while I'm away to keep the blog alive and kicking, though. See you in 4 days!

New Baby

Not a real one! I picked up the new Holoholo overlocker last week and have spent the last couple of days getting some practice in before using it to finish the inside seams of the blouses. Having had a couple of full days to work on the business as much as I like has been amazing, and I'm looking forward to those to come.

The overlocker I bought is the Janome 9200D, and although seemingly compact, I have found it fun to use and easy to get to grips with. I am fully aware that this may change once the spools run out of thread, as I have heard it is very difficult to re-thread an overlocker, but I'm not averse to a bit of fiddly-ness, so hopefully it will be fine. Best get back to sewing and using up that thread! More to come in the week, how exciting! Happy Wednesday!

Clean Lines

Been working on the practical side of Holoholo this week, which has been probably a little over-exciting with the arrival of the new rotary cutter taking residence at HQ.

It has really made a huge difference to the speed and efficiency of pattern cutting, which as you can imagine, is great news for someone intending to produce pieces from a home-studio alongside another job.

It's also been great fun to print onto the trims of the blouses (although they haven't yet been dyed). This was done to get some practice in and get a feel for the overall look of the finished garment. There are a few places in the block that are transferring ink where they shouldn't be, but I have some plans up my sleeve (and a very handy boyfriend) that should be able to fix that no problem.

The next step of finalising the pieces and the processes for their creation is ensuring an impeccably finished garment that will stand the test of time. Choices have already been made along the way to create a sustainable design - for example the fabrics used and the thread choice - but finishing the seams of the blouses is a very important process not to be overlooked. After trying many different finishing methods, it has become apparent that the best option for the inside seams is overlocking - a process that requires a complete other sewing machine with multiple spools that creates a unique stitch pattern able to stop edges from ravelling without adding extra bulk.

The unfortunate thing about this is that these machines (as all things do) come at a price... As luck would have it though, my hours at work are nearly doubling these next two weeks, so I should make enough from overtime to cover the cost of an overlocker. Exciting! The increased hours over the next fortnight will inevitably mean less work can go into Holoholo, but since the next thing we need requires that bit of extra money, it will all be worth it in the end. Will do my best to get some things done though!

Happy weekend, all!

Psst

Did you know it's Saturday? Already! Getting back to work today has been difficult since my weekend has been swallowed up by the new job, but between eating and sleeping I've managed to fit in a couple of hours worth here and there. The first length of bamboo arrived so that's currently going through the very exciting process of pre-shrinking before anything can be done with it. Patience being tested!

More research into materials has resulted in a choice of cotton thread supplier, from which I have been choosing colours that compliment the tones I have been working with.

The first row of threads are embroidery cotton for button holes, and the second row are silk-feel cotton for topstitching. Lovely!

The rest of this evening will be spent working on a new and improved company logo, cracking out the Bamboo tablet for another round of digital design. I'm determined to get used to using it!

Hope everyone's weekend is pleasant and warm - what a welcome surprise a bit of sun has been! Let's hope it stays nice for the next few months so we can start doing summery things and stop wearing big old coats and scarves. Or is that just me?

Productive Tuesday

After preparing a short to-do list last night (didn't want to make it too long and therefore impossible to complete) I have had a pretty successful day, and as such, have had to keep extending the list!

A few of the things I've got done are...

Matched up colours to print onto dyed fabrics

Mixed up inks to match those colours

Worked out pattern cutting placements for chosen fabric

As well as working out some particulars with a potential fabric source, pinning down the sources of threads, buttons and bias tape, and beginning to put together a spreadsheet detailing some of the costs of materials for Holoholo pieces.

There's still plenty of day left so I'm hoping the emails can continue and I can get down to ordering some lengths to make samples from. I'm sure I can cook up some more things to add to the ever increasing to-do list, so will get back to that now. If nothing else, sections of the business plan can start to be written up (the terror!). Now would be a good time to read my own advice from yesterday's post.

Hope today has been as productive for everyone else!