Hi All!
I’ve had a busy week- what about you?
It’s been another week with a million little things. I’m feeling like a bit of a hamster on a wheel right now!
One of the first things on my list this week was getting some swimwear kits together for my upcoming Etsy shop, figuring out what all I was going to put in them, how much they weigh, shipping and the rest.
I’m loving all the prints I picked out! And I am so eager to get this Etsy shop up and running! I think I’ll be able to launch it sometime this week! So you an expect a post about that!  🙂 🙂 🙂
A quick question- what do you want in a swimwear kit? What types of prints are you most drawn to? I just can’t help myself with the bright prints!
The next thing I’ve been working on this week is the progress with the tables for my shop!! And I have new additions- firstly my big beautiful cutting table! (I will be properly fixing the mat down to the top as soon as the legs dry!)
It has joined a fleet with my two student tables and another cabinet table that will be a good cutting table for students!
This week has been all about painting the table legs! I picked this nice grey colour! And mom and Gibby helped me get everything painted! It’s so exciting how it’s all coming together! Thanks mom & dad! (and Gibby for the moral support!)
Aside from all this lovely business and studio prep I’ve managed to go out and have lots of fun too!!!
Last Sunday I celebrated my sisters birthday with her! And we got take-out thai and brought Gibby to the waterfront! (we all had a blast!) Happy Birthday Kristie!! <3 <3
I also went and explored Port Hope with a friend- all for studio and signage research of course! (and maybe just a little bit of cookie and latte time)
And we may have stopped to see Magic Mike XXL in the evening, purely for research purposes of course. In case I have to make an exceptionally revealing mens bathing suit for a client. I may have to go and see it again and get a second look though… just to be extra thorough in my research.
And the last cool thing I did this week was some raspberry picking with my mom 🙂 The bushes are overflowing with them! It’s definitely the year of the raspberry!
That was my life this past week, summed up on a Saturday! Â I think I achieved a good balance of work and fun! Maybe a little emphasis on the fun! But it summer after all!
How was your week? Did you do anything fun?
Also let me know if you’re enjoying these posts. I know I’m a super nosy person and I love to know what people get up to in their day-to-day lives (I watch too many vloggers on youtube..) are you one of those people too?
Hope your weekend is awesome 🙂
xo erin
Erin, I love seeing how things are coming together for your store front. And an Etsy shop too? I can't wait to see what you're offering and save you in my favorites. We have raspberry bushes in out back yard, and my DH has been coming in the past few days having picked the first of the berries and bringing them in to share with me. <3
Michelle
Thanks Michelle! I'm so excited for this etsy shop! I have so many nice swimwear prints ready to go! I'll also be selling my patterns as soon as I get them designed and tested!
I'm enjoying some raspberries and yogurt for breakfast right now! xo
i'm totally nosy too and love seeing what you get up to! i'm really enjoying seeing your shop progress 🙂 x
Thanks Beth!! I'm glad I'm not the only nosy one! 🙂
Love seeing everything come together – great fun! I am so excited for you. The Etsy shop sounds terrific! I love the idea of swimwear kits. I am trying to make my first swimsuit, and finding virtually no instructions in the pattern – so frustrating. I need information re how much elastic to use – ratio, things like that. First, I need a great pattern, then full instructions, and then enough great fabric 🙂 I would rather pay more for a kit, than add a seam to get a pattern piece out of the fabric. I love the purple shown. Not sure how to comment as, since I do not use my google e-mail – never set it up. fieryd@shaw.ca Darlene Paige on Facebook Congratulations, and many thanks for sharing!
Thanks Darlene! I'm going to be having lots of swimwear tutorials coming up on my blog so hopefully that will help! and I'll make sure to have very clear instruction on all the patterns I release! I'll keep that in mind about the kits! They're also all going to be cut to order- so if you need a little more for a specific pattern then you can just send me a message! 🙂
I love your saturday posts, Erin! It's great to see how all your business plans come together! And the etsy shop sounds really exciting! Are you going to sell only kits or also patterns? I'm always in the mood to try new ones! 😀
And , last but not least, I completely agree with you: seeing Magic Mike is essential for business! 😉
Thanks Sofia!! I'm going to be selling kits and patterns – as soon as I get my patterns finished! And yes- Magic Mike is essential- I definitely think I'll go see it at least once more. 😉
I love that you're putting swimwear kits together! I spent about four hundred hours on Etsy a few weeks ago trying to find swimwear fabrics, but it was too exhausting to keep jumping from shop to shop for the main fabric, lining, elastics, etc… I eventually gave up and put off making my own swimsuit until next year (again). What a huge help it will be to the swim-newbies like me to have all of the sewing needs in one listing!
Thanks Angela! I'll make sure the shop is open soon enough for you to make your suit this summer! 🙂 🙂
ETSY SHOP??? SWIMWEAR KITS?? I'm so excited! I can't wait to browse your store 🙂 Prints I'm drawn to tend to be ones with a real vintage vibe – cherries and polkadots and the like. I do like the bright ones in your photos though, too! And I can't wait for patterns!
I really love these posts too – it's awesome to see how things are coming along and what you're up to! I actually did do something pretty cool last week – I had a murder mystery dinner party with my friends! We all dressed up in 60s inspired costumes and I made a three course dinner from Julia Child's books, and we worked together to try and find out which one of us was the murderer. It was great fun 🙂
Thanks Maddy! And YES I'M SO EXCITED!! I just kept hearing from people that they were having a hard time sourcing everything they needed to make swimwear- and since I have that figured out- I thought I would put kits together! I'll keep my eye out for some nice vintage prints 🙂
Also can I please be your friend, and can you please please move to Canada? that sounds AMAZING- definition of best party ever!
I'm so excited for your etsy shop! 😀 😀 Swimwear kits are a fabulous idea. 😀 😀 I love when a bright print is paired with a complimentary solid to play with colour blocking. So, I would definitely love that. Will you be including the lining with your kits, too? What about cut and sew foam for bras?
I'm so excited. Will definitely be getting a swimwear kit. 😀 😀
Thanks Andie!! I'm all about the colour blocking and complimentary binding too! So my kits will almost always have a solid colour to match the print! The kits will come with fabric, lining, elastic and matching G-hooks! And I'll also sell triangle foam cups for bikinis, some high quality thread, sliders and rings, and extra G-hooks and elastic on the side to add if you like 🙂 All kits are also going to be cut-to-order, so if you need different amounts of things you can just send a message with your needs 🙂
I don't have cut & sew foam yet- but I'm planning to get it soon 🙂 I might be thinking about releasing bra kits in the fall.. 😉 with all the things that I like to make bras with 🙂
Cut-to-order kits is awesome. 🙂 I'd be worried about ordering one because I am plus sized and need extra fabric, but knowing that you will be able to do larger cuts for me is amazing. I really can't wait for you to open up the etsy shop, Erin! I've been looking for good quality swimsuit material for a while and have yet to find anything that I like. I love the prints and colours that you use and completely trust your quality control. 🙂 I'm so excited!
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 I can't wait to open- the new tentative date is Thursday 🙂
I love those simple cutting tables. They look like real work horses. Great for a studio, for sure!
Thanks Sue! They are very solid- they will see a lot of work!