Sew What?

Last Post of Project 2

Wed, 23 May 2012 09:45:00 +0000

Well, we got our garments back after the fashion show at some high school about an hour north of here. Evidently the wearer of my suit was a larger girl than the dress would allow. They blew out the zipper and safety pinned it. I really want to send them a bill for a replacement zipper. :)

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Design Studio Project 3

Tue, 22 May 2012 09:45:00 +0000

For our third project in the Design Studio class, we were given a photograph that was to serve as inspiration as well as to be incorporated in a cocktail / evening wear garment. I loved the picture, I was inspired by the face. It struck me as a Buddha, even though it is not. My partner suggested Buddhist robes. I liked the idea, and continued moving along that path. Recently a couple of customers have been bringing me galabias, traditional Egyptian men's wear. I did some research and decided it to be a perfect garment.

From iPhone Sew What Projects

Upcycling

Sat, 19 May 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Like everything else, even fixing your clothes has gotten a makeover. Most people don't see fashion and ecology together, but let me tell you, Eco-Fashion is alive and well.

Levi's is making jeans with less water.

http://store.levi.com/waterless/?camp=DRSearch&camp=5616&affcode=785255&searchdef=2544244&k_clickid=40d65d36-807d-2668-cb1b-000032477abf&002=2544244&006=22091278898&007=Search&008=&009=b&012=fashion%20eco&021=561676869

Playback Clothing is making T-shirts from old plastic bottles

http://www.playbackclothing.com/

Well, here at Sew What? we've been active in Eco-Fashion all along, but we were calling it "repairing." Now we are using the term, "upcycling."

Previously, "Do you want me to patch that hole in your jeans?"

Now, "Are we upscycling your jeans?" Ahh.... even the expression leaves less of a carbon footprint on the planet. :)

I've alway enjoyed recreating. This is a project a client brought in recently. We are taking a moo moo belonging to his deceased mother and making pajamas.

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Merchant Accounts - The Hate-Love Relationship

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 11:25:00 +0000

When you are a small business, every penny counts. What I learned dealing with merchant accounts is don't be so focused on the interest rate that you miss the dollars leaking out the side. I've recently been going through a painful divorce from NPC Secure / Retriever payment systems, who lured me away from Intuit Merchant Services with promises of lower transaction rates. "Hey baby, how does 1.49% sound? Does that make you hot?" "Oh yeah, baby, sign me up... swipe it, baby, swipe it!"

Well, like every taudry affair, the thrill ended when NPC decided that they would issue a mandatory NPC Assurance Program. Basically this is where they charge you $95 and make you fill out a questionaire with questions like, "Do you take customers credit card information and leave it laying around?" It was further aggrevated when they charged me $25 to change bank accounts, a process that took 8 emails and 3 phone calls to accomplish. When dealing with NPC, the distrust of their business practices left me paranoid.

Determined not to be "had" again, I started the process of research. The two areas of focus were Wells Fargo via Authorize.net and my ex, Intuit Merchant Accounts. Wells Fargo sounded great, but there were things that just didn't sit well with me, especially the $28/month for 48 months equipment rental. Do the math - that's $1344 for a piece of equipment that you can buy for $250 - NO JOKE. Intuit won yet again. They offered me the GoPayment plan, which had all the online interfaces I used before PLUS I can also use the iPhone to process transactions.

Ok, this is what I'm really trying to stress. Yes, the rate of cost is not 1.49%, it's 1.62%, but you need to finish out the equation. For every $10 item charged, you pay 0.15 + 0.25 transaction fee with NPC. With Intuit, there is NO TRANSACTION FEE, NO BATCH FEE, so for every $10 charge, you only pay the $0.16. Hmmmmmm. Listen, I don't make a commision from Intuit, I just want to share what I have learned. In an economy like this, my philosophy is, if you can't find a job, MAKE a job.

Sew What now is accepting credit cards

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 11:25:00 +0000

Well, now it's time to shift my gears from construction and setup to back to some serious sewing. The internet was installed, and I finally accepted the fact that the day that I would eventually take credit cards has arrived.

Sew What? now accepts Mastercard, Visa, American Express, and Discover. No more running to the ATM to get cash.

Forward Motion is Everything

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 10:15:00 +0000

Of course I chose the week of Midterms at the Art Institute to move. I'm a masochist. I spent my mornings building a new cutting table and my nights studying. Well, it was well worth it. The shop is coming together better than anticipated. I can't wait to finish getting everything put together so I can take pictures to post. I drilled so many holes yesterday, I should have just mounted pegboard over the whole damn wall. :D I still have a lot of tweaking and organizing to do, but I should be up and sewing this afternoon. Honestly, I can't wait.