Up, up and away!

A few weeks ago I wrote this post about how things had changed with regards to my plans for The Small Things. I had originally planned to relaunch the shop with a new collection of my usual wares, bags, accessories etc. However my mind continued to wander until eventually I had to admit that I was being pulled in all sorts of different directions creatively, but not actually getting anything productive done. So I took some time out to think more about it and that's where I left it in my last post.

I was a little afraid to post my ideas here to begin with which is why I held out. I knew a lot of them were too ambitious, (quitting my job to open a small boutique) or just plain fanciful, (over night world domination using nothing more than sparkly nail varnish and a smile). However there was one idea in particular that kept popping up again and again. I found myself thinking about it at work, in the car, while I was making dinner and well, if you're thinking about something that much then it's got to be important to you. I really liked the idea of designing my own clothing line, but if I'm being honest, all my sewing skills are self taught. I'm something of a short arse (there's only 5ft of me) so I've been altering and playing around with my own clothes for years, but even so. It still takes me a long time to do certain tasks because I don't know how to do them properly. Which is fine if you're the only one wearing the clothes, not so great if you want to sell them.
So after a bit of too'ing and fro'ing I took up a dressmaking course and although it's still very early days, I've already learned a lot. Any hesitations I had over the time and money have gone. If anything I just wish I'd done this a long time ago.

The next stage of the plan after this is a little hazy, not because I haven't thought about it, (I find it hard to focus on anything else at the moment) but because I'm trying to factor in the habit ideas have of evolving. I know I'd like to create a line of clothing and I know I'd like it to be as ethical and 'green' as possible without sacrificing the fashion element too much. It's how best to achieve this that I'm currently working on - in between practising my zips and button holes of course.

So that's my little update. It's a small step forward, but an important one and I feel as though I'm now headed in the right direction which makes me no end of happy.

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