Moving out in to the big wild world...

This week I took what is at once both a small step and a big development for my business: the owners of Handpicked Hall (which has stores in Leeds, Ripon and Skipton) have opened an area of the store called the Bob-In, which is a space for small businesses to have their wares permanently on sale in exchange for a few days a month staffing that area (and of course, some rent, although it's very reasonable).

I have been trading on a monthly basis from Handpicked Hall in the Grand Arcade, Leeds, and thought the Bob-In sounded like a good opportunity to get my products in the public eye on a more regular basis and hopefully increase sales to boot. So, this Wednesday I took over a few capes, wraps and shrugs plus my ever-popular long wristwarmers and set my space up. The whole Bob-In area consists of shelving and some hanging rails, and my space is a shelf for wristwarmers and leaflets etc plus hanging space for the garments:

I'm not due to spend a full-day in store for over a week but I did stay in store for a little while to meet a new seller I'd not met before plus have a catch up with some of the vendors that I do know from previous selling days. The whole store is filling up nicely and the food hall and vintage cafe seem to be in full swing so if you're nearby I'd definitely recommend dropping in for a visit!

Jersey dress with an interesting collar

I seem to have had a cluster of customers commissioning garments to replace old favourites which have worn out, which is always quite a nice task. After all, I make clothes to be worn not to sit in a wardrobe out of sight, so to make something that the customer knows she'll wear is lovely!

Today's blog is to share one of these commissions, what looks like a simple jersey dress but with a collar/neckline that looks almost like you're wearing a shrug over the top of a strapless dress:

The customer ordered two, one in a bright red viscose jersey and one in this beautiful patterned cotton jersey. I know she was pleased with how they've come out, and I hope she enjoys wearing them!

New cloak design?

Another 'coming soon', this time a full-length cloak option rather than a one-off!

I was recently asked to make a full-length faux leather cloak for a semi-local gentleman. Faux-leather is something I've not worked with for ages, but having done so I think it makes a really nice cloak so I've decided to add it to the list of materials I offer my cloaks in!

I need to finalise pricing of them (and review how much they'll cost to post, as they're quite heavy) but they should be available in my online shop by the end of the month. In the meantime, here are a couple of shots of the one I've just made as a little preview...

And, if you'd like to order one before they appear in my online shop then just drop me an email