a birthday treat

my friend recently asked me to make something pretty for her daughters birthday…NO GINGHAM! who else has nightmares about gingham? does it remind you of the playground? I like it…it makes me think of bygone days and picnics. my summer uniform was some crazy 70′s psychedelic swirling  green and blue number…I’d quite like one now but I HATED it at the time.

so here’s the pretty bunting.

not a brilliant picture…sort of all moody. but I like it with the fairy lights!

 

 

tis the season to be jolly!

thought I’d experiment with some advent bunting…I’m not sure it works. it’s ever so long, but I do like it. Perhaps keep this one as a family favourite to dust off every year when it starts to get cold and dark. Just room in each wee pocket for a chocolate treat!

you get TWO on Christmas day…YAY!feels a bit long at 3 feet for an advent thing…but we like it!

Happy Christmas Folks!

happy customer!

I recently came to do a special order for someone through a very tenuous link on Facebook. (it definitely has it’s good uses) my client wanted some jolly roger bunting for her annual pirate party! I duly complied.

She was very happy to receive it in plenty of time for her party this Friday…shiver me timbers, aaaargggh!

been busy!

I’ve been making a few more strings for the shop. we’re going to give the plush, rich, jewel like Indian fabrics a go. it will be a little more expensive…but I think it’s worth it. the ribbon alone is stunning.

and as Autumn crashes in rather unceremoniously…we’re going with some nice floral fabrics with a reminder of summer in the strawberries and a little bit of paisley. All hanging from lovely red binding to warm up your nights.

you can contact me through here or at pinfishstudios@gmail.com for orders. I can make whatever you like! (within reason obviously)

there’s more…

if you want to find out more about what I do then please go here…it’s not just bunting!

http://www.pinkfishstudios.co.uk/

selling to shops…

it’s always a compromise…even when you sell direct. but when you sell to shops you have to undercut yourself even more. I don’t mind so much…they have to pay bills…and work all day…but it can be a little soul destroying to sell it for less than its worth.

BUT…without shops I would be much reduced…so I thank them for taking me on.

see this one for loads of beautiful things…including my bunting!

http://www.elsieriley.com/

you may not find the bunting on the site…you may have to make a visit into town for that. it’s a beautiful shop…support local businesses!!!

the wedding bunting is done…

purple thread…

not something I usually go out especially to buy…but this wedding bunting needs some special thread…so off I go to seek out some silky shiny purple thread that’s strong and bold…or maybe gold…

it’s important to get the details right!

 

update!!!

I nearly bought gold but by golly…it was about 3 times more expensive!!! is it made of real gold by pixies or something???

the difficulty of pricing hand made goods…

someone posted this on FB…and it puts it rather well.

http://whatthecraft.com/overpriced-cant-afford-handmade-pricing/ (sorry, not sure how to make this a link…but worth cutting & pasting)

so I thought I’d do a bit of a breakdown of my own.   this represents a 3 metre string of bunting.

consultation, ideas, sketches – can take from an hour up to several hours over email, sketch book, photos.

fabric research – online is usually the first port of call, this can take from an hour to several hours too.

fabric buying – online makes it easier, can take an hour or two if using different sources, this also pushes the price up!

fabric buying by bike – can take an hour or so…but it can take up to five if I have to go all over the city!

planning & cutting -  this can take about 6 hours.

sewing – making each flag takes about 3 minutes, a 3 metre string of bunting will have about 12 – 14 flags on it. so up to an hour. then sewing onto the binding or ribbon is the quickest part…can take about half an hour.

packaging for post – with finding nice packaging and then a trip to the post office…about half an hour.

preparing for shop – takes about 20 mins to cycle to the shop where you can find some of my bunting. it’s cheaper to buy direct from me of course… )

so…using the smallest amounts of time…that’s already about 13 hours! if I were to charge the going rate of £20 per hour for creative industries…that would be…ASTROFLIPPINGNOMICAL!!! there’s no way I would charge over £250 for a bit of bunting…and that’s not even accounting for the cost of materials! so if you think about it…you’re pretty much getting my time for free!

this has been a most interesting experiment! I know my worth…do you?

special order…wedding bunting…indian themed!

rich colours, shiny, showy, bejewelled, embroidered…very special.

beautiful shimmery colours

mirrors and bright coloursseems a shame to cut them up into small triangles…but they’re  beginning to look rather good…