Taking the Next Step

I'm slowly making the transition from day job to Sheekoo. It has been a struggle to continue working at my day job, and still finding time to sew and work on Sheekoo. With the weather getting warmer and farmers' markets and fairs coming around the corner, I hoped to be able to get more time to sew and sell my bags. This past week, I asked my boss if I could go to 3 days a week, and he said yes. Woo hoo! I think the smaller paychecks will be a little daunting--but hopefully, it will push me to get my butt in gear on Sheekoo.

Some recent developments for me and Sheekoo: I have 3 local stores carrying my line, plus a store in Germany! I was asked to participate in another winery event in April. Only a few unique vendors are asked to participate, so I feel very honored. And now, with cutting back on my day job, I hope to take Sheekoo to the next level, whatever that may be.

In the meantime, here's a few new items I just listed on the site this morning.

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Style Questionnaire

Wow, I haven't blogged since November?!? You blink, and 2 months go by. Ever feel that way?

I came across these interview questions on www.trustyourstyle.com, so I thought I'd answer them for myself. As sort of a snapshot of my thoughts right now. I didn't answer the first 3 questions because I couldn't come up with any answers. That's why the interview starts with letter D.

D) FOUR JOBS I HAVE HAD IN MY LIFE:
1 assembling electronic radio parts
2 selling men's shoes at Nordstrom
3 bookkeeper/office manger/production assistant
4 small business owner

E) FOUR MOVIES I WOULD WATCH OVER AND OVER (AND DO)
1 Music & Lyrics (Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore)
2 Sense & Sensibility
3 Lost (this isn't a movie, but I have the first 3 seasons on DVD)
4 Meet Me in St. Louis

F) FOUR PLACES WHERE I HAVE LIVED:
1 Seoul, Korea
2 Washington, DC
3 Rockville, MD
4 Northern California

G) FOUR TV SHOWS I LOVE TO WATCH:
1 Lost
2 Survivor
3 American Idol
4 America's Next Top Model

H) FOUR PLACES I HAVE BEEN ON VACATION IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS:
1 Los Angeles, CA
2 Baxter, TN
3 Germantown, WI
4 New Orleans, LA

I) FOUR WEBSITES I VISIT DAILY (Or at least Weekly):
1 ebay.com
2 printandpattern.com
3 flickr.com
4 craigslist.org

J) FOUR OF MY FAVORITE FOODS:
1 Thai summer rolls
2 be-beem bap (spicy Korean rice & vegetable dish)
3 lasagne
4 green beans

K) FOUR PLACES I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:
1 on the beach in Maui
2 shopping in Japan
3 exploring Australia
4 sewing in my garage

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My New Assistant

I like to see purses on a person, to get a better feel for size. So I'm grateful to my new "family member", Amanda Quin, for modeling my bags. She's not the brightest girl in the world (she can be rather hardheaded and well...a bit plastic), but she is perfectly proportioned.

She was rescued from the fields of Sonoma, where Bonnie was planning to use her as a scarecrow. Poor Amanda, she's much too pretty for that kind of job.

Watch for more photos of Amanda on www.sheekoo.com, where she has an exclusive contract to model all my bags.

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2nd Event a Success!

I had my second booth at the Gilead House Flights & Bites wine tasting/fundraiser. The Gilead House is an awesome non-profit organization, founded by my wonderful husband, and provides transitional housing for single moms and their kids. The event was at the lovely West Wind Winery in Nicasio, CA. I got great feedback, a lot of interest, and a pretty good amount of sales. I am really grateful to the Gilead House for allowing me to join their event.

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Fashion Show Opening

Hooray! The fashion show was a couple days ago, where I debuted my Sheekoo bags. The 300 bags were used as party favors/table decorations, and I had a booth to sell my wares. Everything went very well, and the responses from people were encouraging and super favorable. Although I didn't sell out (I had high hopes), I did sell a fair number of bags.

Now I have plenty of inventory left for my next event in mid-November. I will still make more bags, but at a leisurely pace, rather than feeling like I have to crank them out.

AND....Sheekoo.com is up and running! Thanks to my wonderful webmaster (and husband). It looks great and works great (as far as we can tell so far).

Today, I am busy moving all my sewing stuff OUT of the living room and into my tiny workroom in the garage. I need to pack away all my scrapbooking stuff, and hopefully, the sewing stuff will fit. But I've got to reclaim the living room as a living room. I can't live with the mess forever.

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Mean Pea Green Machine

Two blogs in one day! I'm on a roll, and I've been wanting to blog this for over a month. So since I'm sitting here, I'll just do it!

About 150 bags into my 300-bag project, my beautiful Bernina sewing machine got all x*3$%@z?-ed up. You know how that happens? My Bernina is THE most expensive thing I own--other than our house and cars. It's a great machine, but it wasn't really meant to sew through 6 layers of heavy upholstery-weight material. Yes, I was abusing it.

So, I took it to my trusty sewing machine repair shop (Parkside Sewing Center in Santa Rosa, CA--I highly recommend it!), and Jim told me that it would take SIX WEEKS for him to get to it. Yikes. By then, the fashion show would be upon me! But I couldn't trust anybody else to fix my beautiful Bernina, so I left it there with him, realizing I had to go to PLAN B (whatever that was).

I started looking online for industrial strength sewing machines because I obviously needed something that could sew through these thick layers I would be subjecting it to. I happened upon an Ebay seller who lived within 30 minutes from me, a fantastic woman named Kate, who repairs old Singer machines! I called her on a Saturday morning, told her my predicament, and she graciously allowed me to come to her house that same day. She told me to bring some of my fabrics and said we would try all the machines in her house to see which one could sew through all those layers.

And voila! This adorable, 50-year-old Singer was the mightiest of all!

It is a Singer 185K from 1959. It goes through all those layers like a knife through room-temperature butter. And best of all, it's so darned CUTE! I love the pea green retro color and styling. It even has its own matching pea green case!

I was able to breeze through the other 150 bags with this dandy machine. Now, I have my Bernina back from the shop (a couple weeks early even!), and I'm back in business.

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Sheekoo is Family

Okay, so I haven't blogged anything for a LONGGGGGGG time. I've been busy and productive. I finished my 300 bags, plus I have made about 50-60 more so far to sell at the Fashion Show in the Vineyards, happening at Cline Cellars in Sonoma, on October 25.

I have to say that my feet are sooooo cold (figuratively)--I mean I've got cold feet. About having a business. About putting myself out there. About thinking that I could be successful at selling my handicrafts.

But to catch y'all up (all -1 of you that are probably reading this blog), I have named my little biz "Sheekoo", which means "family" in Korean. Or as my mother says, "this group right here," as she gestures toward all the people who may be sitting at the dining room table. I like that definition. It means that it's whoever is there, sharing their lives together at the moment, not necessarily a blood tie. Isn't that how relationships should be??

Here's my little logo. Carry on!

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