Fabric! Fabric! Fabric!

      New in the world of Tamper this week is all of the fabric I've been ordering for the fall line. It's very exciting as I envision the clothes.
      This beautiful chocolate brown will become a straight leg trouser for men and women:

      I will also be making a mod style wrap skirt out of it with accents in either this blue folklore print or the khaki below it: (If you think one would work better, leave a comment and let me know.)

    
I'm going to make the same skirt in this crimson with the jacquard print below it as the accent:

      I never wear red but I'm going to make an exception for this skirt.
      All of the above fabrics are certified organic cotton with low impact dyes. The chocolate and the crimson were grown in the USA and the two patterns were grown in China. Here is what my suppliers have to say about their Chinese sources:

"We personally check and confirm that workers operate in a well maintained, healthy and safe environment; they are well trained for their jobs; they are treated with respect; they are paid fairly and have health insurance, sick and maternity leave benefit, no child labor and more."

      I'm excited to say that I'm now able to purchase organic cotton locally through Laura Chenoweth Organic Apparel:       http://laurachenoweth.com/      As you can see from her web page, her clothing is breathtaking. I'm so pleased that she is wholesaling fabric. Laura has visited the mills and the farms where her fabric is made in India, and she has built a relationship with her suppliers there so I feel very confident that the fabric I order through her is ethically sourced. If anyone is looking for a source of fairly traded organic cotton I highly recommend contacting Laura.
      I also have some lovely natural or cream coloured hemp that I'll be making into a plain tunic for men and women, and a more feminine cap sleeved top.
      Now, dear readers, it is time for me to admit that I'm not blogging every week and that I likely won't be able to for a few months yet with all the researching, projecting, networking and planning that's been absorbing my time. So my new goal is a monthly post until further notice. I'll let you know when it's up through facebook and twitter, and if you'd like an email too just let me know.
      That's all for now. With any luck my next post will contain photos of finished garments available for sale...

Before Pictures of Tamper's New Space

      My big news this week is that I've decided to expand my studio space since every production business needs a place to make, a place to store inventory and an office. I've got the office pretty much sorted but for the rest of it here are some before pictures of the space I'm moving into. I've already started a bit of the organizing and I think when I show the after pics we will all be shocked and amazed.
      There are three spaces I'm planning to use. The first one is going to be a shared space. There's a little workshop in the corner if you can see it back there. I plan to store some inventory and materials in the non-workshop space:

      The second picture is what will be my studio. It's a laundry room now and it will stay a laundry room  but it will be a lot more too. I'm particularly excited about this space not only because it's where I'm going to make the Tamper magic happen, but also because I'm saving up for a new washer and dryer and I have a little fetish for new appliances.

      You could argue that this last space is not work related, but when you've gotta go you've gotta go and so I'm throwing this little washroom in with the "Tamper Basement Makeover":

      I won't have the after pictures next week, that's for sure, but as soon as I'm done I'll post them.

      It seems that "Blog Wednesdays" have been sliding into later days of the week (and even later weeks) these days. And what's been keeping me out of blogland? A bit of designing, a bit of sewing, organizing work space, business plan writing and a lot of networking - at least it feels like a lot to introverted me. Little by little I'm discovering the communities that make up Halifax's business, crafts and fashion scenes. There's a lot more here than I ever suspected and that's really encouraging.

      I'm definitely spending more time on the business end of things than I am on the making right now. Everybody said that would happen at times but it's still a bit of a downer. Onward and upward though. With the teaching job out of the way that's four more hours a day that I can spend being creative.

      I can't say for sure what I'll be up to in the next week although I do know I'll be doing lots and I'll tell you all about it.

Online Survey

To help me learn what people are looking for in eco-friendly clothing I made this online survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6PV58WK
I'd love to know what you think so please click on the link and let me know!

SEB Update and Survey Time

        Week one of the Self Employment Benefit program complete.
        I had my first meeting with my advisor this morning and I have to say it was really helpful. Last week I knew I had to put 35 hours into the business but I had no idea where to start. I did put at least 35 hours in but a lot of it was unfocused and random. To be honest it was pretty nerve wracking. The meeting this morning gave me some clear, manageable tasks to get going on and helped me put things into perspective.
        I have decided that I can't keep a part time job while I'm doing the program, at least not now. I have to remind myself that this business is part of a healthy lifestyle change for me so when I start to feel overly stressed it's important to change something. So I gave my notice at my teaching job on Monday. I'm officially 100% devoted to my business - or at least I will be by next Friday. Safety net be damned ;p
        SEB project one is to devise a questionnaire to deliver to potential customers. I've been working on that this evening because there's a networking event at CEED on Thursday night and I'd like to be able to deliver it there. Here's what I have so far (double click on it and it'll open in a new tab):

        I'd love to hear feedback about it - especially if you spot a typo. I'm going to do something online as well and deliver it to every email address I have (loved ones be warned). But right now I'm heading to bed.

        Those hair accessory photos are still on the way. They just got bumped by the survey this week so stay tuned. Until next week ...