ETHICAL FASHION SHOW BERLIN

This week was Fashion Week in Berlin and I went to the Ethical Fashion Show. Some of my friends were showing their stuff there and it was pretty interesting to see what everyone is doing and to meet some new people.

I went to see the stall of Lebenskleidung, my new main supplier, to check out their certified organic fabrics. 

Naturally I showed up 5 minutes before closing time asking about fabrics, availability and delivery times, as you do. Great fun!

Then I went to see my friend Maria Seifert who was there presenting her label Maria Seifert Collections. She is very talented and isn't she sweet?!

Then I went to see the lovely people from Aluc, who had a booth together with Brainshirt. Arianna(on the right) is also part of the awesome Upcycling Fashion Store in Berlin.

There were info tables by Get Changed!, The Fair Wear Foundation and GOTS, giving out informations about their projects, sustainability, certifications and organic and fairtrade fabrics.

I also went to the British Upcycling Showroom at the Upcycling Fashion Store, there was a dance performance by Zeitgetroffen Kollektiv and lots of cool clothes by British labels.

So yeah, fashion week was a lot of fun. It was great to see new designs and meet new and old friends.

SUSTAINABILITY AND ECONOMICS

Just wanted to give you an update of what I’m doing.

I have been in Germany exactly for one year and two days now. I LOVE IT!! I’m so glad I’m back!

I’ve met up with old friends, met lots of great new people, went to places in Berlin I hadn’t been before, some of them didn’t even exist when I left, went to workshops, moved a couple of times, got a studio, then got a new studio, made things, did a business course, wrote a business plan, changed it, then changed it again and am just enjoying life.

Impressions of my new studio: lantern

I started to think about my business in a more holistic, professional way. About, how I could integrate it into my life better and be more satisfied with it. Not exploiting myself, nature, other people or animals.

Wow, that’s quite a task! I got pretty high standards on how it should be and sometimes have some doubts if I can pull it off with the business skills I’ve got ...

There are so many things to think about..

I got this in my studio too now. So me!:)

I’m feeling bad, coz a few times I’ve said I’m getting there, but then it took much longer then I thought.

So I’ll give you a few things I’m working on,

 ♥ I wanna change production to exclusively organic and recycled fabrics

 ♥ I wanna produce everything locally

 ♥ everything needs to be vegan(except for a couple of wool dresses I sold in the beginning of Lyptis, all of my stuff was anyways)

 ♥ there will be stuff for kids and for men

Strangely, I just figured out the other day, that Lyptis was quite a sustainable brand already. You know, handmade in Australia, but also cuz, I almost exclusively used deadstock fabrics. I knew what deadstock was, I just didn’t know I was using it. Strange, right?!

So, that makes me feel better and now it’s just about taking it to another level.

Picture a friend gave me. Also in my studio.

About the economics, I haven’t studied business or something like that. I’m just making things up as I go, picking something up from other self-employees, from classes and the net. 

I would like to live off my own label, but sometimes it feels like there is so much to learn. And it feels quite overwhelming at times.

Spring Greetings from Berlin!

But then, I think about all the cool things I could make, and how making things in a more environmentally conscious way would be a great thing to do. And most importantly, I think of all the sweet customers I had, some of which are still writing to me, after I had my Etsy shop closed for over a year, asking when I’d open again, so they can buy more dresses. Wow, really, I gotta say that’s so nice! 

And the once that always left such sweet feedback on my page(I think I need to show it off), it always made my day, even after so many feedbacks. Thank you so much!

I hope I will be able to show everyone some new stuff soon. And I think it’s gonna be cool. 

And I’m very grateful that you’re still with me! Thanks!

MAKING PRETTY THINGS YOURSELF: HULA HOOP WEAVING

Yesterday, my Etsy Berlin Street Team, organized an awesome workshop at the Etsy Labs in Berlin.
Hula Hoop Weaving!!

Super easy and really fun! If you or your friends have a lot of fabric scraps lying around, this is an awesome project to do. Here is a perfect tutorial. I will spare you my own tutorial attempt, as I didn't take pictures with the single steps along the way.

Anyways, here are pictures of a couple of projects.

Unterwater theme? Nice!

Alex was using silk scraps, which took more time to do(thinner fabric). Pretty colours!

My work in progress.

And the finished result. I'm very happy with it!!

At first I wasn't quite sure what you'd use a rug like that for. I was thinking of putting the rug on my studio wall, but up to know it's a seat cover. Very pretty!! And rustic..

And a detail.

It turned out much nicer then I thought. And you can do so many variations, in colour and texture and whatnot.
Just be careful, when you use jersey fabrics, don't stretch them too much, otherwise your rug is going to look more like a bowl then, you know, flat.
I feel like doing some more now! Try it out, it's pretty easy and a satisfying project to do.

IT'S EASY TO KEEP YOUR STUDIO TIDY, ISN'T IT?!

It’s been a while since I closed down my shop. I’d never thought it would take me that long to open it again!! On the one hand, I must have forgotten how intense German bureaucracy can get, on the other hand, underestimated how many business things there are still for me to learn.

At the moment I still haven’t got anything listed in my shop and I’m doing courses and training, which is nice, it makes me feel more secure plunging myself into my business full-time again for a second round.

So, before I get the bureaucratic .. uhm.. challenges moved out of the way, I was wondering what I could do in the meanwhile. And I decided, one of the things that would make work easier for myself once I start it, would be a very well organized workspace.

So, I decided to focus on that. I tend to be quite tidy, but also quite unorganized. When I posted pics of my studios in the past, people have told me it looks quite tidy and how they never get theirs to look that clean.

My Australian Studio

And here is a link where you can have a look at pics from my very FIRST studio.

Same studio as in the picture before

I don’t actually need to tidy up that much before taking pics, but of curz there are days where it doesn’t look quite like that either. And I remember a time when I JUST started my label.. holy shit, I don’t really wanna talk about that, there were a lot of tears, a lot of crawling around the floor and lots of swearing while looking for things.

I used to think I don’t have time to tidy, but then spent 10 times longer looking for things and it seemed, things took me 20 times longer to make.

I’ve noticed from hearing other people and knowing myself, that most people (would) like a tidy workspace, so here are some tips that I’ve figure out for myself on,

“How to keep a tidy workspace” 

•figure out the perfect layout for the space you have: make a list or draw a floor plan of your studio and think about things like storage options and how to save the most space, figure out where everything needs to go.

•once you’ve done that, it’s actually quite easy to keep your shit tidy, if you just tidy up by the end of the day. Allocate even just 15 or 30min and put everything back in it’s place and do what needs to be done, like bringing the rubbish down, taking cups to the kitchen, etc.

•I don’t know about you, but my studio is not a dining room or picnic table, nothing against snacks, but keep it contained.

•make your studio a cozy place, put up nice lighting, get a comfy chair, put up pictures, keep it nice and warm or cool, make it so you love coming in there and you can start working straight away, coz you got everything at your disposal and you are excited to be there.

•tidy up your computer desktop(one of my pet peeves), close down all tabs, bookmark what you need and drag shit you've put on your desktop into designated folders by the end of your work day/night.

And this is my space now

I had an open studio event 2 months back, which I used as a deadline to make my space more inviting and comfy. I gotta say, I like using it much more now. My studio is outside my home and it’s almost like a little home away from home!

What tips have you got to keep your studio tidy and comfy? Post links to pics of your workspace in the comments, I love checking out other peoples spaces!

Thanks for reading!x

MINI LYPTIS

I put some pictures of my kids clothing up on my facebook page just before I left. It was a really, really stressful time and I still haven’t gotten around to blog about it. Actually just thinking about the time before I left makes me feel like stomach ulcers and anxiety attacks all over again.

I thought kids clothing would be kind of a cool thing to do. And I’ve made some men's stuff before too, which I haven’t blogged about yet, but there are some pics on my facebook page too. It’s cool to make some other clothing sometimes, something in a different shape, for different people. It gives you a more complete understanding of the human form and of what people need in their clothing. And it’s fun!!

Maybe I will start selling some. Why not, right?! I think they are cute. Of curz I had a really cute, little model too. 

Ok, tell me what you think and what sort of kids clothing would be cool. Or what other stuff you want to see in my “new shop”.

All the Best and have a great day!

NEW START

So I arrived in Berlin a couple of weeks ago. So much fun! There is so much to do here compared to Melbourne I feel under pressure, to make up for lost time.

It’s pretty chilled though. Now I just have to set up my studio again, get a rental agreement, some furnishings and find a new supplier for fabrics.

I think this time I wont be working from home, because our room is very, very small. We are only renting one room right now, which fits perfectly into my minimalist lifestyle, just not into the concept of working from home.

It’s kind of exciting, but also a lot of effort setting everything up again. I hope I can make some new clothes and put up some new pictures soon.

But it wont be too soon, that’s why I don’t wanna set a concrete date for my store opening yet. But I’ll definitely let you know soon enough.

Hope youse are all well! Take it easy!:)

Some of the kids clothes I made, I will write a proper post about them next time

GIVEAWAY DRAW AND NEW DESIGNS

So yesterday I drew the winners of my Giveaway.

Here are the lucky ones!:)

CONGRATS to the winners!!! ♥♥♥ Yay!!

And if you haven't won anything this time, don't be sad, I'll be doing a Giveaway again in the future.:)

I've got a couple of sweet new items ready, I just need to get some pictures taken of them. They won't be for sale (yet), but I just want to show them to you anyways. So I'll post some pics here and on my facebook page this coming week.

It will be cute!!:)

So yeah, no news otherwise, I'm catching up on orders. If you are waiting for your order I will send them all out on Monday! And on Friday we will be moving out of our house. Eeeep!! It will take me a while to set up my studio and label in Germany, so please be patient, shipping my sewing machine will probably already take 6-8 weeks. Wtf??!

And I hope you are looking forward to some brand new designs once I get there.

Have a lovely weekend.x