Behind the scene: the futur of Ready to sew

Today, I’d like to tell you about Ready to Sew’s evolution and resolutions as well as my everyday life in the company.

You’ve probably noticed that each time Ready to Sew releases a collection, it offers you new features. A while ago it was playlists, clickable links and two printer options (with or without margins), then the following collection offered measurements of the finished garment, the next collection included A0 format and half-sizes and, if you haven’t yet seen, the most recent collection has step-by-step instructions with pretty photos available for each of the new patterns on the blog.

Voilà, one of my resolutions is to stop there! After all, in the struggle to always do better, to offer an amazing product, I don’t want to lose sight of the most important thing: the sewing pattern itself, not its packaging.

The next collection will thus include all these options and not one more. I’m not sure what you make of this, but I think it’s already quite something ;-)

Each of these small bonuses is time-consuming: offering three printing formats demands three times more time than offering just one; grading half-sizes clearly takes longer and requires a different layout. The most time-consuming is the step-by-step instructions, but it’s a decision that I made for the last collection and I plan to continue with it. I want to offer you more and more content, tutorials, step-by-step instructions on my blog…but I work alone, I do EVERYTHING alone (except for some translations and photos, for which I call on professionals), so I can never offer you as much content as brands with a team.

A Team

This last word encourages me to tell you about the following resolution: getting help!Hiring in France is not easy, between direct costs (gross salary: net salary + employee contributions), employer contributions and indirect costs (supplies and equipment like workstations…), my small business is absolutely not ready. A trainee seems to be the most obvious solution, but I have too much work, I need someone who is already trained and proactive. A freelancer seems to be a good solution for developing my small business (which I want to remain small). I’m currently reflecting on my business structure in order to determine the exact skills that I need and the workload that I’ll have to delegate. I already know that the person must sew to perfection, know how to take beautiful photos, be familiar with Illustrator and Photoshop software, be capable of writing articles in French and English, be proactive and committed.

Committed

This word leads me to my next resolution, which is the hardest to follow: breathe, don’t stress, think carefully, take the time, take a step back. I started this company in 2015. As I was also working as a freelance art teacher in three different school and doing some baby-sittings at night, I had to work on Ready to sew at night and during the wweekends. So, I was working 24/7. I should also mention that I was my only financial support. Gradually, I succeeded in cutting back to the point where, after two years, I was capable of uniquely devoting myself to Ready to Sew. It’s now been eight months since I worked on weekends (except on rare occasions). Yippee! 

Recently, I felt a kind of distaste, sometimes a slight disinterest for my business. TOO MUCH, too many things, too many images, too much content, too many offers, billions of sewing patterns of all types, for all tastes, in all directions…I felt dizzy. As a result, I decided to go against the tide: to offer less, to offer better, to offer simple. I could release the same sewing pattern with a few flounce variations: it would be simpler, more profitable, take me less time. It would be great, but I’d never really feel comfortable with it. I prefer to be creative or even tone down my creativity a bit from time to time and offer some good basics. Like me, you appreciated the effectiveness of good basics like the Jeanne T-shirt, the James fisherman’s smock or the Jamie cardigan and I want to continue in this direction. This company is an extension of me, it is closely tied to my personal aspirations, my personal development, my personal taste. So, I can’t just treat it as a form of income. It has to align with my motivations, my thoughts about the company’s development. It reflects my personal values.

When I design for Ready to Sew, I create a garment that lets me move easily, bend over, lift my arms, sit on the ground, spend eight hours in front of a computer…do everything that I have to do in a normal day. In other words, a garment that I’d like to wear when I myself am working. When I feel good in my clothes, I work better, I’m more sociable, I am better. This seems silly, but it’s true. The more time passes, the more I’m rigorous, the more I pay attention to detail and the more my skills as a pattern maker develop. Making a simple, quality garment is no easy task. In the end, it’s much easier to offer a garment with lots of frills that hide its weak cut. Of course, it is possible to make beautiful clothes with a lot of detail, but that’s not what I want for Ready to Sew. Recently, I’ve had an ever-present fixation with creating beautiful clothes with a simple and comfortable cut. Make less but make better is Ready to Sew’s operational policy: quality over quantity.

Quality over Quantity. These two words bring us to my next resolution. Making a business last is the hardest task. You think that starting a business is difficult? False, that’s the easy part! Having the idea: EASY, putting together the business plan: EASY, creating the Internet site, getting into gear: EASY. Making your business last: COMPLICATED!

We’ve heard too many times that if a business doesn’t grow, it dies. It’s a phrase that I question a lot at the moment. Expand how? What? Where? Do I really want to? Do I have the opportunity to? To go towards what? Do I need to give up more of my time? Do I have more to give, to offer to my customers? Of course, I want to develop Ready to Sew, to reach more people and grow a community, but this doesn’t mean depreciating my previous patterns and producing more, still more, for more visibility, more novelty. It instead means promoting what has already been created and opening the door to another clientele. That’s why I’ve decided to get my patterns translated into Spanish and extand the size chart.

These are three developments that require significant investment on my part in terms of time and money, so I don’t yet know when they’ll be available. Voilà, I think I’ve covered everything, and I hope to have your continued understanding and support as if I exist, it’s above all thanks to you!*

*(I’m selling this last sentence to the highest bidder for an Oscar’s acceptance speech.)