Green up your laundry.

That time of year has arrived. Give your clothes dryer a rest and pull out those clothespins because it's time to hang out the laundry. Hanging your laundry outside to dry means you will NOT be using your clothes dryer, which are notorious for their energy-gulping ability. They are typically the second-biggest electricity-using appliance after the refrigerator, costing about $85 to operate annually.

Believe it or not there is an official day to commemorate the practice: National Hang Out Day. But don't wait until April 19th since an early spring is upon us here in Maine and that sun is shining warm and bright, a perfect combination for drying clothes outside.

There is no reason for laundry hanging to be a mundane chore when you can become a stylin' laundry hanger-outer and wear a clothespin apron. With an apron designed for easy clothespin access, they will be forever handy and in one place when you hang and then take down your sun-dried, sweet smelling laundry.

So be green and, while you're at it, buy a clothespin apron and be good looking.

Wow! Mind-blowing social networking overload. Thanks, Rich Brooks of Flyte New Media!

Fueled by caffeine and a mind roiling with more information than I can process, I am ready to put some of Rich's incredible knowledge to work for me. It doesn't hurt that it involves using my trusty laptop (MacBook Pro for those of you who care) and the internet, two of my favorite tools.

Blogging, facebook, twitter, website, rss, and more, more, more are all at my fingertips if I can figure out how make the best use of what they can do for my business. I have my blog, facebook page and website but definitely have not tapped their potential beyond their surface application.

Rich Brooks is the Social Networking Man and I am his convert. The test will be to see how well I mange to keep up with this whole new aspect of my business while still taking care of the other facets of my life.

Crossing my fingers and I'm off!

Head needed.

It's spring here in Maine so it's off with the winter hats and on with my reversible headbands so the hair can flow in the breeze (but not in the eyes). They're what is selling these days at my booth at the Brunswick Winter Market so I'm pulling out my fabric scraps and sewing up new combinations. I would like to post ...some images on my website but my dilemma is how to photograph them. My lovely half mannequin has a wig that slides off and a head that is sub-normal in size. I think I need to borrow a head....

facebook!

All right then. I've created a facebook page dedicated to 

Yo Momma's Apron Strings. 

Want to become a fan?

And the winner is......

When I read about the opportunity to contribute an apron to the Evening Star Cinema's Annual Oscar Party I jumped into action. My donation gives Yo Momma's Apron Strings a listing on their website along with a mention in the Oscar Party marketing, a listing in the March calendar as well as on their website. That works for me and all for the donation of an apron. I have seen my business mentioned twice so far and that is without purposefully searching.

I enjoy donating my aprons to various events and fund raisers, though maybe I shouldn't say that too loudly. It is a relatively painless way to spread the news about my aprons.

Which apron to donate? I haven't decided yet and may sew an apron specifically for the Oscars.. whatever that might look like. It will be one of the 40's Rick Rack aprons - that style is my best seller and appeals on several different levels. I'll be sure to post a picture once a decision has been made and an apron sewn.

Stay tuned.

Evolution of an Apron for Sale

I was asked (and felt quite honored) to submit something for a gift bag to be distributed to the attendees of the Bowdoin Women in Business Convention. Because giving away free aprons to all 50 people is not a viable option, I chose to write a brief history of how I got into this apron making business and attached a postcard offering a 10% discount towards a purchased apron.

The person who contacted me, Rori Cremer, is a self-possessed and energetic young woman who, I am sure, will be successful in whatever she chooses to undertake after graduation. She appears to thrive on the challenge of organizing such an event, one which would paralyze my brain at the get-go.

My thanks go out to Rori and her fellow Bowdoin Women in Business partners for asking for my contribution.

* * * * * * * * *

Chocolate cake was the beginning of it all, which is as good a place to start as any, I think. It was a 2-part chocolate cake mix, to be precise, which I used as the focus of my small business course. I labored through the whole process from developing a marketing strategy to creating a business plan. In all earnestness, I finished my class and embarked upon my journey as an entrepreneur. Unfortunately, I quickly discovered that I had no taste for one of the most vital aspects of my business – that of wholesaling my product to retailers. Even though my cake mix practically sold itself once I presented it to prospective buyers (accompanied by tasty samples), I had to continually talk myself into the process and it became progressively harder to set out, cake mix in hand, to make my pitch.

In the meantime, I had sewn an apron from a 1920’s reproduction pattern. I then made another from a 1940’s pattern. I was having fun and was making more than I could use or give away so a friend took a few to sell through her booth at a farmer’s market. People bought them, I made more and I came to the realization that the process of apron making proved to be more satisfying than bagging up and pushing my cake mix.

Then came the opportunity to sell in the newly formed Brunswick Winter Market. I brought my cake mix and aprons to present to the market membership, was accepted and eagerly set up shop on Saturday mornings. I dutifully brought fresh cake samples each week and they were certainly gobbled up but I sold very little of the mix. But my aprons began to sell. Of course I had to replace those sold aprons so would go fabric shopping. Unlike the process of readying my cake mix for marketing, the whole process of apron making was fun and satisfying- beginning with shopping for the right fabric through to seeing how that fabric looked as a finished apron. It began to dawn on me that I was having much more fun with fabric than chocolate (though that doesn’t include eating it) and made the decision to drop the cake mix and keep sewing. Once I allowed myself to accept this simple fact, it was as if a weight had been lifted and my business became exciting once again.

The journey from Maine Mud Mix to Yo Momma’s Apron Strings is an experience I value greatly. I believed I couldn’t go wrong with chocolate and had I the personality for salesmanship, I do think it could have been a successful product. With my aprons I find I am quite happy selling at the local level and when and if I grow, it will be at a pace I determine is right for me. I can take things at a more leisurely pace with aprons as they have an endless shelf life. I can take on custom work and commissions, all without the necessity of pushing my product on wholesalers. I have the opportunity to know my customers personally and, most excitingly, learn their apron stories.

I don’t foresee my aprons being the source of my first million and that isn’t the impetuous that drives my business. I create my aprons for the joy of the process and in return receive satisfaction in a job well done, feedback from happy customers and, of course, monetary reward. It took me some time to get to this point and the outcome has been extremely fulfilling.

May your journey, if you decide to enter the realm of business ownership, become a learning and growing experience, as rich and fun as mine has been.

Lovely, but missing vital body parts

I 've arrived at the unfortunate fact that the top half of this beautiful female mannequin definitely doesn't work on the bottom half of the handsome male of the same species. I had great hopes for her but the combination of her twisted body angle and narrow waist make for an oddly proportioned figure.

I spent part of the morning devising a photographic backdrop to use when she wears my aprons - sewing seams, inserting dowels, creating a hanging system - and when I arrived at the point where I joined the two disparate parts to take test photos, I quickly realized my blending of the sexes wasn't going to work. The aprons hang badly, the male hips jut out from the female hips creating a shelf that, combined with the upper torso skewing, makes her look terribly deformed.

The search begins for a suitable female mannequin. I'll settle for just the bottom half and hope that with a set of proper fitting hips, the twisted upper body won't be so glaringly wrong but I think a whole figure will ultimately be the answer.

Anyone out there have a lead?