Mooloo's "Making my future, one stitch at a time"?

Savvy_sewing

Thankyou. I have never thought of Gumtree. I thought it was a second hand sale site.
Another thing to check out.
One of the things I like about this thread is the huge amount of help it generates, even when sometimes I get criticism, I know that it is for my benefit in the end.
I have a great amount of research to do at the moment and I look forward to being able too report on the decision etc later.
I have the dentist today, and then I have to go and help my Mum to change the beds etc.
My brother had words with me on Skype yesterday and made me feel bad, as he thinks that I should be keeping my financial situation away from Mum, as she is worried about me and mine. As I have always talked through things with my Mum all my life I found it tough. Of course I have no intention of making my Mum worry, but also to keep secret from her would be very difficult after all this time. Then it makes me feel guilty and selfish because I was sharing my problems with her.
Last night my eldest daughter had a Forever Living Party, so I went along to support her, but I was really not much fun etc as was pretty upset still, before I realised it she phoned him and told him a few things, about his own life that my Mum and dad had talked about to her, when he used to tell them his problems, and how he had been treating me for years before, etc
-- oops! Family fun-not.

I will try to be careful what I say to Mum, but my brother has to also think about what he says. There was a time when I had little contact from him after one of my girls had been raped, and he told my Mum and dad about it I had abided her wishes not to tell them. It had put a rift between us. Which has only healed in the last two years. I am worried that this will divide us again.

Savvy_sewing

Gumtree business prices for advertising seems to start at £300. So out of my league at the moment.

Savvy_sewing

Confession am at a long time low. emotional wreck comes to mind.
Tomorrow is another day so they say so I hope I will feel better and will find the strength to fight back. But today I have had enough.
Depression has been a distant memory for a couple of years but the black dog seems to have come to bite me in the bum!

Brighton_belle

Sorry to hear this Mooloo: this week has brought a shock and I am so glad the HB has been sorted out, phew. You are trying so hard to build your business despite your health taking its toll.
It's a tough time trying to rebuild a working life after you've been sick and you rightly need those benefits as a safety net while you try and build a sustainable living.


You've lot to be proud of how you cope and battle on. I hope some of the ideas here will continue to help tweek your business and make the most of your obvious sewing talent.

dktreesea

Hey Mooloo, keep your chin up. Remember your business is actually profitable. That means you are getting something out of it, even if it only seems like £20 a week at times. Many small businesses - not a few; many - don't show a sustainable profit for years.

According to the Institute for Public Policy Reasearch, in a paper they published in january 2015, so reasonably current, only 17% of businesses in the UK have employees. (http://www.ippr.org/files/publications/pdf/self-employment-Europe_Jan2015.pdf?noredirect=1)
So to my mind you are doing pretty well to have created a business that employs people.

I've been self employed for over ten years. In the beginning I was all out to build the business as fast as possible, but nowadays I pace myself. I'd rather work at a pace that suits me than earn megabucks. It's okay, provided you are earning enough to cover your overheads, to grow at a slightly slower pace so you have room to breathe.

duchy

I do think etsy would be a really good market for you Mooloo.
Its crafty ethos really fits the Mooloo brand !

Savvy_sewing

duchy wrote: »

I do think etsy would be a really good market for you Mooloo.
Its crafty ethos really fits the Mooloo brand !

I did have an Etsy Page a few years ago, but only sold one thing so didn't restock it. Perhaps now is the time to look at it again.

I managed to get my Hormone prescription sorted out yesterday, so hoping they will help me with my emotions. I had run out and couldn't find the script so been without for about 5 days and think it was affecting me on top of everything else.
The lecture from my brother really didn't happen at the right time and yesterday I was an emotional wreck. Thank goodness it was not a day I was in the shop.
I have asked my lady to come in this morning so I can work upstairs this morning and try to get the bigger jobs further along, now the fabric etc has arrived. There are no lessons today, so I can hopefully concerntrate.
DGD is going through an emotional time trying to adjust to Mummy having the new baby, and not understanding the dynamics, and why She lives with me.
The school are seeking advise, and someone to talk to for her.
I hope it will work.

dangers

Did she ever get any support from using her pupil premium money? I get 4 hrs a week with my lo. Ok it's not a lot of time, but I am there if she needs to talk.

Savvy_sewing

she gets some extra help, and the school pay for her to go to Brownies, and now will take over her a Hotshots Basketball fees, which will help. I believe the premium is £1,900 a year to help her. But how they spend the rest I don't know.
My shop assistant lady stayed later today, as I was making Roman blinds up stairs. We had a breakthrough with the Insurance renewal, and it will be £30 a month instead of an up front fee for the year, and a discount from the original quote. ( threatened to find it cheaper on the internet).
Tomorrow like Monday, I will be on my own all day in the shop.
There are a few smaller jobs I can do on the ground floor, but the rest of the campervan cushions will have to wait a few more days. I can finish the one I started today as it's just sewing the cover together. But the rest will need the big tables to cut out.
I have some curtains to shorten too.

dktreesea

Mooloo wrote: »

she gets some extra help, and the school pay for her to go to Brownies, and now will take over her a Hotshots Basketball fees, which will help. I believe the premium is £1,900 a year to help her. But how they spend the rest I don't know.
My shop assistant lady stayed later today, as I was making Roman blinds up stairs. We had a breakthrough with the Insurance renewal, and it will be £30 a month instead of an up front fee for the year, and a discount from the original quote. ( threatened to find it cheaper on the internet).
Tomorrow like Monday, I will be on my own all day in the shop.
There are a few smaller jobs I can do on the ground floor, but the rest of the campervan cushions will have to wait a few more days. I can finish the one I started today as it's just sewing the cover together. But the rest will need the big tables to cut out.
I have some curtains to shorten too.

I had to laugh reading this. Campervan cushions.... Roman blinds... You do realise that most people including those who (claim to) sew, like me (I say claim to because I hardly ever sew, but claim to know how - I wonder if I would even remember how to thread the machine, it's so long since I have done any ) wouldn't know where to start to make either of these.


Maybe you could link up with some interior designers? Or turn your hand to upholstery? The lady downstairs has just had two armchairs done. £450. She thinks it's a bargain. I suppose the material would have been quite expensive, but it got me thinking about something.


Do you know what is quite hard to get here, which you would probably know how to make - good cushions and backs for rocking chairs. The kind you tie on with ribbon ties, with a separate cushion and a separate back. This is the nearest I could see to what I was looking for:
http://www.kitchenlinens.in/home-furnishing-cushion.html#rocking-chair-cushion
But even these are kind of ugly.


These look nicer, but still not the country look I had in mind
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_mxlWPSk7tL4/TUHwoHCyp-I/AAAAAAAAIc8/xEEC64BSymU/s1600/rocking%2Bchair%2Bcushions%2B003.jpg


http://www.amazon.co.uk/LSI-Rocking-Chair-Cushion-Set/dp/B00EO90FIA
This is kind of what I meant, without the heavy quilted look.