French-American kids sew @ PS

Last week we had two groups of middle schoolers study at Portland Sewing. Thursday, illustrator extraordinaire Julie Grasher led 11 students through creating a concept board and designing for a customer. It was such a delight to hear 6th-grader Lara Rix present her board with, "My client is Amelia Templesman. She's 28 and sells real estate. She travels to the Galapagos and loves her chihuahua, Pookie." So creative!

Monday, the group in 6 hours went from learning how to thread a machine to making a messenger bag. Here are their happy results:

From left: Nikita Swinnen-Galbraith, Lara Rix, Camille Bales, Mia Baudey, Katerina Rusa

Not to be left out, the adult group in an evening class finished their blouses. Here's Annick Blomdahl showing off her well-fitting garment.

Beginning Sewing 2, Weds pm class

Classes next up for Portland Sewing:

"How to get your products into stores: A boutique owner tells all"

with Celeste Sipes of Radish Underground, Saturday, Nov 6, 2-5 pm, $48

http://www.portlandsewing.com/apparel-business-classes/how-to-get-your-garments-into-a-store/

"Couture Jacket" with Sharon Blair, Thursdays, Nov 4-Dec 9, 6-9 pm, $149

http://www.portlandsewing.com/apparel-business-classes/how-to-get-your-garments-into-a-store/

-- "How to get your products into stores: A boutique owner tells all" with Celeste Sipes of Radish Underground, Saturday, Nov 6, 2-5 pm, $48

http://www.portlandsewing.com/apparel-business-classes/how-to-get-your-garments-into-a-store/

-- "Couture Jacket" with Sharon Blair, Thursdays, Nov 4-Dec 9, 6-9 pm, $149

http://www.portlandsewing.com/apparel-classes/chanel-jacket/

Designers! Sell your garments to stores

How to get your garments into a store

A boutique owner tells all

Learn how to approach stores and make a sale – that will make both you and the store owner happy.

Celeste will take you through the five mistakes most designers make and how to turn them around to make a negative into a positive on such things as:

• Communication. How and when to approach the store and how to stay in touch.

• Presentation. What items stores expect to see to explain and help sell your line.

• Quality, particularly fit and finish, so the garments are ready for purchase.

• Scheduling. What to show the store and when.

• Delivery. Making promises, making them stick and what happens if you don’t.

If you’ve never sold to a store before, Celeste will help you make your first impression a good impression. If you’ve been trying to sell without success, she will give you tips for turning it around. End this class with a game plan for approaching boutiques with your product line.
WITH Celeste Sipes, co-owner of Radish Underground, Saturday, Nov 6, 2-5 pm, $48

How to get your garments into a store: A boutique owner tells all

Instructor: Celeste Sipes, co-owner of Radish Underground

Saturday, Nov 6, 2-5 pm, $48

Learn how to approach stores and make a sale – that will make both you and the store owner happy.

Celeste will take you through the five mistakes most designers make and how to turn them around to make a negative into a positive on such things as:

• Communication. How and when to approach the store and how to stay in touch.

• Presentation. What items stores expect to see to explain and help sell your line.

• Quality, particularly fit and finish, so the garments are ready for purchase.

• Scheduling. What to show the store and when.

• Delivery. Making promises, making them stick and what happens if you don’t.

If you’ve never sold to a store before, Celeste will help you make your first impression a good impression. If you’ve been trying to sell without success, she will give you tips for turning it around.

Fun at Portland Sewing

Just took some snapshots the other day with my I-Phone of folks at Portland Sewing. It was Monday night, so it was the final session of Lisa’s level 1 Learn to Sew class. Students were completing their aprons. Some had never sewn before. Here are some shots of Zachary Michaud and Jessie Weitzel.

Then Melinda Conway sent me these photos of her kids wearing the kid-sized apron she made for them. She sewed this one because she had made one for herself in a summer class and they said it was the “most beautifulest thing they had ever seen.” Here’s Tristan and Sequoia. Melinda also blogged about her experiences. Here is the link to her site: http://timecapsuleeighties.blogspot.com/2010/09/ beginner-sewing-and-knitting-taking.html

In my room, we had a fitting. Then the Pattern 1 group started altering their torso slopers based on the changes we found in the fittings.. The torso sloper is the base for making such things as a blouse, dress, jacket or coat. Keely, from the morning group, had set to work immediately on making a blouse. Here are shots from the evening group.

From left to right: Annick Blomdahl, Emily Lippman, Karen Davis and Cindy Persson (love that tat!).

Thought you’d like to see what we’re up to on a typical Monday night. Enjoy!

Jennie Kalberer of Portland Ten teaches class @ Portland Sewing

It’s not enough to create a great product — or service. You need someone to buy it. Jennie Kalberer of Portland Ten shows you how to:

Finding customers: Market Research 101 (Saturdays, Oct 16, 23 & 30, 2-5 pm, $98)

In her three-week class, you will learn:

– Who the people are that you need to target.

– How many of them are out there.

– What they need and want.

– How to shape your product to meet their needs.

– How much they are willing to pay for your product.

At the end of the three weeks, you will have the tools to:

– Find current and potential customers.

– Expand into groups of buyers you haven’t considered.

– Figure out how to reach them and, better yet, talk to them.

– Determine the right shape for your product and how to get it into the right place, at the right price and the right amount.

Jennie Kalberer is the founder and owner of Kalberer Consulting, LLC. She consults with start-ups, entrepreneurs, and small businesses to help them raise funds through venture capital and angel investors, increase sales revenue, strategize growth opportunities and streamline business practices. She is a life-long entrepreneur and worked in design before receiving her MBA in Finance from the University of Portland.

She and Portland Ten have created a mentoring program that provides 50-100 hours of one-on-one advising and peer support and helped participants raise venture capital, revenue and sales. They are in the midst of launching their Fall program.

To learn more and register for her class, go to http://www.portlandsewing.com/apparel-business-classes/finding-customers-market-research-101/

Start an apparel business: What you need to know

Learn the basics of setting up your apparel business: How to protect your name, set up your infrastructure, deal with the city, state and taxes, do business with other apparel businesses, get into textile and trade shows, find out about EIN, RN other acronyms, rules and regulations — what to do with them and much more.

with Sharon Blair of Portland Sewing, Saturday, Oct 9, 2-5 pm, $48

Paloma Soledad reveals her Mythaus designs from Pattern 3

Hey Sharon! Margie looks great!! I sure miss those ladies. Hope your trip to Paris went well. Here are some photos of the dresses I made from your classes. -- Paloma