Planning the Unplanned: Learnings from Sewing in Bulk

This month is full of sewing in bulk. I've been preparing my first (ever) offline market on 17th Dec, so since last month I've been pretty groggy on how to came up with many ready stock items to be sold on the market. Previously, every item I sold was made-by-order, so my mechanism was more of a lazy and laid-back one because I tend to wait for the order first lol. But with this offline market, the items should be there first beforehand – so it's a whole new challenge for me.

Fabric Cutting is Now Challenging!

Previously, cutting fabric is kinda now brainer because I only needed to cut for one or two items at once. But with this situation, I need to cut for multiple at once – and try to be as efficient as possible with the leftover. I learned to use the pattern persistently and think about the layout first before putting my scissors to work. And of course, there were times where the leftover is just too big to be thrown away but also too small to be made for anything – at such situation I usually keep it to be used as trial fabric when I need to dry-run the sewing lines. In short, nothing goes to waste in this household!

Chunk Chunk Chunk

Just like a common project management, sewing in bulk also requires you to firstly think about how to plan the work before eventually do it. I spent about 2-3 days just to make a mind map on my head – thinking about what to do first, then what to do later, what to prepare, what to shop, etc. I then also realized that chunking the work into smaller tasks actually help a lot to trick my mind. I initially planned to stock up at least 25 items for each products (so 75 items in total), and I couldn't imagine dragging myself to sew 75 individual items all by myself. However, when I chunk the goal into smaller milestones – it became way easier and more attainable. I set milestone on 1) fabric cutting, 2) initial overlocking, 3) foam attaching, 4) bulk sewing, and 5) finishing – and suddenly the goal become more possible to reach.

Selling Offline Means Packaging

Believe me when I say that I used to sell my items in simply bubble wrap and polymail bag – that's all. Previously, all my items were sold via website so the only headache I need to face is how to pack the item neatly for it to be indestructible once being shipped. However, this logic doesn't work when you want to sell offline because presentation is the key! I then invested on cute ziplock with visible branding, some stickers, a hang tag, and even a free measurement line for every purchase. This is going to be LIT!

Alternate is the Key

I realize when I sew in bulk, I tend to do it on autopilot. Once I got the groove, I can do this without much of thinking. However, it became boring so fast. This beautiful brain of mine has this condition where routine stuffs become boring so fast, so I got to think how to trick it. Firstly, I sew all of the same parts altogether. So, imagine if I'm gonna make 10 pouches with 4 different parts each, I sew all the parts that has the same shape at once. I thought that working on 4 different parts (instead of 10 different pouches) would make it easier. Turns out, I need some alternatives. To avoid being bored of the project (and risking to abandon it along the way), I switched the mechanism once every a little while. Sometimes I work on the same pattern altogether, sometimes I finish one item until completed. The key is to make it different every time.

Now The Plot Twist!

Exactly one week before the event, I fell sick. I tested positive for COVID-19 (for God knows how many times as of now), so I am chained to my bed the whole week. Fortunately, my over-preparing self had already finished some items before I fell sick – so I decided to just go with these items to sell because clearly I don't have the energy to finish the goal of 75 items. I made peace with only sending less than 25 items in total and I think that's okay. I learned (the hard way) that no matter how polished your plan is, there will always be something surprising. After all, a good plan is to plan for the unplanned. 

So, What's the Verdict? 

Would I do it again? Nope. Would I do anything like this but with better preparation? Definitely. I learn a lot from saying yes to this gig – one of them being: "it's important to be realistic with your capability". On my high spirit, I tend to say yes to so many things but then punish myself from not being able to deliver as promised. I learn from this one, that saying yes to things is okay – but I have to be okay as well when things suddenly went south. All in all, I feel grateful to be able to experience this just 3 months after starting this 'business'. See you!