Product Development: What to Make Next?

Koi Pond Mobile

Every show I try to add at least one new item to my inventory.

Which means before hand I need to come up with some ideas for new items.  I actually keep a running list going of ideas, and pick one every few months to work on.  Inspiration strikes all the time, which is why there is a small graph pad notebook in my purse with at least two different color pens handy.  

I get ideas from all over - this one was actually a commission request!  I make bird mobiles that are similar, and a potential customer asked if I thought I could do the same style of mobile but with koi fish.  So here we are!

I'm lookin' at you!

Now that it's done, I'm completely in love with it, so I'll make more and bring them to my next show.  But I've made them with elephants too, and I don't like how they turn out - and they didn't sell - so I won't make more of those.  

So, now that I've got a list of ideas, where to go from there?  First off, if I'm thinking about a new stuffed animal or a new purse or something else entirely, I start with sketches.  I break out a big sketch book, 11 x 17 at least, and draw what I'm thinking about from three or four different angles.  I want to have a clear idea of how I want it to look.  Then with a fine pen in light purple, and dot in where I think the seams should be, where I think darts will need to go, and how I want to achieve the shapes I've designed.  I actually reference this book (Stuffed Animals: From Concept to Construction) fairly often, and it does a great job of teaching you how to achieve the curves and shapes that so many great stuffies have.  After making a few of the sample patterns I'm completely comfortable trying to design my own, and so far have great results!  

Once I've got a pattern sketched, with darts and other notes marked, I try to make one out of scrap fabric.  I actually have a box of garage sale fabric that was given to me by some nice people at a show I did at a senior center - most of it is fabric I wouldn't use for projects, but it works just fine for mockups.  I stitch, stuff, and set the project on the table.  I pin eyes in place, and any accessories I think I would use for a finished product.  Then I make notes right on the fabric in black sharpie about where I need to make changes - a tuck here, more fabric here, curve this seam out or in, more or less leg, shift tail placement, etc.  Then I un-stuff it, pull all the stitches, and transfer my notes to the paper patterns I made, making adjustments accordingly.  Then I cut and make a new one, re-using as many pieces from the first as I can.  Repeat the steps as many times as it takes to make a piece I love, and want to sell.  

Now that I've got a finished pattern, I want to finalize that pattern - I print out a blank sheet with a border, the borders are set in at about 1" from all the edges of the page.  Then I transfer my patterns to these pages, making sure I make marks of where split pieces connect, where the darts go, etc.  I label each page with a number and a title - such as "Penguin: Page 1 of 3" and stack them up in order.  A quick scan in the computer, and I can print off a copy whenever I want. From time to time I will also take all the pattern pieces - especially for a project that has lots of large ones - to Kinkos and scan them on a large scanner there, just so I have a copy of the full piece.  (I invested in a large format printer some time ago, so printing up to 24" wide from a roll is not a problem.  Most people don't have this option at home, but there are many architectural and drafting service companies that will print you big sheets and scan your patterns for you, I even know one who I can email my patterns to after they are scanned in large format, and pick up prints later the same day.  Black and White, 36" x 24" usually run me about $.50 per page to print. 

Most of my patterns fit on an 18" x 24" sheet, so I invested in an Artist Portfolio for them.  (Portfolio) The bigger sheets I fold in half.  Instead of cutting out the portfolio patterns, I use freezer paper and a sharpie to copy them.  Then I cut out the paper pieces and iron them right to my fabric before I start cutting - works great, keeps things from slipping, peels off easily when I'm done cutting things out.  

As a side note, I'm still working on developing my patterns for selling them - I'm just too much of a perfectionist, and I don't like how my 'in-progess' photography keeps coming out.  Soon I'll get over that, and make a giraffe, penguin, and frog pattern to sell.  My local quilt shop has actually offered to put them in her store if I can get it together, so I'd better get moving on it!

Right now I've pulled out my idea list, and I've got about 50 on there.  Considering I'm trying to add one or two per show, I've got a few years worth to work on!  But as I do these, I'll start eliminating others from the list - things that didn't sell, for example.  I make what I think are gorgeous fabric bows (they look like Christmas bows, but are made of fabric.  Some I put on pin backs, some are on barrettes).  I've had them in my booth for two Christmas seasons now, and I've sold maybe half a dozen in that time.  I made some that aren't Christmasy, and those haven't sold at all.  So I won't make any more, and next year they'll sell.  Cause that's how it works!  

But seriously - how much variety is too much for your booth?  Well, I don't know.  I've had some people tell me to stick to one thing - stuffed animals, or quilted items, or purses - because my booth is too confusing.  I've had others compliment my range of items and my 'something for everyone' booth.  I like having a little bit for everybody, I just like how that looks more.