News

Introducing Something New

Rachel — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 01:46:31 GMT

It is time to let go of all of our items so that we can start fresh. Mamma Made is turning a new corner and will be offering fabrics, patterns, and the one I’m most excited about…SEWING KITS! Yes, you heard it right, we are probably the first to offer clothing sewing kits and I’m very very excited about it. If all of the sudden you see all the big wigs offering sewing kits, you can look at the date I wrote this post and know that I thought of it first! It really makes sense, there are kits for everything. Here is our little plug:

How would you like to have all the difficult parts of sewing eliminated?
Mamma Made Sewing Kits have all the pieces washed, cut, embroidered, interfaced, and ready to go for you! Clear and easy sewing instructions will have you happily sewing your garment in minutes. What could be better?

Our first sewing kit to be offered will be the “Chesna Horse Dress.” It will be offered in sizes 2-8.

We will have two fabric options:

So, that is our little “pre-plug.” Meanwhile, we are going to be having an online trunk show giving you all an amazing deal on some beautiful clothes. Each style really only has a couple sizes, so hopefully they will go quickly.

ALSO

Mamma Made would like to have a little giveaway.

Look through our inventory at our STORE and comment below on a second design you would be interested in for our sewing kit series. You might win something really cool! I can’t tell you exactly what it is, but if you win I will contact you and ask the size(s) of your children and see what I have in stock. Hey, FREE!!!

Check in on my next post which will highlight some of our Trunk Sale.

Love,

Economic Impact Survey

Rachel — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:43:58 GMT

Does the new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act affect you? Kathleen Fasanella of Fashion Incubator has put together THIS SURVEY. Please fill it out. We need to let our government know how this law is going to affect so many people on so many levels.

Love,

Rachel

You Sell Handmade Children's Items

Rachel — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 05:41:48 GMT

Buy all the handmade children’s items you can now because the world of children’s manufacturing is being shaken up. This includes clothing, toys, bedding, ANYTHING that is meant to be for a child or used by a child. Are we talking about huge corporations? Yes. But I am also talking about Moms working out of their homes and people creating and selling on Etsy. You make stuff for kids and sell it? I’M TALKING ABOUT YOU!

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) has enacted a new law designed to protect children on a higher level most probably as a response to all the toy recalls in China this past year. It sounds good in theory, but the result of this law is that it is going to put small businesses out of business (if they choose to abide the law and not take their chances on getting caught).

As of February 10, 2009, you are required to produce a General Conformity Certificate (GCC) stating your products contain no more than 600 ppm lead.
As of August 14, 2009, you are required to have your products tested by a CPSC accredited lab stating your products contain no more than 300 ppm lead. In addition, all products must have permanent tracking labels.

How will this affect small manufacturers?

If you make and sell a product, you are considered a manufacturer. You are required to have your sample tested for levels of lead and have proof of that testing. Right now it is required to obtain third party testing which means that even if the fabric you use has been tested previously for lead levels or the buttons and zippers you use have been tested, it doesn’t matter. You still need to test them again in the form of the final product. One sample test could be around $1,000. Crazy.

Here is a quote from Lisa of Downtown Joey:

Then there is the issue of testing costs for lead. Let’s DO THE MATH. For my boys’ clothing line, testing would cost approximately $11,000 per season times 2 seasons (Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter) equals $22,000! As it stands now, the law requires children’s manufacturers to test finished batches of each SKU. It doesn’t matter that you use the same fabric, buttons or other component throughout your clothing line. If you are using the same fabric in 15 different styles, it still needs to be tested each time you manufacture a style, batch and different size. That is simply cost-prohibitive for most children’s clothing manufacturers.

For those of you saying, “Well, this doesn’t apply to me. I only make a couple things a year and sell them on Etsy.” YOU ARE SO WRONG! It does apply to you. This legislation does not care about the size of your business. Read up on what’s going on. It is true that it is unlikely that the government can monitor each and every hand-made business, but the penalties for non-compliance are extremely stiff. Five years in jail and a lot of money. Check on those facts.

You can keep up with this legislation and all the details involved through Fashion-Incubator. Visit The Domestic Diva for links to detailed information and petitions. I’m hoping that they will revise the law so that once materials are tested they won’t need to be tested again. I’m all for safety—I just can’t stand redundancy and wasted money.

What will happen to these works in progress? Who knows? Auction anyone?

Love,

Want To Design Your Own Fabric?

Rachel — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:47:45 GMT

Well, now you can!!! I was so very excited when I read a post from Dress A Day about a new company called Spoonflower.

"Y'all have heard about Spoonflower, right? The web site of my (fabric) dreams, which lets you upload your own design for printing? (It's in beta right now, but you can sign up for an invite at that link.)"

This is really exciting to open this door of creative possibilities for us wanna-be fabric designers! Spoonflower is still in Beta Testing, but you can sign up on their waiting list to receive a personal invitation to participate. At the moment, fabric max is 5 yards, but I believe that is only during Beta. Check out their site for fabulous videos on How Does Spoonflower Work? and Shipping Your Fabric! They also have a quickly growing flickr pool of custom made fabrics by people just like you and me!

Here's an excerpt from Kim (Spoonflower Owner):

"I've just gotta say here how excited I am about my new Spoonflower job. I had a half-formed mental picture of what it might look like, but I don't think I was prepared for how incredibly cool it is to see people's fabric designs printed up and in a big stack in my own house. It's like going to a new fabric store with designs you've never seen before! Really, that almost NO ONE has seen before. So cool. One thing I wasn't expecting was how much being printed on fabric really warms up a design. It might look digital on the Flickr site, but in real life, on cotton, all the designs looked warm and organic."

"How much does it cost?"

"This is of course the MOST-asked question. Below is the pricing for fabric during the beta period, and it applies only to the Kona® cotton from Robert Kaufman. We may adjust these numbers at a later date and pricing will certainly vary between products as we endeavor to introduce additional fabric options."

Swatch (8" x 8") $5.00
Fat quarter (21" x 18") $11.00
1 yard (42" x 36") $18.00
2 yards (42" x 72") $36.00
3 yards (42" x 108") $54.00
4 yards (42" x 144") $72.00
5 yards (42" x 180") $90.00

Now all I have to do is WAIT for my invite! I'm not so good with that....especially when I'm so excited!

Update: Yay! I just got my invite! Keep you posted.

Love, Rachel

A Familyre Christmas Album is Complete!

Rachel — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 20:35:46 GMT

Okay everyone! You can download all of the songs and print out a cover for FREE and own your very own "A Familyre Christmas Volume 1!" Here are the artists: Danielson, Lenny Smith, Half-Handed Cloud, Soul Junk, Leopulde, Dan Zimmerman, The Singing Mechanic, Sufjan Stevens, Rachel and Jon Galaxy, Woven Hand, Ben + Vesper, Joshua Stamper, and Elin. Since you have been reading about the process of my song with Jon, here is instant gratification :

Love, Rachel

News

Introducing Something New

***ALSO***

Mamma Made would like to have a little giveaway.

Economic Impact Survey

You Sell Handmade Children's Items

How will this affect small manufacturers?

Want To Design Your Own Fabric?

A Familyre Christmas Album is Complete!

ALSO