{your questions, my answers}

Hello Gussy community, all those new & old :]

I feel like I haven’t been doing much of the say part of this blog as I have been doing the sew. Sorry! Lately I’ve been super busy with new projects, new business growth ideas, and of course sewing, sleeping, and being sassy :] Do you hate me?

Today’s post is a collage of YOUR questions and MY answers. Many of you commented here with your questions, thanks so much! And, many of you asked the same questions so I took charge and made sure I wasn’t repeating myself below.

Before I start with the Q&A session: I’m working super hard to update my shop all week. Yesterday I added new headbands, later today I’m adding new make-up bags {surprise!} Tomorrow through Friday will be more fun product categories. Hope you’ll be back!

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Did you go to college? If so, where? I sure did! I signed up for four years at Central Michigan University in the fall of 2003. Hubs and I met in the spring of 2004 and we were married in June of 2008. Of course Zack wasn’t all I loved about college, but he’s a big part of it ♥ {tee he he}. I have a dual-major: a BS in Journalism and Art. I have a news editorial concentration and 2D art/photography concentration. Never ever never would I have imagined that I’d be using my degree in this way. Hellooooo, thank ya Jesus!

What hair products do you use to make your hair so curly? You’ll have to ask my parents on that one. Just kidding, that’s awkward. My hair is naturally wavy/curly, but it’s also fine and silky {but there’s a lot of hair!} soooo, I need a good product to hold my curl. My favorite products are a curl creme and a texture spray wax, both by Pantene Pro-V.

Here’s what I do: Shampoo hair. Rinse. Condition hair. Comb with wide-tooth comb. Rinse. Tousle with fingers, wrap hair in towel for 3 minutes (ish). Apply curl creme to hair. Tousle, again. Blow dry with diffuser for 2 minutes. LIGHTLY spritz hair with spray wax, finish blow drying. Tousel + hair spray.

Viola!

What is your favorite part of blogging/tweeting? Making new friends. Some of my favorites are The Nester, Darcy {my blog designer}, Rachel, Lindsay, Gina, Lindsey, Beth, Lisa Leonard, and Freckled Nest.

What is your current favorite Gussy product? Oh, I have many. I love this tote bag, this wristlet/clutch {and this one!}, and this zipped pouch.

What is your favorite/least favorite part of the sewing/creating something cute process? That I have too many ideas and not enough hours in the day to get them all done. It is almost painful for me.

What is your favorite part about Gussy? Being Gussy makes me skip around the apartment with glee. I loooooove “going to work” in the morning. I am so proud of myself, and I think that’s so important to feel. I was starting to get in a big rut before I was Gussy full-time. I hope that’s OK to say. There is so many great parts to “life” and I didn’t feel like I was able to experience them all doing things the way I was, back then. It was so incredibly motivating to work towards this goal of saving 3 months of my salary to quit my day job and sew full-time.

Now that it’s been just over a month, it’s hard to believe my work schedule was anything but Gussy. It seems so natural for this to be my life. So I suppose that’s a super great thing, huh? {does 3 quick skips around sewing machine}

Do you like the creating or business side more? I love, love, love both sides! It takes me a while to wake up in the morning, so usually I spend time in the morning on the computer, then after that and into the evening I’m really working the Sweat Shop. There are such great benefits of both sides: I LOVE to connect with people and hear about their life. I love to encourage the Gussy community or other bloggers. And I also love all the organizing it takes to run a business. All the little {or big} tasks it takes. It’s so exciting to balance my checkbook {don’t laugh!} because I like to see that the business is moving forward. I love to plan shop updates, blog giveaways, write the Gussy newsletter…

I’d love to hear more about your creative process, like how you come up with your ideas and then how you spend your day creating them. Judging by the pile of fabric I have, I love to shop for fabric. Since I most-always use a print for the base and a solid for the ruffle, it’s really easy to buy the base fabric and trust I’ll have the right ruffle color at home. I feel like I’ve found my style groove… while I only have a few shades of each ruffle color, I rarely buy a base print that I can’t match a ruffle to once it arrives.

Most of the time I just start paring them up. Some times I find myself using a lot of pink {like now}, so throughout the week you’ll find up prints in colors like purple, green and yellow — colors I don’t currently have a lot of, but will soon. It’s really exciting!

As of late, my assistant has been cutting and ironing my fabric. Then I sew, photograph and list the items.

How did you first get the word out there about your bags and really get started? I worked very hard on my blog: writing, making connections, growing my talents & the Gussy community. But I think in general it just takes time. Probably the biggest help came from Facebook. I used to post photos alllllll the time, and a lot of my orders {and custom orders} came from Facebook friends. I spent about six months working on this and am really proud to say that not even two years later I have over 50,000 page views a month.

Leaving meaningful comments on other blog posts you love is helpful, too. I think every blogger wants to feel special, and even the shortest comment can be special as long as it’s written with care ♥.

If you could start your business over, what would you do differently or wish someone had told you? I’m not sure I have an answer for this. Not to be cheesy, but I don’t think there’s anything I would have done differently. I feel like I’ve been given a dream opportunity — so there’s not much to complain about. Besides, doing this on my own/the hard way has taught me a lot of valuable lessons. I think learning things on my own has helped me to remember things better, too.

Have you ever thought of making camera straps? Yes. I’ve also thought about making camera bags, as I get a lot of requests for these two products.

I’d like to know what your daily schedule is like. Do you have set hours when you work and a set time you stop working? Are you strictly NOT working on weekends or are you finding yourself filling orders here and again? Or are you pretty much in a steady “work” mode all the time? Oh goodness. I wake up anywhere from 7-7:40, get ready and most days walk with Zack downtown to work. Lately I haven’t had much time to do anything but get to work RIGHT AWAY, but it’s really important to get out of the apartment and spend time with Zack in the morning. {I need to get things organized again so I can walk with Z…}

I always work a “normal” 9-6 shift. I never sleep in. My schedule fluctuates with what exactly I’m doing while I’m working, however. Then I stop to make dinner around 6pm. Soon after Zack comes home, gives me a smooch, and we spend the evening together. For the first month of doing Gussy full-time I wasn’t working evenings, but I am now. It was a nice break but I think, considering this is a new business, I need to spend some time working evenings.

Now that the sewing machine is in the living room, this is much easier :] But I’m still pushing hard to NOT work weekends*… unless I want to sew something for myself :]

*PS. Checking email doesn’t count as “work” to me. Right after I quit my day job {mid-May}, Zack surprised me with a fun weekend and I wasn’t online from Friday at 5pm until Monday at 8am. Ummmm, huge mistake. I had over 200 emails to read/respond {praise the LORD for gmail filters, right?} so I spent truly half my day working through that.

Aside from a handful of weekend events, I must check email over the weekend.

Do you make things for yourself? If so, what’s your favorite handmade item that you use? I do, occasionally. Right now I have a sassy orange on orange print tote bag. Would you like to see photos? :]

Did you start creating Gussy products from patterns, modify one to your liking, or make them up all by yourself? Do you want the truth? I just sat down and started. I thought of patterns or products I’d want to use and drew up some templates. All of my products are patterns made by myself. It’s so fun this way! Plus I feel it really helps me to learn how products are engineered. With sewing, a lot of it is backwards. Or done in reverse order. It can be complicated but oh-so rewarding.

What is your best advice for making your brand visible/advertising? Write concrete goals for your business. Build off them, allow them to change. Collaborate with others. Be open to the unknown. Definitely think of the websites YOU visit — would your business benefit from using those sites, too?

When is a baby gus-gus going to come into the picture? Ummm, this seems to be a very popular topic lately! :] We’re not sure. I suppose Baby Gus will come when Baby Gus comes! Maybe soon? Maybe later? …This isn’t really up to us, but we’re really excited to see when/how God makes us parents :] We love kids!!!

What does Gussy do for fun? Gussy loves to cook, talk, do laundry + iron {seriously} spend time outside, wear flip flops, eat ice-cream, shop, enjoy a pedicure, sleep, read, paint her fingernails, learn, snuggle her nephews… Oh, you wanted just a few ideas?

How did you get started writing a blog? What came first Gussy or your blog? My blog has always been called Gussy has a lot to say, but when I added my sewing business {about 5 months later} I added, and sew. to the name. I was recently married {like 1 month} when I started blogging, and it was purely just to blog. But soon enough everything changed…

Also, can you write a how-to for starting your own blog + selling your own handmade goodies? I think you should use Google for this :]

Gives us your best sewing tutorials & tips. This is my favorite how-to sewing book: Bend-the-Rules Sewing: The Essential Guide to a Whole New Way to Sew.

How long have you been sewing for? What kind of sewing machine(s) do you use? What kind of iron do you have? If there’s one thing you absolutely need for your sewing/work area, what is it? This is my 19th month of sewing. Nineteen months at 24 years of age. Soon to be 25, ahem.

I taught myself to sew November of 2008, shortly after I became a Mrs. :] I use a Kenmore 12 Stitch machine. My husband’s grandma & mom gave it to me for Christmas in 2008. It’s a family machine; hubby’s grandma used to sew on it. It’s very heavy, very solid. It’s sassy, too. I think I made it sassy.

For my iron, I have a Rowenta steam iron. I love it tons {and I secretly love to iron}.

One thing I absolutely need for my sewing/work area? Hmmm… I could always use a larger cutting table + rotary mat.

Do you prefer to buy your supplies (i.e. fabric, interfacing) by the bolt, wholesale or do you just buy by the yard? Also, how and when do you determine to re-stock your supplies….once a month, twice a month, every two months, etc.? Ask any business owner and they’ll tell you wholesale is key. But just because the materials were purchased “at a discount” doesn’t mean they should be sold for a discount. The ideas of the designer, the marketing skills of the business owner — the time it takes to MAKE the item, all these things come into account when running a business. I usually buy in bulk because I go through so many items {I usually make 15-20 items at a time}. I re-stock my product when it’s getting low… like if zippers take a week to arrive then I make sure I have enough product until the next shipment comes in. Same for business cards, GUSSY twill tags, fabric, etc. But to more so answer your question, I usually order enough supplies for a month, so I have to re-order about once a month.

I’ve been wondering… Do you say YEOW in real life? I do occasionally. Usually I say it quietly, then my hubby looks at me and starts smiling. It’s like a little surprise when I do… Yeow!

If someone wants to learn how to sew like you did, what do you recommend as far as the sewing machine goes? Watch a lot of tutorials online! Threading your needle, inserting your bobbin, installing a zipper — all these things can be confusing and heard to learn from a 2D perspective. I highly recommend YouTube.

Would love to know how you discovered your passion and who taught you how to sew. One night I thought to myself, I want to learn how to sew. I bought some fabric quarters, borrowed my parents sewing machine, checked out 30 books from the public library {not. even. kidding.} and sat down at the kitchen table. It was in the Motor City that I discovered my passion to sew.

And no one taught me — I’m completely self-taught :]

How did you make those very cute Gussy Tags for your products? While I do share a lot of blog/business secrets, this is one I keep to myself. But I’m flattered you {and so many others} are interested!

I’d love to see a diaper bag. Sweet — I have a couple listed in my shop, and more are coming soon!