A new business model for Lottie & Dex Designs

When I first started Lottie & Dex Designs this past summer -- the exact day before my 30th birthday, to be exact (*cough* bucket list *cough*) -- I wasn't really sure what to expect. I knew I loved sewing dresses for my own little Lottie, and I wanted to share them with the public.

I was surprised and flattered when I was approached by Kaleidoscope Fashions & Gifts -- a local shop here in Truro, Nova Scotia -- about selling my designs there. It was thrilling, being in a real store!

Unfortunately, since I make dresses in a lot of different sizes, fabrics, AND styles, it ended up being difficult to stock exactly the right style, in the right fabric, in the right size. It's just me and my little Singer sewing machine, so it's not possible to have 10 of every option -- and I'm way too, uh, free-spirited, to just stick to one or two varieties.

Every so often, I'd luck in and a customer would find the exact style/fabric they wanted in the right size. But mostly people would fall in love with a dress that was the wrong size for their daughter/niece/grandchild, and they wouldn't always bother to contact me about doing a custom order. *whomp whomp*

So I packed in the "real store" business in January, since the majority of my sales were coming from Facebook anyway. I started running a clear-out sale to sell off last summer's "samples," essentially -- since many of the designs were made into different sizes as custom orders.

I decided that from now on, I'm not going to bother making a bunch of "ready-to-sell" dresses that may not end up selling, because they're not a size anyone needs.

So the new plan is that I'm going to focus on making dresses exclusively for my little Lottie, and then I'll post pictures of them so people can see the fabric/style. If they're interested, I can whip one up just for them -- in the exact size they need, with any special requests on the style.

This will not only allow me to make truly one-of-a-kind creations -- tall kid? petite kid? no problem -- but it will prevent me from having a backlog of cute little dresses waiting to be adopted.

Stay tuned for five new designs that will be available to order! And thank you to everyone for your continued support. Designing and sewing is very different from my day job as a freelance journalist and my 24/7 Mama job, and I LOVE this new opportunity to be creative.

xoxo