From a passionate hat maker and hat wearer, I want to share a little about my daily process!
It All Begins With…
My sewing day begins nearly every time with this photo. The sound of my coffee brewing and then the soft clanging of my spoon mixing in the must-have creamer prompts this pup to arrive at the steps before I even take my first sip of coffee. Without making a move she patiently waits until I ascend to the bottom. As I tap the wall with my hand she swiftly and clumsily tromps down the steps as if she just won the lottery. Pups IS NOT allowed in the shop and knows it so she lays on the patio door rug and settles in for the morning as I assess what needs to be in my online hat shop.
Good Enough?
Depending on the lighting and a cute outfit or not I will take a snap shot of said outfit and proceed to check emails and do some quick posts on my Facebook page posts and social media scanning. Yes, we all know social media can be a time suck for many so I set a timer allowing myself a bit-o-time to keep this task swift and painless. In fact I will set a timer occasionally for all computer tasks – this includes checking orders, messaging customers, social media posts, Pinterest posts and “fluffing” the online shop. I’m all about saving the earth but I actually print out my orders – I’m a visual and a note taker so paper is needed.
Create Like Nobody’s Watching
About this time my inner music soul is awake and ready to JAM! I like to keep things running smooth and music seems to be my go-to every day. From Hip Hop to New Age any good tune deserves a groovy dance and a good lung belting sing along – sorry neighbors. Dancing and singing are a prerequisite to a fabulous day in the Bound to be Creative shop. The cut table gets a good dose of use most days. After orders are cut they take a trip to the sewing table and are ready to be pressed and turned into a hat. As I sew a hat most of the time I will find myself saying a prayer for the customer. I figure why not sew an extra stitch of joy for you. My quality control department (a.k.a. me) inspects for even seams, loose threads and proper sizing with my tape measure. Often I will prep the recently sewn handmade hat for a photo shoot and proceed with the shipping process. From China to the east coast my hats are all over the globe.
Take Five (or twenty)
I never used to take a lunch break but I decided it was a nice break from the shop to reset my brain. To “go out for lunch” I slip through the sliding doors to the backyard, examine the flower gardens, dump the cold coffee in the bushes and proceed up the hill to have lunch in the kitchen. After scanning some magazines or watching the local news I head back to the shop until the kiddos get off the bus. It’s an exciting feeling as I wait for them to share their day with me. Then it’s all about dishes, laundry change out and starting supper.
New to Me, Sometimes
How do I channel my inner new ideas throughout the day? Great question. I take it in stride. I mean this: I used to act on every single idea and needed to CREATE NOW before I lost the idea; however, I’ve learned over the years to let the idea marinade for a bit and see after a good sleep if I still thought it was a good idea. Often times I will make a scaled down prototype and see if the kinks can get worked out. In short – sometimes a new creation works and other times not so much.
So there you have it!
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Bound to be….getting back to hats!
XO,
Shelly
