I’ve been quiet the last few days, not by choice, but by necessity. See, my wife has had this little sewing and boutique clothing design business for several years, but over the last year, it has really taken off. Couple exponential growth with rocketing holiday sales and becoming more efficient has become a top priority. So the time arrived last week to purchase a new sewing machine. A fast one. A really fast, noisy, commercial model. Think sweatshop, but with a beautiful strawberry blonde running the machine and a flatscreen teevee mounted on the wall above it. Plus, her work room is climate controlled.
These commercial model machines are nothing like a domestic model. They have a 1/2 h.p. motor that is separate from the machine and require a table specially fitted to the model. Of course there are local shops that will set all this up for you, at almost double the cost of doing it yourself. I’m not the type of guy that would pay someone to work on my lawnmower, so I’m damn sure not gonna pay to have someone set up a new commercial sewing machine. Or that was my thinking when we decided not to use a local shop and instead to find the best price possible and have it shipped. By the way, that was my idea. My wife wanted to pay up for the shop.
So I’ve spent the last few days setting it up. Believe me, it wasn’t easy. Without a doubt, Singer has produced absolutely the WORST users manual I have ever laid eyes on. The schematics are tiny, and the print quality is piss poor. Beyond that, it is almost like they expect you to have been born knowing how to service and repair a precision, complicated machine, with only a few sentences of instruction in case you were born lacking.
But it is now up and running.
Since I was writing this post, I asked the wife if she would like to offer a discount to any of you Distinguished Gentlemen of iBankCoin. I thought you might mention iBC when ordering your wives a fantastically priced, hand-made-in-America scarf. Her response was, “Screw them. I can barely keep up with the orders coming in at full price.”
So there you have it. Hopefully I’ll soon be released from my duties as sweat-shop repairman/mechanic and I can get back to blogging and trading.
In the mean time, you cheap, procrastinating bastards who have yet to buy your wife a gift need to check out the online shop. Trust me, she won’t be disappointed, and you’ll love the price!
Admirable update.
Nicely done.
you must be a wizard with little engines wood. there is nothing more impossible to fix than a lawnmower or generator or what not. also… nice mrs wood products very reasonable.
Fake, my dad taught me how to work on gas engines. I’m no good on cars though, at all.
Wow, those a some nice scarves and great prices. If I wasn’t sure I’d fuck it up, I’d order my wife one for Christmas, I’m gonna play it safe and stick with my leaf blower idea.
lol…Just don’t get her a new vacuum, and you’ll be alright!
Ooh…I remember that year…
fuck it up? you must mean “if i only had a working credit card”.
She could 2x or 3x her prices and demand wouldn’t dip, especially seasonal demand.
Market to men for last minute gifts and 5x the $, gift wrapped and couriered to their office as late as Xmas eve!
MOOBS, it’s tough for me to stay out of her business, literally, being the evil capitalist and all. But I do. You have to trust me that her margins are insane.
You are not pricing the labor properly, Teach.
Mebbe borry some of Fly’s Mexicans?
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“donde esta conswela…git in here an make them scarves girl…”
I’m up far too late…making the scarves…
Jake, I don’t do ANY of the pricing. This is all her baby. I stay out of it, except when I’m needed to fix something.
Or, unless a mannequin needs some adjustments.
The mannequin is stained, isn’t it, Wood?
Bad Wood! No!
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Wow Jakey, that was a little over the top, even for me!
I almost took a picture of me and the mannequin to include in TC’s order…alas, it was late and she had already finished packaging it.
Ewwwwwww!! You guys are nasty.
PS the mannequins alone are worth 2x the $ – meow! http://www.etsy.com/listing/63988602/chunky-cowl-in-fun-fur-red
Many a time I have felt up that very same mannequin. It is my favorite. Shhhh.
**shudder**
LOL……Gonna order 4 myself. 3 nieces who will love ’em plus their mom…Thanks Mr. Shedder…..
Bravo, thanks! I included a super-secret special recipe…
When will we see the wife on Project Runway?
When they stop lettin on them liberals and pansies and embrace the rebel flag as an accessory..dang….
I’d love to buy – any way to avoid PayPal?
go to the site, there r options
Sadly – there is no way to avoid paypal unless you care to send a check. We all hate it, but you have to take the good with the bad on etsy.
“Srcrew them, I can barely keep up with orders coming in at full price”
Spoken like a true capitalist.
I will have to get one for my daughter,an art and
Design major,loves this kind of stuff.
tks, hope it comes in time fer x-mas…
Razor, it’ll ship Monday.
Lol
This is a parable in the making. You should have outsourced.
Yes, you’re right, Senor Le Fly.
Listen very carefully: Your prices are WAY too cheap. Pretend I’ve just said it again.
You will sell even more at higher prices.
I hear you and everyone else. My prices are set to go up at the first of the year. Christmas spirit and all…
You’re missing a terrific profit opportunity by keeping your prices down during the Xmas selling season. Perhaps taking a longer term view, i.e. build customer loyalty, it’s the right strategy but in the short term, you can definitely get more for these scarves. The product is very stylish. Good stuff.
Very nice.
Just bought one that I think my wife will like.
If it arrives with pulled pork stains on it I will know it was handled by Woodshedder himself.
Also, out of curiosity, does she have seasonal ones. For example my wife is a school teacher and would probably like a red, white, and blue one to wear to class for the US Holidays (she is no commie like some of these iBCers).
PS- You don’t have to go through Pay Pal. The credit cards worked fine.
Caddy, she’s reading this thread, so when she takes a break, she’ll probably respond! Thanks! BTW, this time of year I’m not doing much bbq. Rather, we are eating a lot of oysters…
Oysters and those mannequins?! September baby on the way!
I’m fairly sure the mannequins are not capable of reproduction.
Yes, I do seasonal. After christmas the fabrics and sytles will change to reflect Spring. Here is the answer to your 4th of july scarf…
http://www.etsy.com/listing/87474710/infinity-scarf-red-and-blue-christmas?nc=1
Your wife’s sewing machine?
The new one is a Singer 20u109. She also uses a Husqvarna Viking Platinum 750, and she has a Singer surger.
Husquvarna makes some niiiice chain saws too.
Probably a parable in there somewhere as well.
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Nice.
I feel your pain Wood.
I recently assembled an industrial quilting machine for my mother, about 6 months ago. The thing was custom made by a local guy, so it just had the builders notes and a few pictures. There were a lot of phone calls involved in the assembly process.
Picked up a couple myself.
Great stuff.
I hate shopping.
Big fan of off topic weekend updates, that is all.