All ready to go...

Yes surprisingly after my last post i have been frantically making this years Kino collection... a total of 120 garments all done ans dusted and ready to take to Womad this weekend! I spent a wonderful week at Larmer Tree festival a week ago, with Jan from Sari's and Silk and Harriet from Umbul-Umbul... along with her lovely helprs this year, Sam and Jaz! Sold a few bits of this years collection, a waistcoat and belt to one girly who ended up looking like me when she left!
But now for the hard sell, we leave for Womad tomorrow and I am hoping we will have a sunny and successful weekend! reunions all round also as Jan, Harriet and Sam will all be there for some more festie fun! By the way everyone should check out Sam's music... click here for Samir Arslanagic on reverbnation. I was treated to an amazing headline open mic spot at Larmer tree on the friday night, and i was totally blown away :)
Anyway, wish me luck for this years full on collection launch at Womad, i will let you know how it goes!........

Busy busy... sewing and computing!

Last weekend was spent enjoying the sunshine and then the rain at Sunrise festival with the lovely Jan from Saris and Silks, Maggie from Felt Like a Hat and Harriet from Umbul-Umbul! I did take a few of my recycled fabric pocket belts, but people weren't really shopping so i will just have to save them for all the lovelys at Larmer tree in a few weeks time! Speaking of a few weeks... I have so much to cut out and sew, and only 4 weeks to do it in! Instead I have been creating a new website for all that is Tassia.B... so you can see my handywork at tassia-b.weebly.com. But now that is up and running I do really need to knuckle down and do some serious sewing! I have all of my fabric orders in now, so I have been busy dyeing the Hemp for my waistcoats and some of the soy for my pocket dresses. Today's colour was Ocean Blue so my garden was a sea of sea this afternoon... in between the annoying June showers we are constantly getting!

I just have a few more deliveries to wait for, one of my thread colours for this years variations and the other is all my hangers for the mountains of stock I actually have to make now!

I have an order from a lovely lady named Louise who bought a dress off me last year at Womad and found me online to request another design for this summer! So first things first when my thread arrives is to get her order made and posted, then I can get cracking! 7 pocket dresses cut out so far, another 24 to go... plus 16 tops, 4 pairs of trousers and 24 waistcoats! Then there is the long list I have delegated for my busy helper to do (my lovely mother!) another 20 pairs of trousers, 10 long skirts and 16 dresses! Wish me luck....

I am in frantic making mode...

Yes that's right it's festival season already, which means i am manically making some beautiful ethical garments for the lovely festival public! Right now i'm focussing on some pocket belts (a festival essential) made from recycled fabric which consists of all the bits i have in bags left over from previous projects! I am off to the Sunrise Celebration in Somerset next week for some much needed festival fun, and the pocket belts will be in attendance too, waiting to be snapped up by you lovely lot! Then after sunrise it's the big push to get all of this years Tassia.B designs, 5 styles, crafted and ready for this years lovely Larmer Tree and WOMAD festies in July! Wish me luck, it's going to be a long few weeks!.....

Sorry it's been so long...

So I have been a little bit rubbish at keeping up with my blog posts over the winter. But now spring has sprung and the temperature is on the up I thought I should give you all a run down of where things stand with Tassia.B! I spent 5 gloriously sunny weeks in Kerala in January and returned full of inspiration for the festie season ahead! I also returned with a bag full of beautifully colourful fabrics to add to my range this summer. These fabrics include some traditionally block printed cottons, and also some Ayurvedic herbal dyed organic cottons... which I saw being woven, dyed and finished at the lovely factory in Balaramapuram! So currently I am in Bristol, trying to get the summer 2011 collection started, for there is much to be done! Dresses to be stitched, trousers to be sewn and belts to be crafted... and all for you lovely lots to experience! I am also enquiring into a few regular stall positions here in Bristol, so I can get my lovely designs to you lovely lot more often, so keep your fingers crossed for me......

Tassia.B... update!

Its been a while since my last post, so i thought i would update you all on my current activities!

This time last week i handed over my first ever wholesale order to Pen Elvy at The Other Factory... the order consisted of 10 beautiful dress and 10 cosy waistcoats in a selection of colours, some of which i had not tried before! And i have heard from her today that they sold well... so it's always nice to get good feedback like that!

My time is being stretched between working at Eloise Grey, seeing friends and family on my days off, and trying to keep my energy levels up for general everyday life! I always find the onset of Autumn is beautiful but draining... more layers have to be worn, and no more flip-flops!

I have decided that if my use of fabric is to be most economical, i need to figure out a way of using the negative space (or leftovers) surrounding my current pattern pieces. So i will be drawing out the current pattern shapes and piecing together the random shapes left, to create another design... hopefully a funky little patchwork-esque skirt! Drawings to follow soon...

I am going to the Ethical Fashion Forum's Sourcing Expo on October 6th, where i am hoping to find out more about fabric sourcing in Africa, India and South America! It would be good to get some contacts of other Fabric suppliers that i could possibly use instead of my current California based company Pickering International. I would rather not have fabric made in China then shipped around the world... but my fabric is so specific, i'm not sure where else it is available! Fingers crossed i will come back with some answers from the sourcing expo. One company who will be there is an organisation called Cotton Made in Africa who have Organic Cotton farms in Zambia! I hope to find out more on October 6th...

Awaiting fabric...

Life has been busy since returning from festivals, or at least it feels that way! Work at Eloise Grey is full speed ahead, with the new studio up and running and a marketing strategy to implement, my own work is taking a back seat without meaning it to!

But... as of thursday i will have my new order of beautiful ethical fabric to start creating again.

On Saturday i met up with Penny Elvy from The Other Factory to hand over my remaining designs from this season on sale or return, just for a market she is doing this weekend in Leicester to try and shift them. But she has ordered 10 dresses wholesale for the 12th September, so i will be happy to get making again soon! I also want to work on a skirt design and a top design, as well as some money belt type accessories, to trial on some people before next years festies! My ideas are blossoming... and i want to share them with everyone. Take a look on my website at the beautiful pixie-esque photoshoot i did at Womad, the images show off my Ithikos collection perfectly!

www.tassiabutlin.co.uk

Festival SUCCESS... life is all go!

Ok so on Monday i returned from a very successful outing of Tassia.B. ethical fashion at Womad festival last weekend... and on tuesday i was offered an internship with Fashioning an Ethical Industry for 3 months next spring! So my life is speeding along nicely... without me really having to plan anything!

I am still just trying to adjust myself back into non-festival mode... which is very hard as i had such an amazing 2 weeks at Larmer Tree then Womad! I wish i could be back there now really, but life goes on... back to work! The lovely memories are keeping me going at work!

So my first collection is a success, we made a profit at Womad which i can put towards more fabric supplies to make more designs! I have offers to stock my designs in a shop in Brighton, and also a couple of offers to stock my work at a couple of other markets this summer!

I am trying to decide whether to branch out and do a few other colours, and also whether to work on a few autumn designs for the coming season! When i decide, i will let you know...

And as for this Internship, i just applied on the off chance, and didn't expect to hear for months as i am not available to start it until March! I spoke to the co-ordinator, Hannah, yesterday and she was lovely. She is really easy to talk to, and she said not to rush to start the internship after i get back from India, so thats great for me! So now i just have to find a part-time job in Bristol from March onwards, so i can afford to find somewhere to live! Any suggestion?....

See my current collection at my facebook group page by clicking on me (left!)...