With production almost complete, the little coats are now awaiting the webshop debut just a few weeks from now. Here’s an update on what we’ve been up to:

I received my production samples a while ago through some amazing coordination with transcontinental and transatlantic mail (thank you to Art and Em). I’ve heard my share of horror stories with production in terms of mismatches lines, horrific sewing, missing pieces and such, so I when I opened up my package, I had a bunch of labels, safety pins and marking pens in front of me, ready to tag every place that needed to be corrected. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the only mistake was that the girls’ coat had an extra inner pocket. And really, there’s nothing wrong with having an extra pocket to stash a wad of shiny stickers or a small toy in!

We’re now working on some final product shots for the website. Flats, mannequin shots, model shots – I think they’re all equally important in showing the details of each coat. I do my share of shopping online and I really appreciate having more (rather than fewer) product pics to look over before I click and buy. So we’re taking that into account as we put together the images that will accompany each coat.

And we’re tweaking the logistics, trying to make the website easier to navigate, and have the checkout and payment process be as simple as possible. Stay tuned for a the Half Dot website makeover, coming very very soon!

It’s been a really busy month over here. I learned that if you really care about the details when it comes to production, you should factor in an extra month of just overseeing those things. There was a 3-week holdup at the cutting room as I insisted on getting some final adjustments made. Now everything is at the grading company where the final markers are being printed. Over here in the studio, I’m writing up specs, packing things up, and getting ready to ship everything over to the factory.

Work on the webshop has also begun – we are on schedule to open in October. Excited!

And of course, while all this is going on, its also time to start making samples of the spring/summer 2010 collection. Full speed ahead!

A Cutters Must. I can’t imagine going to production without it. I have yet to assign pattern numbers to all the pieces. This is organizing on a whole new level.

We got our kiddo the book but right now I think he’s more into big bright pictures, so it seems like we’re a lot more excited about Where The Wild Things Are than he is. We also got him a new chair, which he loves (not to mention it looks great and fits the decor of our living room oh-so-perfectly).

When he was hanging out with the babysitter the other night, we headed over to the Joyce Theater to watch the Stephen Petronio company dance to live music by Nico Muhly. Big fans we are.

It’s good to be home. After a great vacation visiting family and friends, it’s time to jump into work again.

From Jennifer of Chapter One Organics, that we can really impact the lives of others in a positive way through the choices we make.

From Dave of Save a Penny Banks, to be resourceful, and to always have a good time!

From Marilyn of Marilyn Tov, to pay attention to every detail and to follow each step of the process as the pieces go to production.

From Chris of Short Hat Company, to be persistent, to follow up on contacts and to not give up until someone actually says “no”.

From Suna of Hummingbaby, that even though people say the industry is competitive, we are all better off when we are willing to share resources and help one another.

I hope that I can remember these things for seasons to come.

We are all smiles over here, Half Dot Brooklyn made its debut at Bubble and was greeted ever so warmly from buyers and the press. I am so thrilled and honored to have been part of the show and to get to know so many talented and kind people in the process. Overflowing with gratitude, seriously.

Now that my clothing line is on the radar, the real fun (and hard work) begins.

A day before the show.

With the baby son at home hanging out with the babysitter, the husband and I headed over to La. Venue to set up my booth. I felt quite like a plain jane when I saw the major construction going on in a lot of booths. Custom shelving, cutout graphics, ceiling decorations, carpeting … next time, I tell myself, next time.

Being part of a trade show means I have the opportunity to introduce my collection to buyers and the press. That also means I have to prepare enough print material for them to take away so that they can remember what they have seen and what we talked about.

Here is the print material I prepared for the show, and where I had these materials made:

- My business card. Brand name and logo on one side, my name, title and contact info on the other. I ordered these from 4by6.com, and love how nice the ink and card quality are, for a rather affordable price. The downside is that satin cardstock isn’t exactly eco-friendly.

- A line sheet (showing the styles – drawn by hand and outlined in black ink, style numbers, colorways, fabrications, size range, order minimum, and delivery date) and a pricelist (these could be combined, I chose to make 2 separate sheets).

I seem to have ridiculously bad photocopy karma. I first had these photocopied at Village Copier, who gave me a good bulk price and had the copies ready for me within 10 minutes. I then toted them home and found I had a typo in my contact e-mail address. Lesson learned, proof-read before you make hundreds of copies. I then went to Officemax to make new copies and after waiting in line for 45 minutes was informed that all their copy machines were out of toner. Then I went to FedEx Kinkos where I was told there was a 24-hour wait. My last resort was a local copy shop, where I got my copies completed in 15 minutes, but when I toted everything home I found I was over a hundred copies short – I called them and they told me they were closed for the weekend and to bring everything back on Monday so they could make sure they really did miss a hundred copies. Which isn’t possible since the show started on Sunday and I’d be giving the copies out by then! Sigh. Another lesson learned, make copies far ahead of time so you don’t have to worry about these unforeseen hiccups.

- An ordering form (with ordering terms and conditions). Ah, I think I lucked out on this one. I googled for an online print service that could make custom carbon copies for a good price and deliver on time and I chose this one. When you’ve got over a dozen things to take care of each day, finding a service that can get your order completed without a glitch is such a relief!