On Planning Kits for the Year Ahead…
Just wanted to share a little behind the scenes....
These first few weeks of January, Moda (the company I buy most fabric from) previews their upcoming holiday and seasonal fabrics that will be released throughout the entire year. I have to order any seasonal or Christmas now, or I won't be able to get enough for a kit. My rep gives me a few fabric swatches, but most of it is on paper only.
So I spend about 2 weeks cutting up their catalog to shreds, trying to put together about a year of any seasonal themed kits - and I'm not going to lie.. it is REALLY hard. The hard part is choosing and coordinating fabrics when I don't even know exactly what the ornament will be yet.
Even with fabrics that are coordinating, you just never know exactly how they will look together on an ornament - maybe they won't contrast enough? Maybe a pattern won't show the way I expected it to? Or, maybe that background that looked white in the pictures is actually a cream, and it ends up looking terrible with the other fabrics I ordered to go with it.
Or... what if it turns out we will need 32 pieces of a particular fabric instead of 24 like I planned. EEK! That can mean the difference between a 425 yard order and a 500 yard order.
(I have really messed this up with past orders… and getting it wrong with hundreds of yards of each fabric is a really big mistake!)
And.... am I guessing right, how many members we will have 10 months from now?
What if I ordered too little, and there aren't enough kits? What if I order too much? Either could amount to a very costly mistake.
What if, what if, what if! I am the queen of second guessing myself!
I try to plan out any new patterns in advance of this time of year, so that I can hopefully look at the new fabrics and then bring them into the new pattern ideas. It doesn't always work out that way, but that's the goal.
When all this fabric starts arriving, what usually happens is.. I realize I got it right with some of it, and I’m delighted… and I realize I got it totally wrong with others, and I freak out, and then I promise myself that next year will be easier and I will do a better job and it won’t be so stressful.
And here I am, the next year, and I think I’m even more stressed! lol. I had to take my eyes away from these little paper squares for a few minutes and I just thought you guys might find this interesting! Oh, and please wish me luck!
I hope whatever my fabric choices end up being for the coming holiday kits, that you will love them. :D
We love what you do; right or wrong they ALL seem to work out beautifully whether they are as you saw them in your brain. Keep up the good work. So far ALL is well.
What an awesome job you have been doing????
Thank you so much????????
Supposed to be a heart NOT question mark!
It’s ok if you’re human. ?
Everything works out
Good luck Staci! All of your fabric is beautiful and looks so good together. Love them all!
Love all your patterns and fabrics, they are great for us especially when I would have trouble putting colors and fabrics together. Thanks for your beautiful collections!
I’ve yet to be dissatisfied, Staci. So, you must be doing a great job. Lighten up on yourself and enjoy. Thanx in advance for the new kits.
You always do a fantastic job with you design and color pallet. You go girl
I think your ideas and choices are beautifully planned…..this sharing was a positive and insightful way for you to tell your story about your life of planning and chooseing fabric for your kits……it is hard and challenging…..You put your time and energy into your job and your success shows it….I am glad I have become an OG member for so long…..I look forward to your next adventure for us………thanks for the input….
Much better that you vent to us than go to a bar & inhale margaritas!! Seriously, we trust you…you have great taste! My wish for you is that you get as much joy out of the creative process as we get from making the ornaments!?
Thanks for all you do for us! You are assome!
You do an amazing job and with so many “addicts” in this group you wouldn’t have any trouble getting rid of “mistakes” in the marketplace
I love the Christmas ornaments but can’t wait for the heart. It is incredible. So glad I changed my membership to the kits instead of just the instructions. I’ll have to budget elsewhere!
I can imagine how stressful it is to plan, select, and purchase hundreds of yards of fabric in advance. I’m wondering what you do with those hundreds of yards that don’t work. Have you considered selling it by the yard to members? You have a keen eye but looking at photos of fabrics is difficult. I find it hard to order fabric online or from a magazine. The colors sometimes vary. Take a deep breath and be certain that your membership is behind you all the way. We all love what you come up and design every month. ?
Staci I have loved all the kit choices (even if I haven’t assembled them all ?) and I can only imagine how difficult it is to choose fabrics! They have all been beautiful so keep up the good work!
Thank you so much, Staci. And since I’m a digital member, I can fully understand the trauma of purchasing fabrics that will work together….the amount of fabric you work with can certainly be a nightmare. Don’t stress too much. Your work is tremendous and well appreciated by numerous OG’s!
Wow! Thank you for sharing part of the process. It makes me appreciate the kits even more now. What an incredible number of choices you have to make. I have a hard enough time going into the local fabric shop and making choices for one project. Your fabric choices are all so beautifully coordinated. I wish I could take you with me when I am shopping for fabric.
I second the idea of offering the “wrong” fabrics for sale at the marketplace, by the yard or more. I love moda fabrics.
Staci I am new OG club since Nov. But I have looked at the past projects and they are so beautifully coordinated that i don’t think you have to worry too much. You know what your doing. Most of us probably dont have a clue even if you made a mistake. Everything is beautiful so don’t fret so much , causes wrinkles. ?
I know how stressful that is, Staci! As a manager for a large grocery superstore in the past, I had to to order all seasonal merchandise and decorations one year ahead, too! It’s nuts. But that’s the only way there will be enough to ship and you get the best pricing. Hang in there! Thanks for all your beautiful designs. It is tough work!
Staci thank you for sharing. It gives me a little more in site. I thought you ordered fabric the month before. Know I know different. You are the best. Thank you for what you do.
Staci you do a great job we all love and appreciate what you do! Don’t stress!
I think you do an excellent job. Try not to get to stressed out, because we all love what you do and the kits you make for us, no need to worry??????
You have excellent taste in coordinating fabrics for these ornaments! Thank you for sharing this process and for all the hard work that you put into these designs and kits.
Your stress sounds like the same that we go thru for a single ornament, of course yours is times by a few hundred more. You do a great job and I enjoy making the ornaments that you come up with. Good luck and take deep breaths often! Maybe wine, a mixed drink, juice or soda will help, whatever you prefer.
I had no idea what went into developing each kit. I can now appreciate your hard work. I love each kit that I receive. Thank you, Staci!!!
I agree with others. Whatever you come up with will still be wonderful and amazing, even with “wrong” fabrics. Just know we all love what you do and will only ever support you.
Thank you for all the hard work you do with from start to finish, I love the colors, patterns and fabrics you choose. You have a wonderful eye for colors and fabric that works together. I can see it being very hard to work from paper – each fabric has a different feel to it you cant get from the pictures. When I choose fabric to sew or work with I need to touch it to get a feel for it’s weight, how it moves etc.
You got this! But I totally understand what you are going through. Take a deep breath and relax! Thank you for sharing with us.
Breath…..
You’re awesome!!
Not to worry, you’ve got this. I don’t ever see complaints. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing, Staci. You and your team do a wonderful job of putting the kits together. I also enjoy all the extra tips you share with us. This group is terrific!
I love each and every thing you have made and taught me how to do it, will never be as sharp and great as you are. The time you spend putting each kit together amazes me, your effort is endless, as a previous self employed owner of a ceramic shop, offering classes, I know the demands of customers and the effort to try and please. I am now widowed and retired, so get to do things “for me”. and love it…I love being a member of this wonderful club, everyone is so talented and very helpful with all kinds of ideas and so helpful with knowledge about different places to find things we need or are looking for..my hat off to all????
I was just wondering to myself how early you had to order your supplies for our kits and voila, now I know! Your kits are gorgeous and you shouldn’t second guess yourself, you do a great job! Keep up the great work and I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with for us to create!
How can we all thank you for all you do for us the OG members? We pay our $$ and then sit back and wait for our hassle free little white box of joy. To some it brings happiness, some a source of creative imagination and to others a form of solace that fills empty hours of loneliness but none of us stop to think of the hours of time and hard work that you our fearless leader put in behind the scenes. Now we get a small glimpse of what you do to produce our “LWB’s” Thank you again Staci for all of your hard work and shared imagination. Just a quick note, have you ever thought of offering any left over fabric (if you order too much) in the secret store or marketplace?
I can not even imagine HOW you possibly do it…I will just say I am GLAD you do!!! Thank you!
I’m sure they will be lovely. I know I haven’t been a member very long but everything I’ve seen and received has been stunning. Don’t make it too hard on yourself.
We love all the fabric and lots. Thank you for all that you do for us your the best
Blessings lachresia
You do a great job. I Love the combinations you come up with. Thank you for all your hard work.
You always do a Great Job of picking out what goes with each kits. You do great. Thank You So much for your hard work.
I think we need to think a little more about how hard you (and your staff) work for us every month and be more thankful for all that hard work. Everything you send us is perfect I personally want to thank you and thank you for keeping the best site in the web going so well!
TerrI Beck
Everything turned out great. Do not be stressed.
I love those vintage Christmas fabrics at the bottom of your picture! I hope they will appear in a kit this year. Your kits are lovely and the ribbons and charms really top them off. I didn’t realize you had to plan so far in advance. You do a great job. Good luck.