9/29 Update

Hi, hello! I can't believe September has come and gone already! Here are some updates from Dirty Pillows HQ as of now. 

Remaining Orders from August 29th

-All "prettiest flowers rot" coffins have been embroidered and have started to be made. They will all be completed and sent out by the end of this week. 

September 12th Update

-Art Tote bags have been embroidered and prepped to be assembled. They will likely be started this week and finished up by the end of next week to be sent out.
-Gorgeous Girl Rotting Bodies Totes are in process of being finished, likely to go out by the end of this week. 
-All bag charms have been completed, orders with multiple items including a bag charm will be sent out once everything has been finished. 
-All wall hearts have been embroidered. We'll be starting to make them end of this week, early next week. Likely to go out at the end of next week, second weekend in October at the latest. 
-Horn bows are currently in process and all orders with only horn bows will be going out this week.

September 26th Update

-All ready to ship items are being packed up and sent out within the next few days
-Any make to order items will be embroidered and start to be prepared for production in the next upcoming weeks.

October Highlights!!

I'll be making an announcement post like always this month with what's going on, but! For those interested in a little more BTS? I got you.

In October we're doing two local events! We'll be doing a pop up at the Cobra Lounge Saturday October 4th for their EDM night. We'll be bringing lots of spooky goodies to that! Horn bows, bag charms, some special stuff and. some best sellers! We'll be attending the Allentown Night Market the following Saturday, October 11th. We'll have halloween goodies galore! Some of our new detachable collars as well! 

Speaking of collars, yes! We're finally bringing them to the site this month. It's been a long time in the making and I'm so excited to roll them out. I'm going to try and have a variety of styles, along with some make to order options and lots of ready to ship one off styles. I've been primarily using curtains and various fabrics for them, so they will be similar to the tote bags where they'll be a specific shape, but different fabrics and trims to make them distinct. Lots of all white collars for our goth girlies to wear with all the black velvet this season, but also lots of floral and fall shades as well. 

October 4th we're going to be going to a HUGE secondhand fabric sale! I cannot WAIT and I'm trying to make content around it. Content is something I've really become detached from doing and I'd like to make more time for it. This summer was very busy! Lots of in person events, lots of growth as a store, and lots of stuff going on at home. Now that we've only got two more shows for the year and Dana is really kicking ass in the production department I'm working on making more time for things other than just sewing and production. That includes content, updating the website more regularly, designing more, making small batch of ready to ship items more often, trinket charms, and so on. 

A big goal for the business is getting to a point where we have enough regular production that allows me to have Dana running production at 30-35 hours a week here. This means enough orders coming in to sustain that level of production, (including items we send to storefronts) a confident production of these items, and a balance of not feeling totally beat from making them. I've worked for a lot of small sewing companies that had no organization, no clear turn around time, no real training, terrible pay, and still ridiculously high expectations of myself as a sewist. I don't want that for my studio/shop. I want anyone who works with me to feel confident in what they make, appreciated both monetarily and personally for their time, and enjoying themselves while they're here. I'm really happy to say we're finding that balance! Once we get to a point where I'm happy with that I'll start to take on more commission work. When I opened commissions back in may we were at a TOTALLY different place. Growth was happening, but it really took off over the summer. I needed to apply all my time and the time I had available with Dana to make orders, make samples, reply to emails, and determine what needed to be done for in person events. I'm looking to finish all open commissions by mid October, end of October at the latest. They'll likely not re-open until the end of the year because we'll get into holidays and then Valentines day. But! I have all this in mind when determining our weekly/monthly workflow once orders come in from updates so this routine will be put into place for next year and allow small amounts of commissions more regularly. 

The other really big goal is to also use this time to get that workflow down where I can be primarily working on small batch collections and eventually clothing. Clothing is a huge goal of mine for 2026! I want to start to upcycle clothing and that will take more time, more planning, more samples, more everything. I know as a business I need my employees to be secure and confident before I can jump into something totally new that takes up all my time, so! If you're reading this and bummed that commissions won't be reopening soon just please know that it's all for trying to make this a legit well oiled machine. I've always hated corporate giant companies and the insane lack of empathy for each worker. I've also worked for a ton of small businesses that I thought my job would kind of be like a fun home away from home, and well, it just wasn't. It was insanely toxic at times and poorly run, leaving me totally unprepared and miserable. I don't want that for my business. I'm very lucky to have such a close friend I insanely get along with that is in the same field as me! And if I want this to grow to become a small team of people making stuff and being able to be paid a fair wage for that as well these kinds of times need to happen first. It's a good problem to have! I don't even want to call it a problem really! It's more of a problem for those waiting to make custom orders.

Okay!! I think I've rambled on long enough-thanks for stopping by and can't wait for the month ahead!! SPOOKY SEASON!!! 

xoxo Ally