Ship Shap Children's Wear and Accessories - words from the creator of ShipShap handmade clothing (and stuff) for little ones, Christina. textiles. art. fashion. australia. Join the handmade revolution!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Words for the Swing Tag


I have been trying to decide what to put on the swing tags for ShipShap, my new children's wear label. I think it is important as I want people to know about what they are buying. Here is what I have so far.
"ShipShap is the name I have given to my clothing for children. The clothing is all handmade, which means that I design, cutout and sew up all of the items myself. It can be a somewhat organic process, as some of the pieces may evolve into something a little different to what I had originally planned. Some of my work is not really planned at all; for instance, I always guess how much dye to mix up in the pot and my machine embroidery often just comes out how it does once I start sewing. A picture in my mind is all I may use to go on.

I love making these clothes and I hope you will love them too!

Enjoy,

Christina"

And on the back
"
Buying handmade means that you are getting a one-off original and you are directly supporting the (artist or) craftsperson. These are 2 among many other good reasons. Go online to find out more. I made the pledge at www.buyhandmade.org "

I figure that if people are interested in that, or think 'handmade, what do they mean by that' (which is what I would think- see previous blog), they can go and find out, via buyhandmade.org and etsy.com.

Anyway, I am not sure if the clothing will be handmade for ever, but if I was to get it made by someone else I think I would still put on there where it was made and keep the blog with details re that. I think it is important, as I said before.

The above is a picture of the beautiful Abi in one of my tops, after looking at these I decided that the shape is not all that good and I should finish the hem and edges after all. It would be good to have a house model full time!




1 comment:

Bec said...

I agree totally with this - I love to know the details of things I buy. Object with a story have so much more meaning. I do something similar with the bags I make. I put on the back of each tag the details of the bag - things such as where I sourced the fabric from, if it was recycled I say what it was before (ie a tablecloth), where I found the buttons etc. I've actually put my philosophy on all this in my Profile page on Etsy too, with a little spiel about where the name of the shop came from.

Anyway, I think the wording you have on your tags is great - it is engaging, and sets up a relationship with the product, and with you as a designer.

I'm enjoying reading your blog too! Thanks, Bec :)