I’ve been super torn and trying to decide what to do and I think like most women now-a-days I’ve been trying to do everything. And of course that just isn’t working. Basically what it comes down to is that I really need to finish my dissertation, soon. And while I love making clothing for all the little ones, it’s just been too hard to keep up with orders and teach and write and not be totally overwhelmed all the time. ahhh just not the right time you know. 6 years in a ph.D program, I’ve got to finish right, I just can’t say oh you know what I fell in love with sewing baby clothes, errr. But I’m trying to do the responsible thing, after all the only real jobs I can get are teaching (which requires me to finish) and as booming as business has been on Etsy it’s not really a substantial dependable income.
So I’ll mostly be doing ready to ship items i.e. pre-made stuff. As many of you know, up to now I’ve listed tons of dresses and such and the customer tells me what size to make it in, then I go and make it and ship them off. What’s going to happen until I get this dissertation thing done is limit my made to order items to just a couple a week. My week will cycle on Tuesdays, if I think I can handle a few orders I’ll post everything up, once 2 orders have been made I’ll hide all but the ready to ship stuff and probably the bottoms (since they’re much faster for me to make).
That being said, if there is something you really want convo me and I may take your order to count towards the future week. Also this will impact how ordering for the holidays will go. Basically if you’re planning on getting some stuff send me a note or check in on Tuesdays and get your orders in early.
This is a pretty hard move to make but I don’t want to be that person that was so close to finishing her ph.D and finds herself really regretting it in 10 years. But one of the perks of all of this is that you won’t have to wait for me to make it if you find something you want (feel free to tell me what things/sizes you want me to focus on) and I’ll have a chance to make some fun one-ish of a kind things (I might save a version for my own future babies haha). Finally to set this all off I’ll be listing a couple of ready to ship Halloween costumes tomorrow, including my favorite thing I’ve ever made -baby Lanna’s first Halloween costume. Tune in tomorrow to see what it is.
jkziel says
Sounds like a plan. I’m sure you’ll get more time for your writting this way…
and I’m excited to see this costume…
Heidi says
Good for you!
Shannon says
Your post really resonated with me. I’m in a very similar place… wanting to spend time making things and running my Etsy shop, but also needing to not be that person who almost finished her Ph.D. Like you, I’ve got a dissertation hanging over my head, and I really should have had it done last year. I’ve cut back on my sewing and Etsy stuff so I can finally get this stuff done. Although part of me would much rather cut back on the grad school stuff and sew. Good luck getting your work done, so you can do what you want with your time. :)