Yummy Yarn-Dyed Stripes

Fabric quality is such an important element in producing a pleasing and long-lasting product. The average consumer does not necessarily know the technical terms for different types of fabric, but she knows good fabric when she sees and feels it.

My aspirations in this area, for my toddler girls' line, are high. One aspect of high-quality knit fabrics is that striped knits are yarn-dyed rather than printed.

Having a yarn-dyed fabric custom made for a small boutique line is virtually impossible, because of impossibly high minimums. But there are some wholesale sources that can provide good yarn-dyed stripes. I m finding them gradually online, and will soon be incorporating them into my striped designs.

Some of my favorites are Denver Fabrics and Sand Textile. If you find any others, please let me know!

Also posted at Pixyworld Blog.

Overseas Manufacturing: Pros & Cons

Pixyworld is dipping its toes into the deep waters of overseas manufacturing. We're starting with one collection, as an experiment, this season. Amazingly enough, we found a factory that is willing to come low on minimums and even make one fabric in an extremely small quantity.

But there's more to overcome than high minimums. How about shipping cost -- not just shipping for the product, but back and forth for sample fabric, patterns, samples, & counter-samples!! Using a courrier service like FedEx has its advntages when it comes to speeding up customs delays, but the expense is truly daunting. It's adding dollars to the production cost of each piece, not to mention the dollars that will be added when the final product is shipped!

At this point it looks like it will come out a wash -- anything we save on labor will be made up for in these shipping & import costs. But my hope is that if we can develop a relationship now, as our volumes increase we can start to see some savings. At any rate, I'm excited about the product, which I think is going to be incredible.

Also posted at Pixyworld Blog