Tweaking your Items: The Quest for Perfectionism

There are a few sayings in the business world- "If you're not moving forward, you're falling behind," and "The only thing that endures is change." Thankfully, as a microbusiness owner I don't need to worry as much about revamping my line every year or coming out with a Hot New Item every season (which is not to say I never add new things to my line, but that's another post.) I'll leave the intense pressure to drive forward to the big guys, and work more on some small-scale changes that increase the quality of my products. They may never be absolutely perfect, but I'm gonna come as close as I can!

Here's a great example: My leather flower necklaces have been selling quite well at shows and online, but I felt they weren't exactly perfect yet- it's tweaking time!

This is just a shot of my leather flower pendants before the center beads have been stitched on. (Aren't they cute all nestled up into their little green dish!)

I'd already upgraded the necklace cords from a lightweight cotton string to a tightly woven, waxed cord with nice lobster clasp closures, but I noticed several things I could change on these guys. The petals needed to be a bit more shapely, and the bail on the back needed to be placed differently as the flowers tended to lean forward a little when hanging on my display. They were fine when being worn, but presentation is everything when you're selling at a show so I needed to figure out something.

Here's how they look after the beads have been stitched down- the petals lay flatter, and they open up very prettily. The shape changes I made to the petals are subtle and my customers probably wouldn't notice unless they had an old style and a new style side-by-side, but there's definitely a difference! The new petal shape is curvier, and comes to more of a "point" at the tips. It's more graceful and feminine.

The leather pieces on the back to secure the bails and cover the stitching used to be circle-shaped. Now, as you can see, they're more shaped like a guitar pick, with a little tip pulled out of the circle. This change in shape moves the bail higher up on the back of the flower and improves the way they hang on the cord. I've also been adding a "V" stamp to the back of all of my flowers- a great suggestion I got from a neighbor, and an inexpensive way to brand. (Branding is important too- I should cover that in a post as well, lol!) I got the stamps made online for less than $5 each, and I use pigment inks in metallic earth tones for the impressions.

As an artisan of handmade things, I think quality is the number one thing that sets us apart from the Walmarts of the world- don't you agree? Sometimes, little changes to the way we make our items can make a world of difference in improving quality levels, and that's always a good thing. What changes have you made lately that have improved upon your products? I'd love to hear about the tweaking you've been doing!