From the Studio: A Charlie Cushion Update

My Charlie Cushions are really, actually coming to Janery by the end of the month.  I am so very excited about this!

That’s why the blog has been a little quieter than usual.  Sometime this spring I finally accepted that the blog and my home DIY projects had to take a back stage to the business for a while, at least until I get the new branding finished, the new website ready to launch, and the product creation process streamlined.

The great news is that everything for Janery is falling into place.

I’m finishing up the first batch of pet beds now, so I feel confident that I will finally make this dream come true. It’s taken a lot longer to get to the launch date than I ever expected, because there are several hidden steps that require some time and effort before you get to the finished product.

Product design has been the biggest step where I underestimated the amount of time required.   The process is so much more than just picturing a product you want to create, and saying “I’m going to make that!” If it were that simple, my dog beds would have come to market years ago. I found the product design and pattern creation process to be the most challenging and slow-going.

Many of the designs I came up with looked great, but were complicated and time-intensive. If a design takes me 2 hours, it won’t bring best value to my customer (because production time is included in the price). The insertion of the zipper was the design aspect that I got most hung up on, and I felt amazing when I finally found a hidden zipper solution that I was happy with!

Once again, my lesson learned is that things always take longer than expected. I think knowing that should be the first rule of starting a business!