DIYthing

Do you ever long for that special accessory that will set off your outfit? Well, after you see Rachel’s designs you may have found the source for that one-of-a-kind accessory that will make you stand out. Rachel describes herself as a creative that is always thinking about design.

DIYthing: Tell me a little about you and your work.

DIYthing: I love your piece - Art For Your Head – “Calla In Rain” – your hats are more than accessories for your body, they truly are wearable art. You must spend so much time designing your hats. I take it you enjoy what you do.

Rachel: LOL…. Yes……… I do enjoy what I do and it seems like sometimes all of this ‘designing’ just comes welling out of me and spills itself across what ever materials are in front of me. I love fashion… not always the ‘fashion’ of the moment, but ‘fashion’ in the sense of costumery. I think things can be worn that will give you a sense of whatever mood, feeling, ideal, etc. you want to portray and I love being able to get a sense of whatever it is, when an item is complete. Basically I am designing all the time….. the thought process never stops!

DIYthing: You describe yourself as eclectic, you enjoy a bit of this and bit of that from knitting, crocheting, sewing, jewelry, to photography – how did you learn all of these creative endeavors?

Rachel: I guess I learned them all because they interested me. I never thought there was anything I couldn’t do… and that goes not only for my creative side but for my business/career orientated side as well. I do not do all things equally, but I am fairly proficient at most of them and there are still so many things I want to try…… but I do know where my best abilities are and I try to give them the largest amounts of my time.

DIYthing: You have several shops on Etsy as well as other web sites you maintain, how do you find time for it all?

DreamWovenSupplies.etsy.com – Supplies & Extras
KidletConnection.etsy.com – Higher-End baby/toddler/children clothing
BadGirlsGoToHell.etsy.com – A Safety Conscious Shop
You also administer your husbands shop: WBEckertStudio.etsy.com
http://xanga.com/rachelsent
http://www.dreamwoven.com

Rachel: Actually I found that it was a lot easier for me to separate out the different types of things that I do. The Art For Your Head hats/Attitude Hats and Art For Your Body stuff all fit well in the DreamWoven.etsy.com shop… what didn’t work in there was the supplies or the children’s clothing… so voila’, the other shops needed to be. The BadGirlsGoToHell.etsy.com shop most definitely needed its own place… I just couldn’t reconcile selling condom cases with the Art For Your Head stuff! I’m not sure how I work it all…. But what I do know is that for most of my life I never finished a project because I was bored with it. It took quite awhile before I realized that if I had at least 9 projects going (all different kinds) that I could move from one thing to another and they would ALL get done. It’s just how I do things…..

DIYthing: Tell me about your supplies, what are must-haves for you to make your gorgeous hats?

Anything and Everything!…. If I like something I buy it. I do not need a project in mind for it. I have years and years of collecting all kinds of things that have interested me…. Yarns, buttons, fabrics, doodads, beads, paper, books, antiques, trims, tassels, belts and buckles, etc. I just make sure that I buy them if I am drawn to them.. .whatever it is. It was a great revelation for me to realize that everything I have ever bought somehow goes together and will be used at some point, somewhere down the line. But the biggest thing about having all this ’stuff’ is to have it so that I can see it. The yarns have to be out so that I can see colours and textures together, all the other things have to be readily accessible so that I can put things next to each other to see if I like the combo. If I can’t see it, I don’t use it…. So……………. You can imagine what my house looks like!!! ( Between myself and my husband (he is an artist, fine art & graphics & woodworking & photographer, etc., etc., etc.,) you can’t walk into our house without wanting to create something!!!!!!!!!

DIYthing: Have you always been such a creative?

Yes…… in one way or another… some constructive, some destructive.

DIYthing: Is DIY a movement that you feel will be around a while in the U.S. or is just a fad?

Rachel: It has always been here and I don’t believe it is going anywhere. I tend to think it is cyclic and sometimes almost disappears, only to come back stronger. I also tend to think that whenever there is political turmoil in our country, people want to get back to basics… something that they innately understand… something they can do with their hands, something that can make them feel a sense of accomplishment, a sense of a job well done… a sense of closeness with others through a mutual appreciation of things created with our own hands….. and if the political turmoil continues the way it is going in this country right now, and my theory is correct, we will be one helluva creative, DIY country soon (snicker).

DIYthing: Tell me a little about how you go about planning a design for one of your hats.

Sometimes it is something I’ve read, or something I’ve seen in nature, or a thought, a word, a sensation, something from another time or location, history…….. it could be anything really that inspires a design…. Sometimes it is just touching the fabrics/yarns/whatever and seeing where my hands take me. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t…. and that’s why I don’t do custom pieces that often of my Art For Your Head pieces….. unless I have a spot on understanding of what a customer is looking for, or an idea of what I really want something to turn out looking like, I do not go into the creation phase with an exact idea. I go in with a ’sense’ of it… and I prefer that mode of creating… so that things can change during the whole process and sometimes I am thoroughly surprised by their outcome.

DIYthing: Art For Your Head – “Bromeliad in Fog” – I love this one. Tell me about your customers – how do they find you?

Rachel: Etsy has been a great source of Promo for me…. And I’ve gotten a lot of customers from selling on there. I’ve also had my things in boutiques and that has brought me some customers as well. My website and blogs have helped out as well… but I think the biggest way that I get customers is word of mouth. I’ve also had an internet presence for about 15 years, in one form or another. Finished fiber goods have been notoriously hard to sell online mostly because a customer is unable to touch the goods. For some reason, the Art For Your Head projects haven’t been… and that may be because of their uniqueness….. but selling knit sweaters or childrens’ knit clothing is much harder….

DIYthing: Any tips for other DIY indies looking to break into selling their works?

Rachel: Yes……. I do.

..If you want to sell your works, make sure that your works are worth selling.

..Believe in what you create, without a doubt. There is no time in the business of selling your own artwork for self-doubt.

..Remember that you can not and will not be able to please every person out there. Be true to your own art.

..Alot of people can not be creative AND think like a business. If you intend to sell your art, educate yourself on how to run your business as well….

http://DreamWoven.com
http://DreamWoven.Etsy.com
http://xanga.com/rachelsent

Artists diy etsy fashion Interviews