Designed by me... Parisian Scarves!

Silk chiffon scarf approx 1x2 metres.

I am really thrilled to be sharing my new creations with you. I have been working on these for what seems like a year and finally it has happened!

I present my Parisian Scarves! Using digitally printed images from my antique Parisian postcard collection, I have created a range of scarves. The fabrics I have chosen are silk chiffon (it's a nice, weighty one), a simple cotton voile and a very soft 85%wool/%15 silk blend stole. There's also a modal fabric stole that I am currently waiting on.
 

So why has it taken so long and what and I going to do with them?

Well, I have been trying to source a printer for such a long time. Spoonflower in the US is great, but the fabrics do not print through to the reverse, making them unsuitable for scarves. There's a printer in Australia but when I investigated with them, they did not print on scarf fabrics, plus their higher costs would have made it very difficult for me to make a dollar from selling them (though I would have loved to have sourced locally). I found another in the UK whose fabrics looked good, but the costs were just beyond my means. Then, earlier in the year I spoke with a scarf designer at the Finder's Keepers Market in Melbourne and she suggested India as a place to look. So, tonnes of emails to different companies later, I found one (a family business) with reasonable pricing, good communication who could offer a range of fabrics that I desired. Yay!! I took the plunge, sent off my massive image files and waited for my parcel to be couriered to me just a week later!

Cotton voile approx 1x2 metres

Cotton voile approx 1x1 metres - more of a necktie style

And I'm really happy. I had a couple of samples of the wool/silk stole printed, though as these are ready-made they are much more costly, I think they're worth it. The other fabric I had printed in lengths that I have cut into a couple of different sizes and hemmed the edges myself.

Sorry about the creases! This is my (almost) square Eiffel scene in cotton voile.

I am going to present these at a local design market this coming Sunday, but have to admit, I'm rather shy to put these new goodies out there. What if no-one likes them? How do I price them so they are affordable, but make me a little money (so I can get more designs printed)? When I look at stores in the city, like Country Road that sells their scarves for around $60 or more, I think that a similar price for my scarves must be reasonable as they're much more exclusive! I'd like to get them up on Etsy as well, but I'll wait until after the market.

As usual, I'd love your thoughts and feedback here :)

xx