My day starts with: “My son jumping on me to get out of bed (he’s the best alarm clock.) I get my son ready for school and then head off to the studio. If I’m lucky I try to hit the gym, but as all working moms know, making time for yourself is often difficult.”
I fell in love with making and selling goods when: “I made my first pair of leggings for my son. Like so many other moms out there, after having my son in 2012, I was faced with the daunting prospect of going back to work. As much as I had previously loved the thrill and excitement of my 60 hour-a-week fashion career–with the daily hour-long commute to boot–I was NOT looking forward to jumping back into that particular grind after my maternity leave ended. So I quit. If you would have asked me then what I would be doing four years later I could have never imagined what Ollie Jones has become.”
When I’m in my studio/workplace, I feel: “A mixture of stress, freedom, happiness and anxiety all wrapped up inside of me. Since Ollie Jones grew so fast, every day brings new challenges, excitement and opportunities so there is never a dull moment.”
Who or what influences or inspires your work and why? “Since Ollie Jones was created for my son, he continues to inspire me daily. Each collection I release has special meaning to him and me, and he’s often my best and worst critic.”
I love working with Spoonflower because: “I love the fact that something I created on my computer comes to life on fabric. My favourite day of each season is the day the Spoonflower box arrives with our fabric samples for the season. We all crowd around the box and unwrap each fabric like it was Christmas.”
I’m most proud of my projects featuring: “Spoonflower’s Sport Lycra. We just launched our swimwear collection this year, and I’m in love with each and every piece.”
If I had to wear the same thing every day: “I would wear skinny jeans, a white tee shirt and a cool hat. You would think someone that’s been in the fashion industry for over 25 years would have a better answer to that question!”
Before starting a small business, I wish someone had told me: “That doing what you love and making a business doing what you love are not the same thing. The “business” part has (nearly) nothing to do with doing what you love and requires a completely new set of skills and traits.”
My favorite Spoonflower textile to work with is: “Organic Cotton Knit Ultra because it’s super easy to work with, soft to the touch and doesn’t fade.”
How many of us have felt like making the leap and starting our own business? Thanks to success stories and great advice from makers like Cheryl, the list continues to grow! We loved putting together this sneak peek of highlights from her upcoming Spring 2017 collection. Now if you’ll excuse us, we have to return to seriously swooning over those adorable swimsuits.
I need to sign-up for your newsletter. I’m a photographer and want to see what is possible to do with my photographs Thanks, Yvonne
Please do sign up! You can do so on our blog in the upper right corner. We have lots of great tips and tutorials for using photographs. Have you seen this post? https://blog.spoonflower.com/diy-photo-to-fabric-projects/