A Realistic No

The above 'rat's nest' is actually more organized than it looks.  The weave structure is Diversified Plain Weave (click on the label for more on that) and the pressure is on to clear this warp off the loom.

My prospective client emailed this morning expressing interest in a 'sample' order.  She had originally contacted me because she was looking for a very specific cloth for a huge national corporation with a very recognizable logo.  When she sent the spec sheet this morning, I immediately saw that the requirement was going to be creating a cloth with precisely the colours in their logo.  And I knew that I could not guarantee being able to source the yarns needed in those very specific colours.

I also knew the time frame for my client to supply their product to the corporation and, given my jam packed schedule for the next 9 months, that I could not guarantee being able to provide 200 meters of such cloth for my client to manufacture their goods in time for delivery to the corporation.

Immediately I sent an email saying that I could not provide them with the fabric.

During the 9 or so years I wove for the fashion designer in Vancouver (BC) I learned that a realistic "No, I can't do that" was much better received than an unrealistic "yes" and a subsequent failure to deliver.

I confess that being able to weave the fabric for the giant corporation's product would have been an gi-normous feather in my cap.  Brand recognition alone would have been - well, huge.  That I had woven the fabric for that product, on sale across the nation?  Priceless.

Failing to supply the cloth in a timely fashion?  Worse than devastating.  Much better to honestly admit that I would not be able to do it.

In the end, the designer was disappointed but went ahead with a request to work with me to develop other designs for their 'ordinary' lines.  In the end, I think we'll both be a lot happier.

This afternoon I placed an order for yarn based on the samples I sent, yarn that I can use for tea towels if nothing comes of this.   The yarn will have arrived by the time I get home from my trip, but the loom has to be cleared off and the only sane way to do that is to get the samples for AGY: Rayon woven!  So I started threading and got about half way before stopping for dinner.

Doug and I talked this morning before he left for work and he says he is willing to take on the pressing.  He used to press the placemats/table runners we sold all over western Canada so I don't think he'll have any difficulty working with Puff.  :)

Sooooo - in the end I am happy I didn't get rid of Puff as it looks like the steam press is going to - potentially - if the designer likes my cloth, if I can weave the quality she needs for her product - be a very welcome tool in terms of wet finishing many yards of raw materials for someone else to sew up.

So many 'if's'.  But, nothing ventured, nothing gained!