Since I own my house, I though I could make enough money to live on with a small home based business. First I made lamps but quickly found out I would have to sell them for a lot of money: they would have to be a work of art to pay that much but they weren’t. They were very nice but not worth hundreds of dollars.
One day I read an article about the ‘comeback’ of aprons. It featured Sugar Baby Aprons. They created a new image to make them popular again.
That clicked right away because I always use an apron and wonder why they went out of style. They are practical, not stylish. I really think it has something to do with the disdain for domesticity that happened around the 1960’s. Aprons represented an image women didn’t want anymore…… so they stained their clothing when they cooked.
I started Monica’s Aprons. (You can like me on Facebook)
https://www.facebook.com/monicas.aprons?ref=br_rs
The best part was buying fabric and patterns. Anyone who sews nowadays knows that it’s actually more expensive to make something than buy it already made; nice fabric is expensive and cheap fabric is too ugly for anyone to want. I looked for sales and deals wherever I could. I bought tablecloths at thrift shops.
It started out pretty good but once my friends, family and their friends had all the aprons they needed, sales slowed down. I’ve had some orders on-line from Facebook and Etsy but I discovered I would have to make more aprons than I could physically make to pay the bills. I would have to be at my sewing machine day and night trying to get at least one a day done. That’s if I could get enough customers.
At this age I don’t have the drive or the stamina to work long hours and keep a house. It’s really hard to work at home when you always have something else to do first. By the late afternoon I’m tired; get cranky, testy and make mistakes.
When I saw aprons for $9.00 at the grocery store made with as nice fabric as I can buy; made in China, I knew it was time to give up.
In comparison; working part time, 3 or 4 days a week covers my bills and eases anxiety immensely. This means far less hot-flashing.
But when I look at my pile of fabric worth hundreds of dollars, I feel dejected. Even more than when I look at all the lamp parts and lampshade skeletons I have.
Working for yourself is not easy!
In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “The Object of My Dejection.”
monicle's chronicles 