Weekend reading: Interns, floor plans, and pattern hacks

After about 4 years in our beloved Ford Building, we’ve decided it’s time to move.

When I first decided to move out of my kitchen, I was scared to death about the extra expense of paying rent. But I bit the bullet and got a tiny space under 400 square feet. It was oddly shaped, but south facing with a huge wall of factory windows. I couldn’t have been happier, and never regretted the decision for a moment.

After about a year and a half, I took a peek at a larger space in the building and immediately realized it was time to move up. Moving into our current headquarters allowed so much more growth. Kenn was able to start working with me and eventually become full time. I was able to hire people. We could set up different areas for sewing, design, and office space. Again, I was incredibly frightened to triple my rent, but again there have been zero regrets.

Now it’s time again. Again, I’m scared. But deep inside, I know this is the best possible decision.

The new space is in another beautiful old factory, this time with skylights, maple floors, and a lovely little kitchen. I can’t stop dreaming of all that we can do with it. One of my major goals for this year is to foster an amazing work environment, and this definitely feels like a step in the right direction.

Our move date is set for October, so I’ll be sharing more photos and stories of the set-up process later on. But for now, I’ll just keep sketching floorplans and pinning dreamy photos.

Weekend Reading:

• It’s true, kindness really is NOT a joke.

• Fashion Incubator gives some tips on taking better photos for fittings.

• This week on Snippets, we talked about making use of your selvage. If you’re not already subscribed, you can get Snippets here.

• 9 summer pattern hacks on Craftsy, featuring some of your favorite indie designers.

• One thing we’re thinking about doing when we have more space is starting a (paid) internship program. I don’t think all unpaid internships are exploitative, but I agree that many are.

• Don’t forget to shop our clearance section! Some of the stock is getting low, but we found just a few more Chantilly patterns yesterday.

For more links every week, you can follow me on Twitter, where I’m always posting interesting tidbits I find.

image above via colettepatterns on instagram