Sometimes those suggestions that pop up, “customers who bought Polyurethane Laminate also bought xyz”, can be really helpful. It was one of these suggestions that led me to the company that manufactures the fabric that I determined I need for my product. I ordered a yard of one that I thought would work and after a relatively brief wait, received it and began my sewing project. Mind you, I don’t have a sewing machine yet.
After creating a rough pattern, I carefully cut the fabric and settled in to hand-stitching my vision. I had to work on the project in shifts, using very cautious movements, during my daughter’s naps while breastfeeding, or sleep-eating. Talk about multitasking!
It took me two naps to finish hand-sewing the first (very rough) prototype. You see, I didn’t have to do this – I could have supplied a company with the pattern or drawings of my creation. But I wanted to see with my own eyes what my design would look like. I needed to know if my design would work. Once completed, feeling very accomplished, I somehow stumbled upon a description of the fabric that I had just used for my one-and-only prototype and realized that I had goofed up once again! The fabric I had used “should not be washed until it is sewn between another fabric”. This meant that as it was, my prototype could not be washed – the fabric was not meant to be used that way.
My product is not meant to be disposable and will need to be washable. Most moms will wash a product before its use with their baby anyway, but I didn’t want that to be required.
Back to the search for the perfect fabric….
Want to see how it turned out?
