Aug 09 Ribbon Colors Matching Gymboree’s All About Buttons

If you have a better ribbon color match for Gymboree’s All About Buttons line, please post a comment with your thoughts – I’d be especially thrilled to have an exact match for Gymbo’s Pink Pizzazz and Moss Green!  Also, feel free to comment with a link to your M2M All About Buttons hair bows or accessories incorporating these colors – I’d love to see your designs.

Nearly extinct. Add Yours.

If you make or sell products that are negatively impacted by the CPSIA, like me, you are probably tired of writing to your Congressional representatives blogging, tweeting and generally informing the public of what a disaster the CPSIA is for fans of all things handmade and second-hand.  Let’s face it, it sucks to be the bearer of bad news, and it can be exhausting (rather like beating your head against a wall) to interact with public officials.  I’m not saying we can abandon all that, but here is a welcome change of venue, courtesy of Colleen Jamison at www.TheNaturalToyBox.com:

Email Colleen (see her website above for contact info, or find her at Twitter: @naturaltoybox) a photo of a product you make, sell or buy (yes, you can participate as a consumer) that cannot survive the CPSIA in its current form and will therefore soon be extinct.  Include a paragraph or two (or a link to it) about the impact of the CPSIA on you, your household or your business.  Every day, Colleen will feature a soon-to-be-extinct product via Twitter, and the group of products and stories will be compiled as a powerfully moving message to lawmakers and the still largely unaware public.

Please take a few minutes to email Colleen your story and product.  I sent her a link to this page.

Here is a photo of one of my formerly best-selling hair bows.  Imagine the testing cost for all the various ribbon types in this one bow design.  Multiply that by hundreds of designs, most available in three to five different sizes, and each of those available attached to a wide variety of clips, barrettes and pony elastics.  The possible iterations are endless.  Customization, luxurious detail, and a continually growing product offering (based on seasonal fashion trends) were all hallmarks of my business, and are all reasons it is impossible for me to comply with CPSIA testing, certification and labeling regulations.

This excerpt from my February 2009 letter to President Obama describes my situation:

I have had to close my hair accessory business because testing is simply not an attainable option for a small producer of custom products. Congress has made it painfully clear how expendable and insignificant they consider my plight through their profound lack of response to my repeated requests for CPSIA reform. But I believe my situation is representative of thousands, and worth a closer look.

If family integrity is revered at all, the entrepreneurial efforts of mothers providing their families with needed income while home caring for their children should be valued and encouraged, not ignored, disparaged, or regulated out of existence. And it goes well beyond moms like me, working from home. My local consignment shop, a 26 year old family business, has stopped selling children’s items – previously the largest portion of their sales. I’m afraid to sell my own kids’ outgrown clothing, which typically funds their next year’s wardrobe. Our school district and local library are biting their nails, waiting, hoping for reasonable reform before the stay of enforcement expires. Even many domestic manufacturers far larger than myself can’t afford to comply with testing requirements and are on the brink of collapse. Personally, I have lost my disposable income, and with it, my ability to stimulate the local economy. Multiply these experiences by tens of thousands across the country.

And while businesses hobble along, crippled by the CPSIA, close up completely, or operate unknowingly in violation (risking significant liability) Congress deflects responsibility and plays politics with the CPSC. The complete unwillingness of Democratic lawmakers to even concede there is more to the story than big business vs. children’s safety is excruciatingly disheartening to me as a liberal, forsaken by my own party.

The complete letter is here.  A week or two ago (about 4 months after sending this letter to the President) I received a card from the White House in response.  It thanked me for communicating with the President, but made clear that no one had read my letter yet, as they are very busy.

Thanks Colleen, for your work to amend the CPSIA.  It will obviously require a continued and tireless effort on all our parts.

No Perfect Color Match?

Lots of designers are happy working with a limited palette and using the best color that they have on hand for their accessories.  This is a perfectly rational approach.  For better or worse, I am just not wired that way.  I want my custom, made-to-match accessories to really match.  I will go to great lengths to achieve this.  From a business perspective, you need to weigh your approach: customers love perfection, but how much are they willing to pay for it?  I often spend way too much time hunting down the just-right ric-rac and perfect embroidery floss – time I will never be adequately compensated for.  Find the right balance for you and your customers.  If you are crafting for yourself – your opinion is the only one that matters – anything goes!

I love a true color match, but it isn’t always easy, so here are some tricks to consider:

• First, check both Schiff and Offray brand grosgrain for a close match.  Don’t forget to check out their retired colors, many are still readily available through resellers.  (Tip: If you only stock one brand, at least buy a color chart for the opposite brand, so that you can compare the colors and find the best alternative within your stock).
• Check stripes, prints and dots if there isn’t a perfect solid.
• If you are insistent on grosgrain, consider one that isn’t 100% polyester.  Schiff makes grosgrain ribbon in a Rayon/Cotton blend (their Pattern #705) that is available in different shades.  Keep in mind, though, that these grosgrains have more sheen, and perform differently, too.  For example, you cannot use heat to seal them (they don’t melt like polyester) and they do not hold up as well to water.  They are still a good choice for, say, a bow center.
• Try taffeta, velvet or ruffle ribbon if grosgrains fail you.
• Try other trims to bring in the difficult color – ric-rac, lace, rosettes, buttons, flowers, marabou, heat transfers and other embellishments often do the trick.  (Stick to items intended for apparel, as these will meet flammability regulations.)
• Consider buying another item in the same or similar fabric as your outfit, and using the fabric in your accessory design.

When all else fails:

• Use a few similar shades next to each other, so that visually they produce the desired color effect.
• Layer a sheer ribbon over a grosgrain (appropriate for dressier designs).
• Limit the difficult color to only a small portion of the product if no good match is found (like the center knot on a bow).
• If debating between two close, but not perfect colors, go with the more muted, or softer color.  A color that is close but too bright/harsh will tend to clash or stand out, while a softer color is more likely to blend, and the imperfect match go unnoticed.

See a few examples of these techniques below:

May 09 Ribbon Colors Matching Gymboree’s Mermaid Magic

FREE Hair Bow Pattern: M2M Hanna’s Whispering Meadows

This bow is designed to match the soft, breezy colors of Hanna Andersson's 2009 Whispering Meadows collection. The colors may be sweet, the the size is sassy! This bow is an X-Large (about 6" wide) and looks amazing in a big, high ponytail! Have fun making it, or swapping out ribbons to complement your favorite outfit.

Here’s my pattern:

For the bottom layer, cut 6.5” lengths of each:

• White grosgrain 2.25” wide
• S Banana dot grosgrain 1.5″ wide
• S Pink grosgrain 2.25” wide (cut 2)
• S Lt Blue grosgrain 1.5” wide (cut 2)
• S Celadon/Hot Pink dot grosgrain 7/8″ wide (cut 2)

For the second layer, cut 27” lengths of each:

• S Hot Pink grosgrain 2.25” wide
• S Pink dot grosgrain 7/8” wide

For the third layer, cut 5.5” lengths of each:

• S Banana dot grosgrain 1.5” wide (cut 2)
• S Sea Mist grosgrain 1.5” wide

For the fourth and top layer, cut a 21” length of:

• S Lt Blue grosgrain 7/8″ wide

Tie the center knot with 3/8” Pink/Hot Pink lollipop stripe grosgrain ribbon.

Color help:
S = Schiff brand grosgrain ribbon
O = Offray brand grosgrain ribbon

Need help?  Post a comment and ask away. Need a pattern for a different style bow, or to match another line?  Let me know.

Check back soon for comprehensive lists of ribbon colors matching Gymboree and Hanna Andersson collections – I’m working on adding them now!

FREE Bow Pattern: Medium M2MG Flower Garden Easter Bow

Try this pretty bow on for size! I designed this Medium (3.5” wide) bow to match Gymboree’s 2009 Flower Garden/Easter collection. You can make it too, in plenty of time for Easter. Planning on an Easter bonnet? Clip the bow to your bonnet and make it the perfect coordinating Easter accessory! Here’s my pattern:

For the bottom layer, cut 18” lengths of each:

• Turquoise ruffle ribbon 1.5” wide
• White grosgrain 7/8” wide
• S Blueberry grosgrain 5/8” wide

For the middle layer accents, cut 4” of each:

• O Lemongrass/White stripe grosgrain1.5” wide
• S Apple dot grosgrain 3/8” wide
• S Hot Pink grosgrain 7/8” wide (x2)
• Navy stripe grosgrain 3/8” wide (x2)
• O Navajo Turquoise grosgrain 5/8” wide
• S Apple grosgrain 5/8” wide

For the top layer, cut 17” of each:

• S Hot Pink grosgrain 5/8” wide
• O Pink Swiss dot grosgrain 5/8” wide

Tie the center knot with 3/8” Navajo Turquoise dot grosgrain ribbon.

Color help:
S = Schiff brand grosgrain ribbon
O = Offray brand grosgrain ribbon

Have fun and feel free to email me any questions/comments!

How to Make Ribbon Rose Accessories

I’ve recently been making ribbon flowers. It started with the daisies I made to match Gymboree’s Daisy Days collection. Fun! That got me thinking about how prevalent floral prints are in children’s apparel (especially our pretty Hannas!) and I figured I should learn to make more types of flowers. When a client asked me to make a bow to match a sweet blue floral dress, I jumped at the chance to experiment with roses. Here’s what I came up with:And here’s what I learned. There are tons of free “how to make a ribbon rose” instructions on the web, so I have no intention of rewriting them. I found at least three distinctly different approaches. I tried two of them so far.

Feb 09 Ribbon Colors Matching Gymboree’s Flower Garden

Yes, it’s true, my store is closed.

• My Congressional Reps
• Waxman and his posse: Rush, Rockefeller and Pryor
• Nancy Nord
• Senator DeMint to ask that he keep pushing his reform bill (I still can’t believe I share any political common ground with Jim DeMint – hey you just never know)
• All 18 members of the board at Consumers Union to let them know I canceled my subscription to Consumer Reports because of their continued support of the obviously flawed CPSIA (Yeah, I know, they’ll be crushed. Interesting to note, however, that among the board members is none other than Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist. He seems like a good guy, and surely he can appreciate the value of the used goods market? Will Craigslist grow as mamas with loads of outgrown banned hazardous childrens clothing fear selling ‘out in the open’ on eBay?)

Tip: Tack Layers for Easy Assembly

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