Kickstarter

I'm thrilled to report that ALL the purses are done!  I am spending the day photographing the last of them and packing them up.  The last of the group should ship in the next 48 hours.

Thanks you all so very much for your support in getting this line off the ground!!   I was amazed, and I'll admit a bit overwhelmed by the number of pre-orders I received.  I set up this Kickstarter project for 21 days figuring I would  sell 10 or 15 bags which would fund the manufacture of all the hardware.  When I hit the $1000 mark in under 24 hours I was thrilled, when the orders topped 10 then 15 and 20 I started to get nervous.  LOL  As you may or may not know, with Kickstarter you can't end early or go late, so I just rode the wave :) 

When this project ended I had well over 40 purses to make.  Despite what some people think or "suspect" I do indeed make every single purse myself start to finish!  It's actually kind of a compliment when I have people question the truth behind my bags being 100% handmade.  Anyhow, at 6 hours per purse plus time spent ordering and waiting for all the materials to arrive, dealing with the inevitable problems here and there...  etc. It took longer than I had hoped to get them all done.  But, the positive feedback I've received from those of you who have already received your purses has been wonderful!  And, I'm feeling really great about the future of this line.  

So, thank you all again so much for taking this leap of faith with me.  I hope you all feel your purses have been worth the wait.  And a special thank you to those of you who's purses were in the later groups sent out.

With much appreciation,

Melissa Lewis 

Haut Totes, one woman sweatshop :)   http://www.etsy.com/shop/HautTotes                                                                                                                           

PS.  I ship Priority mail so if you don't have your purse yet and you are in the US you should have it no later than early next week.  If you are overseas it will be a few days longer.  Most of the bags I ship internationally take about 7 days to arrive.  The only exception to this that I have found is Canada.  Unfortunately shipping to Canada can be quite slow, and with the recent Canadian postal strike I've had customers tell me packages are taking longer than usual. 

Hi everyone,

Wanted to let you know that keys shipped today to everyone who filled out the questionnaire about which finish you wanted.   This only applies to people who just got keys, if you got a purse, your keys will ship with the purse.

If you haven't returned the questionnaire please do so as soon as you are able.  Without that filled out, I don't have your address or know which key(s) you want. 

I hope you all LOVE the keys!! 

Thanks again for your support :)

Melissa 

PS. I am going to be hosting a contest in the next month or so to showcase what you've all made with the keys, so take pictures!!  You can post them on my FB page https://www.facebook.com/HautTotes and if you have made something with the keys that you are selling, feel free to post the link to your Etsy (or other shop) listing to the item you are selling that has my key in it.

Hey Everyone,

This project finalized 5 days ago, so I thought I'd give you all an update on where things are at the moment. 

As you know one of the main reasons I launched my new line like this was so that I could cover the cost of the custom hardware I was having manufactured with pre-orders.  All of the purses pictured were made with 10" kisslock frames, which is a pretty standard size.  But for some reason they seemed just a bit too small and making something with a standard size makes WAY too much sense!  I also really, really, really wanted to be able to offer gunmetal as a choice!

So, I spent the 7 weeks before I launched my new line finding a manufacturer who would not only make me custom sized kisslock frames, but make them in gunmetal finish as well, AND make purse feet and the handle hardware in the same finish.  This involved a lot of late nights emailing and instant messaging people in China.

That process prompted me to bang my head occasionally and wonder "Why don't I just put a zippered top on these purses and call them good enough!"  

In the end it all paid off and I found a great manufacturer who could make me what I wanted.  All I had to do was order a minimum of 300 frames in each finish.  LOL  I took a gamble that this line would be successful and wired them an arm and a leg, and launched my line!

I know it's kinda silly, but I got this picture and was totally excited and wanted to share it.  In these 5 boxes are 183 pounds of purse bits!  The boxes have been having a great time, they flew to Hong Kong, from there they were off to Paris, after Paris they flew on to the sightseeing capitol of the US, Yep, you guessed it New Jersey.  After spending a few quality hours in New Jersey they went on to Memphis TN where they stopped for customs check. 

After chatting with the Fed Ex international shipment clearance people several times trying to explain that the boxes weren't filled with purses, but purse parts.  And, no the metals used in the purse parts weren't gold, silver or platinum!? (Why they didn't just open the boxes and look, I don't know...) It was decided that the shipment was ok and it was on it's merry way.  According to my obsessive tracking, the boxes are now in Reno and should be delivered to me next week!  I am totally excited, and a bit nervous.

One of the quirky bits with taking pre-orders through Kickstarter is that I knew how many purses and or keys would be purchased, but not which design!  So, I've spent the last few days gathering information about which purse design, handle length and metal finish people want and ordering fabric.  I've also spent a lot of time formatting image files for the fabric printer for all the bags with custom text, as those have to be done individually.

If you've answered your questionnaires I have your choices and mailing address.  Meaning that the fabric for your purses is being printed, or if you just ordered keys, meaning that I them packed for shipping as soon as payment to me clears.  If you haven't answered the questionnaire you got from me, please do so as soon as you get a chance.

I expect the frames in the next week, and the first of the purse fabric next week as well.  As long as everything arrives on schedule and the quality looks good the first bags should start shipping in 2 weeks.  I received over 40 purse orders which is about 200 hours of sewing!  That is just sewing time, add in cutting, pinning, packing, shipping, etc. My plan is to pull 4 extremely long weeks and try and have all the purses shipped by the end of May. 

I'll be sending updates along the way, but as usual if you have any questions, comments or concerns feel free to contact me!

Thanks again for supporting my new line!

Melissa Lewis

hauttotes@sbcglobal.net