Goal Accomplished

I set out last week to make enough bibs to send out for more testing and I'm proud to say, I did just that. A girlfriend recommended that I make one out of microfiber. I thought that was genius! Microfiber has become such a popular fabric of choice these days, mostly for cleaning I think. Personally, I've never used one and I'm a little skeptical about its absorbency because it's so thin. Apparently, it's supposed to be even more absorbent than terry cloth. It is super soft and supple however. I guess we'll just wait and see.

Another friend brought up a very interesting point. She suggested that I include some sort of safety disclaimer when sending my bibs out for testing. I wonder if all other bibs have disclaimers? I'd better check on my next trip down the baby aisle at Target. It would really suck if I got blamed for some moron who chokes their kid with my bibs so I'd better find out more about this.

2 weeks ago, I posted an announcement on WAHM.com, to basically share the inspiration behind the creation of the bib and to ask for testers. Days went by and nobody responded so I was kind of disappointed but today, I got a response! A mom of twins shares my dilemna and wants samples! I'm so excited! This is progress!

I have 5 more requests for samples and I'm out of supplies so the goal for this week will be to do some shopping, hit the sewing machine and crank out some more bibs by Sunday night!

Working on the prototype still

After I received some really, really great feedback from my girlfriends, I updated my prototype again. I've lost count on how many prototypes I've gone through by now. Oh well. It's a process and I haven't given myself a deadline or any sort of time line. Who needs the added stress?

My friends have been sharing the Sammie Bib with their friends and the response has been good. They'd all like samples and that gets me really excited! I even created a professional survey for them to fill out online through surveymonkey.com. (it's free!)

So I've enlarged the bib quite a bit because it completely didn't even occur to me that terry cloth shrinks...a lot. I did receive good points for absorbancy and strechyness. I'm also experimenting with a different type of fabric. It's supposed to be even more absorbent than terry cloth but a hell of a lot thinner, which will be much easier to work with. After cutting through so much terry cloth and suffering from a cramped hand, I decided to take the plunge and invest in a better pair of scissors. I am in business after all. I think I've been putting up with the same crappy scissors for over 10 years now. So I went out and bought a pretty nice, heavy duty one. It even has a spring so you don't have to exert any energy to open it! I love it.

I was doing more research online and found some companies that will cut fabric for you from your pattern. Autometrix will charge me about $50 for 100 cut outs. Sounds reasonable, I guess. Pinning the pattern down and then cutting it out is the most time consuming part. There are also companies that will customize your label/tag. I guess I'd better come up with a neat logo.

Tonight, I cut out a bunch of bibs so the plan for this week will be to sew them up and send them out for more testing.

Starting Out

When my daughter, Sammie, was an infant, drool and milk would dribble down her chin and collect in the folds of her neck. Unless I was diligent about cleaning it, her neck would smell and sometimes develop into a rash! Traditional bibs didn't work because the collar would merely rest on her chest. So I made my own bib using terry cloth and a bit of elastic, creating a snug fit under her chin. Guess what? It worked! Some of my girlfriends are having babies now and are experiencing the same issues with their babies. So with their encouragement, I decided to try and get my product out to the market place.

I'm making 2 versions of the Sammie Bib. That's what I'm calling it now since Sammie did inspire its creation. It was originally called Dribble Bibble but unfortunately, that's taken. Then I thought of Giggles 'n Bibbles but I think that's too cutesy for my taste personally. One version will be for infants. The other will be for toddlers and will have a longer front, to cover more of the chest area.

The first thing I did was make a prototype. I sent them out to a couple of girlfriends. The feedback was positive. I'll have to tweak my design here and there but I'm pretty happy with my bib. I'm planning on sending out more sample bibs to friends and friends' of friends. The idea is to get them to share this wonderful product with every mom they encounter. As a mom, whenever I come across an awesome gadget, I always share it with my mom friends. So I'm hoping the same goes for everyone else. Another way I'm trying to get the word out is through mommy message boards. I posted on 2 message boards so far, basically putting out feelers and offering free samples but nobody has replied yet. So if you're reading this and want to see if this bib really works ('cuz it really does), let me know and I'll send you one.