India, here we go again!

January 31, 2014

Bangalore image Ranganath   c.1880's PHOTO INDIA CHAR MINAH HYDRABAD JOHNSTON Nizam's procession in Old Hyderabad I need to be honest with you, it's been a year since I've been back to India and I return this time with mixed feelings. The last time we left with utter sadness because the sewing development we hoped to start was not ready to take their business to the export quality that we needed for our market. We are still happy to hear that they are doing local projects for the school and are trying to be self-sustaining. I needed a break to retool, meditate and pray to see what our next steps would be. We've come a long way since then. We've launched our line of Stitched Wonder Blankets, we are in 6 stores (and counting!) and we will be doing our first tradeshow in NYC in March. It's all happening so incredibly fast and I can't wait to see where this year will take us. This Tuesday we will be back in India doing more development work with our new sewing unit in Dharmapuri. Flowering Desert works with marginalized women that have suffered some form of mistreatment from society and need a safe place to heal. They are the craftsman that have made the Stitched Wonder blankets. This series took us 6 months to R&D and get to the final product that you see now in our shops. There were many iterations of designs and quality checks, from the embroidery colors, to the tags, to the bags that our blankets come with. Each component is carefully scrutinized for the best quality. My standard is if I don't love it, nothing goes out. Your purchase empowers these women with a way out of poverty! We will also be heading to Hyderabad to vett and develop another potential sewing center. They work with empowering women counselors to go back into the slums and give women support who have suffered from domestic violence. I'm excited to see what new and potential goods we can make with these ladies. What new goods would you like to see in the EllieFunDay shop?


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