The Cape Blog

The Sewing Process

This is a small snippet of when I turned my living room into a sewing shop. For two weeks, I sewed until midnight after work and even sewed all weekend to finalize The Curly Cape. This was the most nerve wracking part of the process.

I sewed five versions of the cape. The first four versions I absolutely hated because they were not functional or cute. So, after spending hours making capes I couldn’t use, I broke out in hives. It was my body reacting to the stress. I had to cover my body with Benadryl cream everyday for 3 days. I can still smell the cream now, as I talk about this.

Even though I was nervous, I was still determined to push through and finish what I started. It wasn’t until I finished the fifth version of the cape on October 4, 2019, that I knew I had something special. As a result, during the next week, I made 3 capes for my friends to test.

The Meeting

While, my friends were testing the capes, I decided to contact manufacturers hoping they could bring my vision to life. But to my surprise, the process of finding a manufacturer was harder than I thought. I contacted 5 companies but they didn’t understand the vision.

Just as I started to think that I would have to make these capes myself, I came across Suuchi, Inc. in New Jersey. Luckily, they had options for start up brands so I requested a meeting with their sales and product development team.

On October 11, 2019, I met with one of the Account Managers. To my surprise, she used to be a salon owner, understood the need for the product and was super excited to start. This further solidified my thoughts about the potential for The Curly Cape. As a result of this meeting, I signed the contract on October 31, 2019 to get started right away. I am truly thankful for their assistance and support.

Keep Working Until You Get To a Point Where You Can’t Give Up! A point where you will have to keep going because you will be too far to stop!
@_LadyLyse

This is what I told myself whenever I wanted to give up. This journey has definitely tested my faith. When I started the journey, I was at a job that I hated, then later I was laid off from that job due to budget cuts in November 2019. By the time I was laid off, I had sent a large deposit to the manufacturer, purchased the trademark and purchased the patent. I had no idea how I was going to keep moving forward without having a primary source of income to sustain the business. But, I kept telling myself “This is going to work because it has to!” – Never give up on yourself!

The Focus Group

Pictured here is my Best Friend in her cape. This was the first prototype that was tested by another person. She said, “Ok, girl, you may have got something here”. Of course, I laughed after she said that, thinking “Oh, girl, you are just saying that because you are my Best Friend”. But after she sent several pictures of her using the product I started to believe that she may be right. I am truly appreciative of having a friend like her.

Pictured here is my Line Sister and Twin (from another mother) in her cape. This was the second prototype that was tested. After I FaceTimed her to show her the cape her exact words were “Ok, so when is mine coming in the mail”. She was excited that I decided to start using my sewing skills to make a functional product. Being a Super Boss herself, she has definitely motivated me to begin my entrepreneurial journey.

Pictured here is my Line Sister and “Roll Dawg”. Since we told each other everything, I had to share the news with her as well. She immediately agreed to being apart of the focus group. Unfortunately, I was running out of fabric from sewing all the prototypes so I had to make hers two toned. When hers arrived in the mail, she said, “What! Sis about to be out here with a whole product”. I am truly thankful for her helping me to remain positive through this journey .