Stories about business. Atelier of children’s textiles Life Flowers

Start
For Maria, the story of her own business began after she became a mother. Before going on maternity leave, she worked in large companies, such as Carlsberg or Lifecell. But after the appearance of the child, it became clear that it would be impossible to combine a complex work schedule with upbringing.

“A year later, I realized that I couldn’t sit at home, but physically I wouldn’t be able to go to the office either. Therefore, it was decided that I should send my creative side somewhere,” recalls Maria.

Passion for sewing appeared due to the desire to choose the best for your daughter. Maria realized that probably every mother was faced with the problem of insufficient selection of textiles for children’s sleep in stores.

Often you start shopping for something beautiful for a child, but you don’t find it, or you find it for a cosmic price.

“And then on Instagram I liked the work of one girl who made a children’s bed. I thought that something could be changed here, and something to add, change colors. And gradually, thoughts began to move in that direction,” says Maria.

Development
Maria attended courses, took individual lessons in cutting and sewing, and a couple of months later, in March 2016, an Instagram page appeared called Life Flowers.

“Our product range includes everything related to children’s sleep. For example, kits for the baby cot, protection (bumpers) for the cot, bedding, envelopes for discharge, envelopes in the stroller,” says Maria.

The main difference between Life Flowers products and mass-market products is in their unique design and individual approach to each order. Maria personally communicates with clients and together they select the best options for design, size and materials.

When factories are sewn, there are a maximum of 5 types of bedding design, and we can have as many as we want.

“There are a lot of ideas for inspiration. Having high-quality natural Polish and Korean fabrics, you can make any product. And factories will not sew for each person, or even 10 people will not,” explains Maria.

The room in which the products are sewn is in the city of Vyshneve. Remoteness from the center of the capital does not create problems for the development of Life Flowers, because 70-80% of orders are sent all over Ukraine through the delivery of Nova Poshta.

“In Kiev, we also send Nova Pishta, because the client does not always have the opportunity to come or meet. First of all, for us the speed of delivery is predominant, secondly, it is reliable, and thirdly, Nova Posta has its branches almost in all towns and cities, “says Maria.

Lecture hall
Most often, for individual orders of children’s textiles apply those girls who emphasize the appearance of the baby’s bed, his bedroom, the interior of the house as a whole. Ukrainian factories sew bed sets only for one size of a bed of a domestic manufacturer 120×60. Nevertheless, modern mothers buy linen for both round, and oval, and for cots of other sizes.

If the future mother presents in her head a picture of how the child’s bedroom will look like, then she will not find the necessary finished goods in a regular store.

“Therefore, those who recommended me often come to me. We provide options in minimalism, in monochrome, and classic with lace or ruffles,” says Maria

Team
From the first day of launching the project, Maria independently sewed all the products, communicated with customers and was engaged in purchasing. Now orders have become much more, therefore, in addition to the foundress, several seamstresses appeared in the team.

“Since we have simple tailoring, sometimes we use seamstresses at home, we take on the contract. But now I want to put together a team that could cheat on me for the holidays. I am taking orders, discussing with a client, purchasing materials, quality control and sending goods to a client, ”says Maria.

Plans
Today, Life Flowers are popular on Instagram and in various forums for young mothers. Soon it is planned to launch a full-fledged online store, which will accommodate the entire range. Individual tailoring will also remain in priority, but the most long-term goal is to open your own showroom.

“I really want to open my store so that customers can come to touch and touch all the products. I also position our current premises as a showroom, but this is not a store yet, but rather an open studio. We need to make a brand that will be recognizable. And the team would like to expand to ten people, “says Maria.