Confession time: Over the last month I've had to deal with morning sickness (yup, Hip Violet is expanding by 1 come June!), a flu epidemic in our house (which my dear husband never even caught - LUCKER!), going on vacation over the holidays, and now... wondering if I'll still be in business in a month!
See, there is this lovely new law on the books that takes effect February 10 which, as it is worded currently, will put Hip Violet and most small businesses out of business for good. The law states that all items made for children under 12 years old must be lead tested. Which, as a mom of a 2 year old who still puts everything in her mouth, should make me ECSTATIC. Believe me, anything to make toys and clothing more safe for our kids, the better. But they kind of forgot about us "little people". See, to lead test ONE item costs upwards of $500. Each. Thus if I tested each of my bibs (each unique item must be tested) I would be out $486 per bib. Hm. The math just doesn't seem to add up to me! :)
Here are some great links on the subject if you'd like more information:
http://www.etsy.com/storque/craftivism/cpsia-updates-and-calls-to-action-3157/
http://nationalbankruptcyday.com/
The sad thing is that this law is retroactive. And covers EVERYTHING. That means that kids consignment shops would have to test each article of clothing that comes through their doors. So would thrift stores. Which really means that all kids consignment stores and the kids sections of all your favorite second hand stores would be GONE. There is no way they could afford to test. And in this economy when consignment shops and thrift stores are the busiest they've ever been, it just doesn't make sense.
What can you do? You can write to your senators and representatives and ask them to SAVE HANDMADE! Save the small businesses, the LOCAL businesses, the mom's who sew and knit and create awesome unique products that you can't find at Target or WalMart.
*whew* off my soap box.
So needless to say, my sewing has slowed down a bit. Now call me crazy, but I really do believe that they'll see the error of their ways and see what a huge mistake the very broad wording of the law was. In fact, there is already some "talk" that this is true. So I'm not announcing a store-closing yet (not when I just was getting off my feet, no sir-ee!), and even if the testing DOES need to be done, guess what? I just bought 14 adult sized t-shrits today and their in the wash right now ready to be appliqued for my adult fans :) Stay tuned!
But, I'm still sewing. In fact, I just listed a bunch of new bibs, shirts (including girls sizes!) and onesies on my site. Here is my latest edition, and currently my favorite bib to date:
AND I've even been coming up with some new funky appliques. Like this monster, for instance. Who say's BOYS get all the fun of monsters? Look for more monster bibs, shirts and onesies on HipViolet coming soon!
I also got this great new set of fabric this is my new favorite. So I made two bibs out of it yesterday. They are both available on my site!
I'll keep you all updated on how things go with the CPSIA law, but in the mean time this is a GREAT time to buy handmade... it may be the last time you can!Have a great day!
jesi
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