Chapter 93: It's always unsettling when pre-sale preparations don't translate into money. ...
Dong Xinghua quickly modified the cardboard. Xu Heye took a look at it and had some new ideas in his mind.
But there is no rush. They can sell these two products first. When these two products are no longer selling or imitations appear on the market, she can bring out the new ideas in her mind.
“Now make the sample.”
Dong Fuyun poured the two bags of rags they had dragged over onto the oilcloth. Xu Heye rummaged through them and picked out a few pieces of fabric.
"Aunt, look at these pieces of fabric. There are white, blue, pink, and small floral patterns. I suggest making the first two colors into pointed ones. The blue and white colors are very suitable for both men and women.
A pink one with pointed corners is fine, too. While it's a bit feminine, it's not uncommon for men to wear pink shirts. The only difference is that this last piece of floral fabric, while gentle, cute, and refreshing, isn't well-suited for pointed corners. And this one, with its lace trim, is clearly a woman's material, so it's suitable for a rounded faux collar.
"When you're making it, you need to pay a little attention to this. You need to cut it into different patterns according to the color and material of the fabric."
Dong Xinghua nodded: "Don't worry, Heye, I will pay attention to it."
"By the way, these scraps of fabric come in different sizes, so not all of them can be made into a fake collar. If you don't have enough fabric and need to piece them together, be sure to pay attention to the matching."
"A good match is beautiful, a bad match is a disaster. Generally speaking, there are some techniques for color matching, which can be summed up as light against dark, light against dark, and floral against plain."
"But that doesn't mean everything will look good if you match them according to this rule. For example..." Xu Heye said, picking out two pieces of cloth, "dark blue and orange don't go together at all."
"Also, highly saturated bright colors shouldn't be paired together. Take this fluorescent pink and lemon yellow; it's too eye-catching. Two dark colors aren't a good match either. Look at this: one dark purple, the other dark green—it's too dull. And don't wear anything but florals. Putting two floral fabrics together will look exaggerated and cluttered, without layers."
"In short, all combinations need to follow the principle of harmony but difference. There should be differences, but they should be harmonious and not abrupt."
Hearing this, Dong Xinghua was a little confused. On the contrary, Huang Wangcheng's eyes flickered, as if he was thinking about something.
"If that doesn't work, you can pick out the big pieces of cloth first and keep the small pieces. Once you've finished the big pieces, you can make the small pieces."
Xu Heye figured she could come every night to help with the matching. She still had about ten days before her final exams, so once they were over, she could devote herself to this endeavor.
Dong Xinghua was unsure, but heaved a sigh of relief when she heard this: "Then let's do as you say, He Ye."
"Aunt, to improve efficiency, you have to divide the work tomorrow. Someone will be responsible for selecting the fabric, someone for cutting, someone for sewing, someone for buttoning, and someone for ironing. Each person should only be responsible for one step, so that they can be more proficient."
As Xu Heye was speaking, Huang Wangcheng took a few pieces of fabric, matched them one by one, and placed them in front of Xu Heye: "Little niece, do you think these combinations are okay?"
Xu Heye took a look and found that Huang Wangcheng really had a sense of fashion.
The combinations he chose are all very classic, perfectly absorbing Xu Heye's different matching principles.
These combinations are all about matching florals with solid colors. The auxiliary materials are selected according to the color and print of the main material. If the main material is pink floral, the auxiliary materials are plain pink materials of the same color. If the main material is solid color, the auxiliary materials are floral fabrics of the same color as the main material.
Put together, they are different yet the same, harmonious and harmonious.
Xu Heye said in surprise, "Uncle Huang, you are really amazing. I think I'll leave the selection of materials and matching to you."
Huang Wangcheng did not refuse: "Okay, then I will be responsible for selecting the right materials and matching them."
My aunt must be responsible for sewing. Xu Heye looked at Dong Fuyun, Liu Tong, Cheng Zijun and Lu Jun.
"Uncle, Uncle Liu, Uncle Cheng, and Uncle Lu, the four of you should each choose one person to cut, one to sew buttons, and one to iron. Whoever is too busy will help."
The four of them looked at each other, and they didn't know what they were suitable for.
Dong Xinghua said, "Since you don't know what you can do, let's try them one by one."
She found a few pieces of cloth from the pile of scraps and handed them to the four people. She pointed to the cardboard for the fake collars and said, "Each of you cut out a set of fake collars."
It is not difficult to cut according to the cardboard, but it requires a lot of skills. You need to have steady hands and use the scissors skillfully. The lines of the cut fabric should be straight and not crooked or out of shape.
The four of them took turns trying to cut, and finally found that Dong Fuyun and Liu Tong had the steadiest hands. They were responsible for cutting, one cutting the square corners and the other cutting the rounded corners.
Cheng Zijun was left to sew the buttons, while Lü Jun did the ironing. Ironing was not an easy task either; there was no electric iron, so they had to use the old-fashioned method of using boiling water.
He had to boil water and iron at the same time, not only the clothes that Dong Xinghua had made, but also the scraps of cloth that Huang Wangcheng had picked out.
The scraps of cloth were given to Dong Fuyun or Liu Tong, and the ironed clothes were given to Cheng Zijun to sew buttons on.
It was getting dark when the group of people finally sorted out the production process.
The next day, Xu Heye went back to school, and a group of people came to the old church to work. Huang Wangcheng was the fastest, and in a short while he had picked out a pile of scraps of cloth suitable for making fake collars.
Everything was just beginning. Without ready-made clothes to sew buttons on, Cheng Zijun helped Lu Jun iron them. The ironed fabric was placed on the cutting table, and amidst bursts of snapping sounds, the various messy and irregular scraps of fabric were transformed into neat pieces in the hands of Dong Fuyun and Liu Tong.
These pieces of cloth were then given to Dong Xinghua. She stepped on the pedal, and with the sound of the sewing machine needles clicking, the pieces of cloth were sewn in an orderly manner, and gradually the prototype of the fake collar took shape.
However, the fake collar is not a finished product at this time. Only after sewing buttons and buttonholes can it become a commodity that can be sold.
After the finished garment is given to Cheng Zijun, he will use drawing powder to mark the position of the buttons and buttonholes, sew the buttons, and finally hand it to Dong Xinghua to complete the buttonhole process.
In the evening, after finishing her classes, Xu Heye went to the old church and found two stacks of fake collars next to the folded bedding on the wooden bed. They were two square sheets, each with thirty collars.
Only less than half a bag of rags was consumed.
If this trend continues, she will be able to make at least four to five thousand fake collars by the time winter vacation comes.
After she caught up with her cutting speed, Dong Xinghua began to sew on her own, but she found it difficult to keep up. She went to see Lian's mother again and agreed to pay her ten yuan a day for her help with sewing.
Ten yuan is not a lot, but it is definitely not a small amount. It is about three hundred yuan a month, which is about the same as the monthly salary of an ordinary factory worker.
Both of them are good at making clothes. They were a little clumsy at the beginning, but as they became more proficient, each of them could sew hundreds of fake collars every day.
By the last day of 1989, over 2,000 false collars had been made in the old church, including over 600 plain-colored ones, over 1,000 color-blocked ones, and over 400 silk ones.
Dong Xinghua looked at the fake collars with a sense of anxiety. Although the venue was free, the daily expenses were not small, starting with the workers' wages.
Even if she and the youngest didn't want He Ye's money, they still had to pay the wages of Lu Jun and the other four as well as Mrs. Lian. Each person got ten yuan a day, which was fifty yuan for five people. From the time they bought the scraps of cloth to New Year's Day, ten days had passed, and the total was five hundred yuan, not to mention the daily food expenses.
Xu Heye was a generous girl. She didn't let them eat anything she wanted. She bought rice, vegetables, fish, meat, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and honeycomb coal for heating. She spent almost two hundred yuan in ten days. Adding the money for buying scraps of cloth and renting a tricycle, she spent almost a thousand yuan, and didn't earn a penny.
Although she also thought that He Ye's fake collar was very good, she always felt uneasy because she didn't exchange it for money.
Dong Xinghua found Xu Heye and said, "Heye, look, tomorrow is New Year's Day. Shouldn't we sell these fake collars first?"
If you can't make any money, you can just call it a day. As for the scraps of fabric you haven't finished, you can only find a way to take them home and save them for making something else later.
Dong Fuyun also came to persuade her: "Yes, He Ye, we have made enough fake collars, why not take them out and try them out first?"
Xu Heye thought about it and agreed with their suggestions.
"Tomorrow is New Year's Day, let's start with some sales. All the major factories and schools will be closed for the holidays, and everyone will definitely be out having fun. These fake collars will definitely sell well."
"Then where should we sell it?" Dong Xinghua asked. She had never set up a stall before and didn't really understand any of this.
"Uncle, you often go out and about. Where in our city is the busiest during holidays?"
"If we talk about places with a lot of people, shopping malls are one, and so is People's Park."
Xu Heye nodded and said, "Okay, then let's split into two groups. One group will set up a stall near the mall, and the other group will go to People's Park."
Dong Fuyun nodded. "That's fine, but since there are so many of us, we don't all need to go. Let's split into three groups. Zijun and I will set up a stall outside the mall, and He Ye and Lu Jun will go to People's Park."
"As for Third Sister, Sister Lian, Da Huang, and Tong Zi, the four of you should stay here. On the one hand, you can watch things, and on the other hand, you can continue to make some goods."
All eight of them had no objection, but Xu Heye decided to switch places with her uncle: "Uncle, Uncle Lu Jun and I will go to the mall to set up a stall."
Dong Fuyun thought about it and agreed: "Okay."
"Then let's pack the goods now so we can pick them up tomorrow morning."
There are more than 500 solid-colored fake collars in total, which are divided into pointed lapels and rounded lapels. On the first day of setting up the stall, I tried the market by taking 50 of each type, so 100 on each side.
Take fewer pieces of mixed colors, thirty of each, and you will have sixty pieces in total.
Two people set up a stall and brought 160 fake collars, which was a lot of things.
As for the last silk fake collar, Xu Heye thought about it and decided not to divide it equally.
"Uncle, just take ten of the silk false collars from each of you, and leave the remaining eighty or so with me."
She explained, "Uncle, I've thought about it. Silk is expensive. The people who go to People's Square must be ordinary people. They may not be willing to spend fifteen yuan on a silk fake collar."
Yes, she's selling those silk false collars for fifteen bucks a piece.
"But it's different for people who go to shopping malls. Regardless of whether they are rich or poor, since they are there, they definitely have a certain pursuit of quality. This silk fake collar looks very decent when worn." As long as you don't take off your outer clothes, who would know that you are only wearing a collar underneath.
Dong Fuyun also agreed with Xu Heye's arrangement, but felt it was a bit expensive.
"This silk fake collar is fifteen dollars a piece? Double the price and you can buy an ordinary cotton and linen shirt."
Xu Heye nodded. "So much! Uncle, you have to know that a silk shirt costs at least a hundred yuan. This silk fake collar, although not as much material as a complete shirt, is also very labor-intensive. Pattern making, cutting, sewing, buttoning, ironing, which one doesn't take time and energy?"
"For fifteen yuan, you can buy something worth hundreds of yuan. Isn't that a good deal? However, if someone thinks it's too expensive, we can also give them a small discount. You can tell the customer that as long as they buy two silk fake collars, they can get a silk headband or hairband for free. You know, in other shopping malls, these real silk headbands and hairbands are sold separately, and they are also not cheap!"
"Girls buy them and can wear them together, looking both decent and good-looking. But if a man buys a fake collar and brings a headband or scrunchie home as a gift to his sister-in-law, his sister-in-law won't know how to love him."
Dong Fuyun nodded, feeling relieved.
"Are the solid and color-blocked ones also priced?"
"Let's set a price." Xu Heye thought to keep it simple. "If you buy the plain colors individually, they're three yuan each. If you buy four, it's two yuan cheaper, only ten yuan."
"The workmanship of the color-blocked ones is more complicated and more distinctive. They are a bit more expensive, four dollars each, and buying three is also two dollars cheaper. But when you buy these two items, you can't get a silk headband or scrunchie as a gift." After all, there are not many of them, and they have to be kept for sale with the silk fake collar.
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