2021 Reflections

2020 was a shit show. We all struggled. I had just gotten fabrikate off the ground at the end of 2019, quit my soul sucking restaurant job and made the huge and scary decision to begin attempting fabrikating full time. Then 2020 happened and I saw all the markets I had planned for that year fall away and get cancelled. My husband got my website up and I made more masks than I can count.  I survived, but as was true for all of us it was uncertain, a total struggle. I began again in 2021, nervous and uncertain how the year would go, whether I could pick up with the hope I had had at the end of 2019. 

As this year draws to a close I have so many memories. It has been my first full year of really being bold, going for it, fully committed to building my business. I'm relieved and thrilled to say that 2021 has far exceeded my hopes and dreams. I have found pride and certainty in myself that I haven't known for years.

I felt like I needed to do something special to end the year, my first full year of fabrikate. A best and worst of the season seemed in order and like it might be cathartic.

Let's start with the worst.....

Fabrikate 2021 Rude Awards (in no specific order)

Dude comes into my tent and proceeds to blow the powdered sugar off his beignet. Powdered sugar wafts through the air and lands on my bags. He is not shopping, but merely taking up space and mooching the shade of my tent. I politely ask him to please not blow his sugar or touch things, as they are all painstakingly hand made. He shrugs and says "well I like to eat in the shade." 

Another guy spills red wine all over several of my bags at a show because he was pointing at stuff with the hand he was carrying his wine in. I ask you, why the hell do so many people do this?? Carry a drink and point at things with the hand they have the drink in?? Why not put that drink in your non-pointing hand or perhaps hold said drink down low to avoid accidents? Wine splashes all over my table and he says loudly "I'm not paying for that" and walks away.

Guy at a show kicks my fabrikate sign and attempts to mansplain "you know you spelled that wrong right?" I respond that I didn't, that it's a pun, that it's my name. He says "fab is your name??" I say no. He then says "I don't get it."  To which I say "you think on it, it will come to you." Several ladies in the tent are now giggling quietly and rolling their eyes which completely makes my day. He walks away, comes back later just to tell me my pun is stupid and he doesn't like it.

Here's just a few more that need to be mentioned. People touching/kicking bags with their feet to point at them. People taking their masks off, rubbing their noses and then touching things. People handling bags while they are eating. One guy dripping taco juice on my table and the bags on it. Kids putting things in their mouths and no comment from their parents. Kids hanging on my gridwall like it's a jungle gym.  WIND. My nemesis. Wind sucks and is rude. It is the worst possible situation and only worse when mixed with misty rain. Honestly it's more heinous and crazy inducing than normal rain or cold or heat. At one freakishly windy, tent shaking market this kid unvelcroed a sandbag from my tent and dumped the entirety of it out into the grass. His mother was at another tent shopping and oblivious. I ask him to stop, he goes and gets her and her response is "he just wants to see how it works." One lady told me that the fabric is better than my bags. Then sometimes there are people loudly telling me I'm robbing people with my prices, that they can buy the things I make at Walmart.

Now onto the good stuff, the things that leave me full up with happy, restore my faith in humanity. The stuff I meditate on as I fall asleep or as things with kids and dogs go hellish.

Fabrikate's BEST OF 2021

An awesome, hilarious market manager. A guy who never fails to make me smile with his wit and just generally magnificent demeanor. A guy whose weekly market emails are something to look forward to, that seriously make me laugh out loud. This guy wrote an extensive email about unacceptable nicknames to call shoppers that I have saved and still go back to read when I need a laugh. Another time there was an older gentleman who was a short change artist and going off a vendor's ID of him he described him as "a less magical Gandalf" and included a photo of Sir Ian McKellen in the email. Honestly one of the best managers I have ever worked with, next to a very special wife and husband team I met and worked with for years in NY who at my interview were initially concerned I was "too corporate." Which is so deeply laughable. Perhaps it was because of my thrift store blazer, but I couldn't be further from that description. I'm a "stick it to the man" person, through and through. You know who you are guys, and I will forever be indebted to you,  your generosity and kindness. You made me believe it was possible to work WITH a person in charge, you respected me which was unlike any place I had worked before in the service industry in NY.

So back to the manager of Urbana's Market at the Square. Mid season, after witnessing a few snippy altercations among shoppers inside my cramped 10x10 tent and after my husband's strong encouragement I was so bold as to entertain the possibility of expanding into TWO tents, increasing my spot by 100%. This was no small step for me, as I generally lack confidence to a fault and was worried I would be way too cocky in making this step. This was his amazing response.

I printed and framed that email. And then I took a breath and went for it. 

And it was so so completely the right choice. I honestly think my sales increased, and people were definitely much more comfortable shopping. I saw less people pass by my tent due to it being too crowded. With the addition of the extra space many more people could be in there browsing. If someone wanted to stop and chat with me they weren't essentially blocking the entire tent as we caught up on our weeks. 

This is one of my favorite things, one of the *bests* of participating in the market. People come and say hi. They tell me about their lives and ask about mine. They bring me a coffee. It's wonderful, a highpoint to my week.

I have been blessed with amazing neighbors at the Urbana Market. I'm thrilled I got to meet these people and find myself hoping to always be near them in the following seasons. They seriously made the entire season so incredibly wonderful. So many laughs, so many chocolate croissants from 6 Red Chairs shared. My next door market neighbor Meredith from 3 Angels Lavender Farm literally saved my life at the end of a very long double maket day. We had both been at Lincoln Square Mall from 6 am - 9 pm. My family had come to help break down but as it often tends to go the kids had a huge disagreement resulting in a very loud, epic meltdown so I told them to just leave me to finish clean up.  Meredith of Three Angels Farm showed up out of nowhere with her dolly and exclaimed "OK Kate, let's do this!" Egging me on to load up her dolly to its full capacity, reminding me of its epic weight capacity, smile on her face the entire time. I was so so tired, the kid argument was so huge and embarrassing and here she shows up out of nowhere to lend a hand. I cried. Literally cried from her surprising act of kindness. Which she told me to get over, that there was no time for it. She is such a treasured neighbor, just the person you want next to you through wind and rain. Plus everything always smells so damn good because the lady sells lavender.

Sane Jungle, another neighbor from the morning market insisted on staying after she had loaded up her stuff and helping me schlep my stuff to the other end of the mall to set up the later market, smiling and joking all the and way.  

Courtney and Travis from Twin Acres Farm, always upbeat and laughing, telling my kid corny and horrible jokes and putting up with my son's extensive weekly rubics cube demos. Travis with an ever present twinkle in his eye and his weekly weather forecast each morning, rain, sun or wind always amounting to his arms outstretched and welcoming whatever was to come with  "it's gonna be a beautiful day."

Sleepy Creek Art and Music Festival. The sky suddenly opened up, torrential downpour and insane wind. Mud everywhere. Maybe about 10 ladies in my tent. They all threw themselves into helping me hold the tent down. One lady literally laid on top of one of my tables, holding everything down. In the flurry of crazy I seem to remember one lady clutching her tacos close to her as we waited the storm out. I was covered in mud, several bags were lost to mud as well. Then I heard someone say as they pointed, "Blue skies, I think it's ending." Two ladies stayed after and meticulously helped me recreate my set up. These ladies were and still are my heroes. Their random kindness and devotion to helping me restore some order went above and beyond and I will forever be indebted to them.

A while ago I asked Judiee (who runs Made in Urbana)to doodle my daughter, who I refer to as the Wee Viking. She did some amazing work with her and all her Dollar Store foam weapons. I had it printed on fabric and I made it into bags. At the Urbana Market a lady walks directly up to one of the mini messengers I had made, lifts it above her in a Lion King kind of way and says "I must have this." Turns out she teaches about Vikings and will be going to Iceland to teach while carrying MY FREAKING BAG.

A marvelous and kind lady who has bought several bags online randomly sent me a huge bag of seeds from her wildflower meadow. I cried big sloppy tears over that one and will think of her as each flower blooms in my garden.

Bags that will be going on adventures. Another backpack will will be going to Iceland and Switzerland with its owner. Besides all over the US and Puerto Rico several have been shipped to France, Germany, Australia, Lithuania, and England.

Two ladies came to my tent at the Urbana outdoor market. One exclaimed "Omg we have entered a dimension that takes all our money." The other replies "I think you mean we have entered PARADISE."

People have come up to me at recent markets and said "Fabrikate you have come up a lot lately in conversation." Turns out they have met several people, complimented their bags and found out they were all from my sewing machine.

Very high on the list of bests is when I get photos from customers of their friends and families smiling with their new fabrikate stuff. It's truly marvelous seeing people happy and wondering about where my bags will go with them, what they will hold, what adventures they will have out in the world. Another thing just as good as the photos I receive is when people come to say hi at the market carrying one of my bags and they let me take a photo to share. One time a lady was shopping with one on, came to say hi and then came back a while later with a person they had literally just met who asked them about their bag. That lady ended up buying several of my bags as gifts.

So 2021 has far exceeded my expectations. I have somehow managed through it all to finish the year out with the hope I had left 2019 with. I'm smiling big, really tired and already dreaming how to make 2022 even better, wonder who I will meet and where my bags may go. But first I'm gonna lay my ass down on the couch for a week with the dogs, watch bad movies, drink wine and eat really good food.