"I had to admit, it wasn't a hobby anymore"

What started as a "busy", grew into a hobby and turned into a mini company. I started with a trolley filled with a sewing machine and some fabrics. Every (Tuesday/Thursday) evening I put my sewing machine on the kitchen table when the little one was asleep and my husband went to football. When I was done I tidied everything up and wheeled the trolley into the hallway. That way the living room was tidy and no longer a "work space". My "sewing trolley" (well known from Ikea, see photo) eventually became too small. The kitchen table often looked messy and even when we ate there were often patterns on the head of the table, this was not very neat.

My own table would really be a good solution, I thought. That's how my father-in-law came up with a DIY table from "PowerPlus". A fantastic thing that does not wobble while sewing. It is stable, can withstand some bumps and can be folded up again so that the workplace can be tidied up again after use and there is a tidy living room again. I say "PERFECT"!

You guessed it... this didn't happen either. More and more often, new boxes with stock fabrics piled up on the floor and my Mauties Mama corner in the room became chaos!

My husband had decided to move, because there really wasn't enough space. The living room became partly a workroom and watching a movie or series while I was sewing was simply not possible. The hobby got completely out of hand and I really had to admit, it wasn't a hobby anymore.

We eventually moved to a house with 4 bedrooms instead of 2, so I could easily set up a room as a sewing studio. There I have a desk where I can work and a sewing table where I can sew and cut, just perfect. No one is bothered by me and my husband can watch TV again if he wants to.

"Mauties Mama on ETSY"
Almost a year old (November 2017) and a lot more customers. It was time to broaden my horizons. My cousin had told me that there was a kind of bol.com for handmade stuff, called Etsy! Fantastic, right? After doing some research and making a good plan of action, I considered it. Etsy is really a fun way to see if there is any interest for Mauties Mama's stuff outside of my own circle of friends and word of mouth.

I posted my first product, a playpen blanket. One that was already finished and I couldn't sell via Facebook, Instagram and Marktplaats. Well, 6 days later it was gone! My first sale.. just fantastic. So happy that I wanted to send it straight away.. luckily Etsy sends a clear email that you can't send it until the payment has been completed. So I waited patiently for the confirmation.

24 hours had passed and the order was still open.. 48 hours had passed and still no confirmation email. I started to worry and contacted Etsy's service desk. Luckily they were able to help me quickly and it was just a matter of changing the name. It is also difficult if you only see a maiden name on your ID but use your partner's name. Eventually I was able to find a document that stated my maiden name and partner's name. I received a confirmation email that the payment had been completed and that I could send the package. On my Etsy account I could now also see and print the invoice for my own accounting and neatly print a packing slip.

I used the PostNL app and registered all packages from home. I paid the shipping costs and printed the label myself, because this saved me from having to wait at the counter. Now I only had to deliver the package and I received a receipt. For letterbox packages I walked to the nearest letterbox. With the track and trace I can see via the PostNL app whether it has been delivered. Super handy! I received a confirmation from the customer that my product had arrived with a nice photo! The baby will soon be lying there on a playpen blanket from Mauties Mama... awesome!

"Foreign customers via ETSY"
Because I offered my products via Etsy, I eventually also got foreign customers. The first came from Belgium. After which countries such as: England, Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Spain and even the United States were reached. My heart could no longer handle all this joy! It is so overwhelming when you can reach a lot of people within the Netherlands, but when you can also do that abroad.. I mean.. WOW..

I often received the message from my Dutch customers that Etsy was unclear and the payment often did not go smoothly and a credit card was always requested, while iDeal payment was simply possible. Once we had existed for 2 years and I started working with a coach, I decided to look into how I could open my own webshop as quickly as possible, so that my Dutch customers could pay more easily without any hassle.

Now it is here, because you are on our website with our own