Made In The North - New Collection

My final collection of 2024 was my biggest and best one yet. I wanted to create something that would be fitting of a proper clothing brand, not just some guy who designs and prints from his garage. I know that's just my insecurities talking, but it felt nice to make something that I am proud of.

This extends to the photos too, I have leaned on my phone and crappy photography skills for way too many pictures and I wanted this collection to stand out. Thanks to Nick Porter for the photography, he did a great job.

Making a new collection so close to the end of the year was a bit treacherous. I was trying to get stocked up for craft fairs and the December present rush so adding a load of new products into the mix was always going to make for an interesting time.

Also, there is the stupid Black Friday aspect of this to factor in. I don't do discounts on Black Friday, it's not something I like to do, generally. So I try to make a new product and give it away with orders. But still, there is so much noise around that weekend, it felt like a daft time to release a new collection.

And then there were events, which were all on that Black Friday weekend. So I decided to release them on the Monday after, which made for a good excuse to send a new email to my mailing list. It seems crazy that this weekend I did three craft fairs, a Black Friday promo and released a new collection. But that's what happens over Christmas, you gotta take advantage of the mad rush.

One of the things I made sure of, was that I would make a few of the products that weren't screen printed by me. The only thing to consider with products like pins, patches and hats, is time. These are made externally so it's not really possible to get them made as fast as I make tees. Hats take a few weeks and pins and patches usually take a month. But it is nice to only have to be fully hands on with three of the seven products in the collection.

With tees, things can be brought to life in a few days if I'm organised. The garments take a day to arrive, the screens take a few days. And then it's just down to me to print them, which on a good week can be pretty fast. But on a bad week, it might take a little longer.

Made In The North consists of two tees, a jumper, a beanie, a cap, an enamel pin & an embroidered patch. It is available now in my shop.

Sean