Editorial update, ideas and suggestions

So back in February I did a Happy Birthday post for the co-op :-) and promised to follow it up with a post on the different suggestions. That was in February and now we are in May :-( Good thing I'm and editor and not a contributor, is all I can say :-)

Anyway here is the follow up of ideas for the Refashion Co-op. In order of appearance in the comments.

1. some sort of database of refashion patterns
2. some sort of forum where contributors but not only can propose swaps, ask advice, etc. 
3. also a contributors page would be nice. 
4. the idea of the item-redesign site is also wonderful because there are so many great things that we all make that can't be worn, some of which are sometimes posted here, though in theory they shouldn't (Thank you to cucicucicoo)
5.  On the sponsored give away idea, you need to make sponsors aware that it is international. I am on a few blogs/sites that do competitions and give aways, but the sponsors either have a rider that they only send to their own country. or the prizes are about places in that country. This is even though they have participants from all over the world. (Thank you to Sandy)
6. It would be great to have an 'ask for ideas' section. We're not all blessed with designer ideas.  (Thank you to Frances Brough)
7. I like the idea of some sort of series/competition. Maybe a Project Runway type thing, with challenges each week, but the designers can only use refashioned/upcycled clothing. It could be done using the linky tools.  (Thank you to Jenni)
8. Keeping the blog on topic is also important IMO -- we do say 'something new to wear out of old clothes' right over there on the left. A sister blog for crafts, home decor etc. made from unwanted clothes would be great (says the woman making a quilt just now from her husband's lovely but worn out French cuff work shirts) but for now the guideline on the Posting Ds&Ds that you may link to your own blog for that sort of project seems quite clear. If you want to publish crafts from clothes, that's what Craftster and the like are for!
9. Given that we are so international, giveaways are a toughie (not to mention swaps!). I know back in the early days when Jenni and I did a giveaway of my first book I had to lay my hands on a USA copy as the UK publisher was out, send it to her eight time zones to the west and then it had to be sent out to the winner. Perhaps we should focus more on book and pattern reviews by we contributors. You don't need to be a professional writer to tell folk why you dislike a certain pattern or really like a certain book! One could submit a review and the editors could post it on a slow day for the blog or a whole new page could be created.
10. Perhaps the editors could have some 'Editors' Picks', a weekly or monthly link to a particularly clever, well-written, instructional post? That would be a sort of challenge to all of us to really pull out the stops!  
11. A 'What Would You Do?' segment would be fab too: people could just answer or send in a picture or link from a similar project they tackled (Thank you to IWOM)
12. I agree with others about competitions from time to time. Give people a month to do a particular project and crown a winner at the end. Perhaps even create a little "winners circle" page or blog buttons. Could be very cool.  (Thanks to Lisa @ OneRedShoeBlog)
13. All the ideas you've suggested are great, especially 'post an item and ask for ideas help'. (Thanks to  Suzy Turner)
14. I like the idea of giveaways and pattern recommendations and miss being able to search for categories such as dresses or trousers etc.  (Thanks to Little Blue Mouse)
15.   I would be interested in non-clothing accessory posts, in a little sister blog. They are often easier and faster to make and, even if there are many sites dedicated to them, I think it would be nice to see what you can do with old clothes all in onw site, instead of bloghopping for ideas. (Thanks to Claudia)
16. I like all the ideas listed in the main post and would be especially delighted to see a bit more variety in the type of posts, so including more 'editorial' things like book reviews and pattern reviews would be great. 
17. I also LOVE the idea of a 'Project Runway' style competition for refashioners (suggested by Jenni above) - definitely count me in if you decide to do this! Who would judge it though? The editors?
18. Definitely agree about moving the non-fashion stuff to another blog to help maintain focus (agree with IWOM above). (Thanks to charityshopchic.net)
19. I like that Refashion co-op is focused on Refashion - it's not just sewing, or just recycling, but the two combined. So I'd rather not see it diluted. 
20. I also like that it's not competitive. So I'd rather not see winners and losers become part of its framework. 
21. I do like the idea of pattern reviews, relevant book reviews, blog or website mentions that are relevant, news you can use, etc.
22. The linky party is a good idea for getting traffic that can't commit otherwise.
23. It would be cool if people, myself included, made more of an effort to comment on posts. Perhaps highlighting recent comments on the sidebar? (Thanks to pao)  

Thank you to all for your great comments. So let me just summarize and we'll see what we get out of this.

It seems to me (and I have heard people comment on this before) that many are missing being able to find categories of items. Unfortunately, we simply had to remove that feature of using the labels because we simple couldn't keep on top of it. Too complex and too many were using labels that they made up on the spot :-(
So first a little tip for all of you from a SEO perspective. If you are refashioning a dress into a top, make sure to include this in your title or at least in the text of your post. That way it is easier for people to find your post if they search for top and dress.
But back to the point. Searching and finding specific refashions. This is something that I truly care a lot about. In my day job I work with text data and how best to search and share this online. So I really do want to find a solution for this.
This brings me onto the 'what would you do' or 'asking for ideas' suggestion. I love this idea. In the beginning I did a few of these posts myself and it was great fun.
You also say that you would like some more editorial posts and editorial picks and some of you would like something like a challenge but others are wary of the competitive aspect.
Anyway this brings me to a suggestions. At the moment I would love to do some refashions but my sewing machine is packed away, so I can't. Therefore, I would like to start an editorial series and I was thinking about this format.

1. We choose a topic (refashioning men's shirts, dress refashion or trousers to skirts) and I write a 'What would you do?' post. This will include a linky option where people can link their suggestions whether they are on the co-op or not. 
2. I use this to write a tutorial/different ideas for this type of refashion post with loads of images and links.
3. At the same time we will run a challenge on the topic. I don't know if I think there should be winners and such, but perhaps I could pick out the one/ones that have the best instructions and use these for #2 (we could have a badge that they could have too). That way there is no 'best refashion' but more a 'best instructions that help other'
4. Finally, I make a page (accessible from the menu) with links to all the refashions within this category. This page can be added to every time someone in the future uploads a new refashion in this category. Over time we will have inspirational pages for all the major subjects.

What do you think about this idea? Perhaps in time we could get others in to do a subject as a guest editor once we have it up and running. 

As for books and pattern reviews, this is something we have been talking about for a long time, among the editors. But I think we need suggestions for things to review. So if you have any suggestions for a pattern that seems great for refashioning or a book on the topic that you would like us to review, send me an email at eddie at roued dot com please. Same thing if you have something you would like to enter for a giveaway (note that this has to be something that you can send Internationally).

There was also a mention of comments and highlighting them to encourage more comments. Others mentioned forums and other ways communicating and a few said that they don't use Facebook or other social media. I think what we can do is to add a list of the latest comments (there is a bit of room in the right hand sidebar). Other than that we really have to refer to the Facebook page, Twitter, or Pinterest. I don't think any of the editors have the energy to set up a forum too, but if anyone out there has an idea so how we can help contributors be more social within Blogger, then please let us know.

One last thing I haven't mentioned yet is a sister page of refashioning into non-clothes items. Personally, I would love to see that happen, so I am going to put out a call like I did back in 2010 for the Refashion Co-op. If you are interested in being an editor (we would need at least 7) of a *Recycle co-op, give me a shout (take your pick: eddie at roued dot com | Facebook ).

*When I asked my husband for an idea on what to call this, I said "what would you call it, in one word, when I made curtains out of your old shirts" - he answered: "crazy!" lol :-)

Finally, I think I got to the end of the list and can post this (only a couple of months late). Please let me know what you think about the IDEA (in bold) above and if it seems popular I will go ahead and start. Perhaps with men's shirts, or dresses, can't decide :-)

xx Eddie

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