Interview

PinkLizzy Sews Profiles Ruby-Jo

‘Ell ’ello! Meet Jo of Ruby-Jo. She creates amazing brooches to dress up singlets, dresses, jackets and such.
Having drooled over Jo's Etsy Shop and Blog for so long I thought I’d find out more about her and her work.
So here goes.

TALK ABOUT YOURSELF FOR A BIT.

My name is Jo, I am 35 years old and live with my partner Evan and dog Elvis in Melbourne. We moved to Melbourne from Perth in August 2006. Evan and I own a bicycle shop in Flemington. He runs the shop and I take care of the bookwork. We have had the shop for a year now and the business is going pretty well.

Etsy is what I do to satisfy my creative urge. I have always made stuff, mostly clothes even when I was younger. I had an aunty who was a dressmaker so I guess I took inspiration from her. I went to TAFE to study fashion when I was 27. After that I worked in the industry as a patternmaker for a couple of labels before I came over to Melbourne.

I had a few pieces of clothing and accessories on consignment in a shop in Perth and when I moved to Melbourne I wasn’t sure what to do with them. When I discovered Etsy I thought it was a perfect platform to sell my stuff. I thought clothing would be difficult to sell over the internet, so I concentrated on accessories. I started off with some fabric necklaces, bags and scarves.

Throughout all this I found out that I enjoyed making accessories a lot more than making clothes. I love the fact that no matter what dress size you are you can still buy and enjoy one of my brooches, bags or scarves.

WHAT ITEM DO YOU LOVE TO MAKE THE MOST?

I really enjoy making my fabric brooches at the moment. I love playing around with fabric and button combinations. It’s also perfect excuse to keep adding to my vintage button stash. I have discovered that I quite enjoy hand stitching, which is something I hadn’t really done much of before and it has started me thinking that I would like to learn embroidery.

HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE BEAUTIFUL FABRIC BROOCH?

I started off with the idea that I wanted to make a flower brooch to sell and I went from there. The first brooch I made was a multi-layered flower made from fabric and with a felt backing and looked nothing like the brooches I sell now. I find that for me, my ideas evolve as I test them out. I can’t tell you how many brooches I made until I came up with my final design.

WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

I find inspiration everywhere and anywhere. I am finding just living in Melbourne to be a great inspiration, there is so much fashion, art and design happening here. It also opens up a whole world of supplies that I wouldn’t have access to if I was still in Perth. At the moment I am particularly interested in vintage. I have begun collecting vintage embroidery and buttons, some of which I have started to incorporate into my brooches.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE WEBSITES?

Etsy has to be top of the list. It has allowed me to sell my stuff directly to the public all over the world. It’s a fantastic opportunity. Without etsy my fabric brooches most likely wouldn’t exist and there probably wouldn’t be any Ruby-Jo.

The DUST Forums - Etsy is so US-centric and their forums are not for the faint hearted so the DUST forum is a great place to get local advice on the business of making and selling in a supportive environment It is a wonderful community to be part of.

SUMMER OR WINTER?

Neither, I like the in between seasons, but if I had to choose it would be winter. My body doesn’t function well in the heat.