Now we do a weekly market at the Arts Centre, I've discovered that packing, transporting, unpacking, displaying, repacking and transporting the silk scarves back home is proving to be a challenge.
The market frequency means the scarves stay put in their plastic tubs during the week, there is no point unpacking them and hanging on hangers, only to repack them a few days later. But this wasn't working.
My original packing solution was to fold them in quarters and lay them one on top of the other in stacks in the plastic tubs. While this was okay for the trip to the market, in our haste to depart the market, the scarves were folded in a less than ideal manner. The result? Lots of creases.
A solution was needed. One that:
• cost nothing
• made use of the existing plastic tubs
• protected the scarves from creases
• and if possible, one that allowed individual scarves to be removed without having to move all the other scarves in the tub.
After designing something in my head, I grabbed a pile of manilla folders (file folders) and started work on a prototype. Hmmm, the reality didn't quite match my vision...
Intreigued, Drew soon joined in the fun. Once I had explained what I was trying to achieve, he suggested a grid of dividers, made from rows of cardboard that interlock together. Genius! It only took about an hour for me to fit two tubs with the cardboard dividers.
We test drove it at the last market and it works a treat! I'm going to make larger versions for the winter weight scarves.