{This is Part II of our Nicaragua update. The original post can be found here.}

The rules for our market visit were simple: wear pants, don’t bring your passports, don’t bring a bag, don’t bring a camera, put your money in your bra. We followed Sonia’s instructions and arrived at what seemed to be fabric row, a long street with a dozen very similar stores, selling bolts and bolts of fabric.

At almost every store we got the same answer: we don’t have the fabric you’re looking for. We spent about two and a half hours, searching for the right material to make samples and went home with nothing.

It was a discouraging day and an understandable low for us. We are struggling to find a production system we can afford, while sticking to our ethical values about how we want to manufacture our line. The options for organics in Nicaragua are incredibly limited. There are excessive minimums that come with ordering, no option for patterned fabric, as well as other restrictions that seem daunting to a small start-up like us.

And honestly, we’re exhausted. After a lot of traveling, a ton of work, and infinite brainstorming, we are burnt out.

We need to find a solution. Organic cotton. Fair trade labor. With lots of color and pattern options. Without excessive minimums. And without shipping fabrics from one side of the world to the other.

It’s not easy, and we knew it wouldn’t be, but instead of succumbing to the pressure of “let’s do this yesterday!” we’re going to take a step back, breathe, think, and try again. We owe it to ourselves to take the time that we need, and if we still haven’t found a production method, then it’d be hasty to spend over 500 dollars making samples.

Nicaragua is supposed to be stunningly gorgeous. So we’re going to get out of the city for a few days, get some much needed R&R, and tackle our dilemmas from a different angle.

There are a million cheesy quotes I could end with about hard work and determination, but I’ll simply say this: who needs a beer? {r}