Blogmas: Most Popular Post Update- Artist Wyatt Zingarelli GIVEAWAY (Day11)

Hey, y’all!

Since Blogmas is so close to the end of the year I thought it would be fun to go back and look at my most popular post for the year of 2016 and give you an update on anything I can from that post! When I went back there were a few posts that out shot the rest with views, but this one outshot even those. The post I’m going to be giving you an update on today is Artist In The Area: Wyatt Zingarelli. I highly advise you go check that one out first before you read this one to see all of the progress this artist has made! You can find out in the first post all about his art form, his creative process and everything in between.

For today we are going to check back in with Wyatt; see what has changed, how he’s progressed, and if he’s still planning on selling his creations! This is another interview post, so let’s go ahead and get right on into everything Mr. Zinagrelli had to update me on!

Make sure you stay tuned until the end of the post, because there will be a GIVEAWAY OF ONE OF WAYTT’S HATS!

If you don’t know, in short, Wyatt is a hat maker. He designs, creates, and sews, his own hats and he does a wonderful job with it! One of things I was wondering about when getting an update from Wyatt was how his patterns for his hats and his sewing process has progressed and changed over time. When it comes to the patterns Wyatt said they have only gotten better with time, of course, but he doesn’t do as much experimenting with the patterns now. He’s found how he wants the hats and is rolling with it, which seems to be working out super well. When it comes to the process of his sewing and how that has moved forward he was sure to tell me that it’s more of a natural process now; it’s fluid and just comes in routine. Just as before, he needs to make sure he’s in the right mood before he starts, but now when problems arise he’s able to look at it in a more calmer light and assess the situation. His own words say it best and I think they apply to a lot of things in life other than sewing.

-Another thing that comes with time is a better understanding. When a problem arises whether it be a technical problem with my sewing machine or a sizing issue, I find it much much easier to identify and solve. Those two ideas are probably the most important things when it comes to what I do. Seeing a “problem,” which might not be an actual problem, and finding out how to fix it or adjust it accordingly.

Honestly, this is such a good thing to always keep in the back of your mind.

Here’s a few pictures of how Wyatt’s hats have progressed

Along with creating hats, Wyatt has just recently gotten into the game of sewing shirts as well. He’s journeyed into the world they call “Cut and Sew”! In his case this essentially means he’s taking two shirts cutting them and putting them together to create a whole new piece. He’s fallen in love with this form of art as well! He said the pictures will explain his ideas better so I’ll insert a photo of one of his amazing “Cute and Sew” shirts below!

This is brilliant to me. It literally looks like that’s how the shirt was made in the first place. I’m totally digging Wyatt’s new work!

Since Mr. Zingarelli has ventured into “Cut and Sew” he noticed he needed a sewing machine that was just right for the job, so he now has a new machine specifically for making shirts and other articles of clothing and he is totally obsessing over it. It’s a Brother 1034D, which is an overlock machine. Wyatt tells me it’s his baby. (; He says it’s made a world a difference in how his shirts look, and you can see that progress in the pictures below!

Beginning of the Cut and Sew shirts

Cut and sew with a new machine

You can TOTALLY see a huge difference just getting the right machine for the job made. This shirt literally looks like this is how it was made in the factory. SO SO SO clean.

Since we last spoke to Wyatt he has without a doubt zeroed in on what it is he wants to do with sewing, his brand, and everything he’s creating. When he first started out he wanted to create hats, hoodies, and shirts from patterns, but for now he’s sticking to keeping the patterns only for hats. He really wants to delve into the world of cut and sew even more and create his hoodies and shirts that way! He said there is a lot more to come from him and his brand in the future, but he doesn’t want to give too much away just yet, so make sure you’re staying up to date with the man himself through all of his social media which I will link below! Like always Wyatt is just trying to have fun with what he is creating. Having fun while creating is crucial with his work.

When it comes to selling his hats Mr. Zingarelli has chosen the option of not using any specific platform to sell his work. When people do buy his work it’s simply because they saw one he created and they fall in love with and then they take the leap of purchasing by paying him through paypal or venmo. The reason Wyatt has opted out of the online shop option, such as etsy, is because he doesn’t want to have a platform where he may put up two hats for sale one week and then go three weeks without posting a hat for sale at all. Like all creative minds, Wyatt wants to make sure everything is in order when he starts to sell in a shop platform. When he does start to sell he says it will be in a scheduled manor and with collections of hats, not just different hats. Every once in a while Wyatt will do a special order for people, but in all hoesnty the man doesn’t like doing this in the slightest. There is SO much work, time, and thought that goes into a custom order.  When you think about it though this makes sense; if somebody comes to you with this idea of I want a pattern that is floral and red and white and blue with an inside material that is light pink, this is essentially telling Wyatt to search for a needle in a haystack. Wyatt described it to me this way:

-(Custom orders are hard) Mainly because people don’t really know how much of a process it is having to go to multiple fabric stores and maybe finding a handful of materials that I couldn’t have planned on getting beforehand and then making them into hats. I’ve tried going to stores with certain fabrics in mind, but you can’t begin to imagine what you’re going to find once you get there. It’s very much like thrift shopping in that sense.

Along with it being hard to find exactly the right fabric people want in their custom hat, Wyatt also stresses a lot more when creating these custom orders which, as a creative myself, takes everything fun out of what you are doing. Wyatt starts to worry about everything he is doing when he’s creating a hat for a specific person;

-“They’re totally not going to like the material I found” “I should really charge more considering what went into just finding this fabric but I’m afraid the price will scare them off” “what if they changed their mind.”

These are all very valid thoughts to have and to worry about, so he likes to stick to making his own hats 100% and finding people that love what he is making on his own and who want to buy his ideas and not have him create their own ideas. Once again, Wyatt’s words will explain this better than I can, so here’s what he had to say:

-I’d 100% rather make what I like and have people pick from that. I’ve got an eye for what works and what doesn’t work, plus I’ve acquired a solid collection of materials that I can bring home one fabric from the store and have half a dozen others that will work with it. It’s like clothing shopping. You know what you have and when you see something on a rack you immediately go yo that would go sick with that jacket or with that hat or those shoes or whatever. Plus the entire process goes much smoother and comes way more naturally when I do it all myself

One thing I was really curious about when checking in on Wyatt this time was if the first post I wrote about him gave him more followers, supporters, and buyers for everything he has created and I was extremely pleased to hear his answer to this. Since the first post Wyatt has gotten nothing but positive feedback, support, and people wanting to buy his work. He says it’s crazy how many people have reached out to him saying how proud they are that he is following his passion and creating amazing work. The support coming in is ranging from people who find him via my post or through instagram that he doesn’t even know to his friends parents hitting him up and telling him to keep doing what he’s doing. This is amazing to me and I’m so glad I could have a part in getting Wyatt’s name and his work out there. It’s still amazing to him when somebody asks him to buy one of his WyattMade creations.

-And for other people to reach out and say they really enjoy what I make to the point where they want to spend their money on it? That’s bat shit crazy to me hahaha it blows my mind every. Single. Time.

Just recently Wyatt posted the hat you see above on his instagram with a caption that said something to the effect of “If somebody purchases this hat I’ll do a giveaway of one of my other hats” oddly enough that hat sold and the next day I asked Wyatt to be featured on my blog again. He said it was perfect timing since he had just sold the other hat, so guess what people, WE WILL BE GIVING AWAY ONE OF WYATT’S TO A RANDOMLY SELECTED WINNER HERE ON THE BLOG! The hat we will be giving away is the one pictured below!

This hat is so dope I wish I could enter my own giveaway! There are so many different ways you could style this bad boy, and I’m just in love.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Alright, I know this is what you’ve all been waiting for: the giveaway! Just like all the other giveaways we are going to make the entering process very easy. In order to enter for a chance to win this spectacular hat all you have to do is comment in the comment section below what your favorite pattern/fabric would be if you could pick it out for one of your own hats! Make sure you also leave your full name and an email I can reach you at in case you do happen to win this giveaway! The giveaway will be open until Friday December 16th at Midnight, so you can enter right up until that last minute! The winner will be chosen at random and contacted through a replied comment, an email, and through social media if possible. If the winner doesn’t claim their hat within 48 hours a new winner will be chosen.

Mr. Wyatt Zingarelli would like to personally thank all of his supporters, followers, and customers for being absolutely amazing and totally supportive of his dream. He always expresses how grateful he is for these people, but he feels as though he can never say it enough! Wyatt says he’ll never be able to fully get across his gratitude for everybody that has helped and supported him through his journey of doing what he loves! Make sure you are always staying up to date with Wyatt and everything he is creating. I promise you won’t be disappointed!

Social Media Information

Wyatt Zingarelli:

Instagram- wyattmade

Snapchat- wyattzinagrelli