A Reseller???

I was flagged as a reseller on Etsy. I'm not sure if I should be angry or complimented. It was very stressful though, the possibility of my shop being closed down on the basis of someones flag. I blog a lot of my projects here, but this has never been a place for me to promote my shop. It has been more of an online gallery for me to share with people that enjoy making and designing clothing. To share with other people that have a passion for vintage patterns or any pattern.  Show my mistakes and what I learned from them. Best of all share my triumphs! I love that a lot of my customers follow to watch their dress in progress.

My blog was not enough proof that I actually make my own things. I had to take pictures and answer a lot of questions to prove that I did indeed create my designs. I understand this because they needed to make sure the pictures were recent. Lucky for me I had an unfinished dress that I could pose with.

I'm happy to say my shop will not be suspended! Here is my picture in case someone decides to flag me again and happens to look on my blog. I take a lot of pride in what I do and am actually baffled that I've had to deal with Etsy Integrity three times now. Hopefully this will be the last.

Vintage Pattern Substitute

You know how I love vintage patterns. This on is on Ebay right now Vogue Couturier 101! So cute...but do I need it when I can substitute it with a newer pattern and use a vintage pattern on hand for the skirt. Instead of the midriff section lengthen the bodice. Or keep the midriff for a nice contrast color. McCall's 5382. It is out of print but you can still get if for under $5.00 if you shop around.

Dress 12 Aqua and White

I love this dress! Most that order it want the black with cream, but this aqua (my pictures make it look blue) is simply darling!

 Right now I have 3 green dresses with bolero, 1 fuchsia dress with bolero, 1 yellow and another 30's gown that are supposed to be done this month. The yellow one I'm going to have to push back to Feb. It is for the prom so it won't be an issue. I have one green dress almost done so four dresses in 9 days. Wish me luck!

Dress 11 a Chinese Wedding Dress

This was fun color combination for me. I love red and white they compliment each other beautiful. The bride is getting married in China. How exciting. She wanted a dress that could be worn again and a breathable fabric. We went with sateen. She told me she would be sharing some pictures and hope to see them.

Can you say 3rd time is a charm?

I'm so behind on schedule. Why do you ask, because I had to make a pretty elaborate dress three times. Yes three times!!!

The first one I made with a stretch satin. It draped so beautifully, but when I put it on the form it was too small and there was nothing I could do but redo the entire gown. The gown pictured is unfinished. The second dress I used a satin and the way I did the lining it did not drape as nicely as I wanted it to.

Another thing i was not impress with the second one is the zipper. It bunched and curled a bit, but on a person it did not. So why did this dress not work out? It was a fabric flaw that I did not notice. Tiny purple ink marks. Imagine my horrification when I was contacted by my customer that there were marks on the dress. I immediately apologized up and down and told her I would make her another and to sweeten the deal I would use a Radiance Silk that I love from fabric.com. I also asked her if she would prefer a button up back and she was thrilled with that idea. Here is the back of the two dresses.

 Here is the final dress, I redesigned the lining so it kept the beautiful drape. She was very happy with the end results. I am happy that she is happy, but now have one unfinished dress and one dress I'm hoping a dry cleaner will be able to get the ink spots out.  I'm not going to say where I received the fabric, but I'm not very happy about it. I looked over my remnants and found more purple ink spots on them. Very tiny and my lighting really sucks at my house.

New Pattern

I just had to get this pattern. It is so beautiful! I can't wait to make it. I think it would be even better tea length with loads of tulle!

Happy New Year

It is hard to believe that another year has past us. It went by way to fast. I had a lot of wonderful experiences in 2011. 2011 was my most successful year and I'm hoping to surpass this in 2012.

I learned a lot about the dos and don'ts when selling online. I have always been a trusting person, I take people for their word. I actually shipped and some will be shocked about this, 9 dresses without payment. Out of these 9 dresses only one person did not live up to their word and pay. It was unfortunate for me that the order was 3 of the 9 dresses. A hard lesson learned, but I still value the good in people and if it is necessary to get a dress to someone in time I probably will do it again.

In 2011 I also got to me one of my clients in person. That was so much fun. I hope to get more local orders so I can do it again.

Being a part of so many people's special day has had it awards and discouragements. I don't regret any of it and hope to learn from successes and failures in this new year.

I have a lot of plans for 2012, new designs that I want to do. I've got a list of crafts that I want to share. It is a promising year for creating and I'm excited about it.

Happy New Year to all and I wish you all the happiness for 2012!