Saturday, November 28, 2009

Uncommon Fair Weather and my Lovely New Fairie Helpers

The weather is uncommon fair these days. I cant remember such a glorious morning as this one was today. The temperature was just the right degree of pleasant and it was windy - but a beautiful, warm, balmy kind of windy. I loved it. (can you tell I'm reading Dickens right now?)

And then Shelby came over this afternoon and made me a bazillion lovely little labels to put in all my garments. One of these days, I will actually get around to having grown up real life professional labels made again. But til then ..........Ive got great little home grown ones. And Im perfectly happy with them.

So I now have two wonderful interns who seem happy for now to sit and do my little sewing chores that I cant get to. It is helping me soooooooooooo much! Shelby and Amina: both belly dancers and both very proficient with their sewing skills. And it seems that I am helping them hone their skills further.....so far so good. A great trade!

Here is Shelby looking happy to be my helper!

And here is Amina - sorry for the blurry photo, but I like it! We'll see more of her soon!

Well, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. At least those in the U.S., that is. I don't really celebrate it - I have my issues with it all despite my being thankful for so many things. But I did roast myself a juicy little turkey because I just happened to be at the grocery store the day before and they were on sale for $7.00. Good thing too, because I didn't really plan for a holiday and it snuk right up on me with no food in the frig!

So now the stores are having their holiday sales and the madness is on. Even Etsy is pushing everyone to offer free shipping. But.......dudes.....(cant believe I just said "dudes").......thats a good chunk of change considering its almost $40 to ship to Australia - for some things. I just cant do it. And I did have a very successful September Sale. So I think Ive done my part to try to make everyone have a chance for some savings.

I have a lot of fun skirts, scarves, sleevelets, and a new style - the Jessiepant (a shorter version of the Fluffie Rufflie Dance Pants named after my neighbor Jessie - who commissioned a pair from me!) that are cut out and just waiting to be sewn up. I was trying so hard to have them done by December, but I don't think I'm going to reach that goal. Still trying though, and will be posting things on Etsy as usual when I can.

I am climbing up out of my custom orders. Still have a way to go, but almost everything has been cut up, bundled and awaiting construction. Ive been making headway and I think Ive cut the wait down a bit.

I put my custom ordering section back up in my Etsy shop, but I did make some changes. I had to raise some prices - not dramatically, just realistically. But I will take more measurements for some things, which will mean even better fit and offer more color choices with the velvet Sampants. Some of my sources are going away. Some fabrics are not as plentiful or at as good a price. I can make you amazing things, but the prices go up according to what it is and what it is made of. I expect that this will lessen the load of my custom pants somewhat, but the wait time will not be as long and I wont be feeling rushed all the time. At least that is the plan. And if you want something that I dont offer, you just have to pay for it. Thats the way the world goes round.

So that kind of made me sad because I wanted to make pretty things for everyone. But I cannot afford it any longer. :(

So lets drink lots of holiday cheer and remember what this season is all about. I am not being a good retailist here. I need to make sales in order to survive. BUT I hate the holiday pressure and there are so many now who just cannot make ends meet. Lets not make everyone feel stressed. Lets just do nice things for each other - like doing someones' dishes or sweeping someone's driveway or picking up trash so the street looks nicer .............little things like that that make life easier for everyone........Happy Holidaze!!!!!!!!!! Let the games begin!!!!!

kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

No comments: