Rattie Tattie Adjustable Length Skirts

When I can get around to making these skirts, they usually fly out the window. Why? Because they have three channels in the upper body of the skirt that allow you to adjust the length of this garment in many ways. And they are super cute and comfortable!

Granted,. this is not a new idea and has been around for years, but I dont see a lot of people offering these styles fairly consistantly. I adopted this technique years ago with many other skirts, pants, and dresses - and whoever I was inspired by (probably the Belgians in the 90's), we thank you!

 I often, but not always, use the fabrics left over from cutting out my other garments. Not only are they rarely ever all the same, but there is less of a toxic footprint on the environment, I can keep the costs down, and you can get a versatile, cost effective piece of clothing that will serve as a base for many different looks if you choose.

Clothing, costuming, bridal, steampunk, romantic, gothic......................the choices are many depending on the colors, the fabrics used, and your imagination!

Below are some of the best photos that I could take of the various possibilities. This is one skirt from my limited edition Harvest series. Some are subtle - meaning that the same length adjustment on a different position on your hips will change the whole look - and some are very obvious. Not all bodies are the same, so one look will be better on one person than another. But how rare to have choices!! And in this day and age when our pennies need to go a long way, how cool is it that you can get more bang for your buck!

The dress form and my camera limitations cannot convey the depth of color and how lovely these really are in real life - but if you think its cute, trust me, you'll think its even cuter when it arrives on your doorstep!
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My First Floorcloth

Finally I am finding my old photos of some of my work from 5 years ago and beyond!

Oakville Grocery Promotional Grand Opening Gig '06

 Back in the day, when businesses still went all out for Grand Openings and such stuff, I got hired on to create a few over the top projects. I LOVED doing this kind of thing. It was a challenge and always fun!

 Unfortunately, this business went under some time  after it opened, but the location is dear to my heart. I spent many an afternoon in the Cannery as a child and teenager. In fact, the whole wharf area was a always a big draw for me. Teeming with life:  pungent smells, delicious food, beaches, seagulls, boats, Alcatraz, exotic dialects, interesting people walking around  from all walks of life - from all over the globe, tacky souvenirs and tourist traps..................it was more than my youth could desire. So I came here with my family as a child and escaped to this place when I could as a teenager with my BFF's. It was fitting that I make some kind of over the top display to make my mark.

 To construct this kind of monstrosity, one has to have the whole circumference of the floor plan. I was lucky in that someone walked the courtyard for me and took great measurements. I figured out the yardage almost down to the inch There wasn't a lot of leftover. But because I always get a bit extra, there was enough to make a dress. which I did for a shop window display.

 You have to figure out what you can sew together and what will have to be taped or glued together. I didn't want anyone tripping so I sewed a lot of this t and then rolled it up as I went along. The big long lengths of picnic table fabric were then laid out and taped down. We used a lot of double sided carpet tape for this.And Discount Fabrics gave me a great deal because I ordered mega yards of this red and white stuff..
And by "WE", I mean my friends who I bribed to help me with this (and who never let me forget it) and the people who hired me to carry out the concept. Everyone chipped in on this group effort and you know who your real friends are when they actually show up. If  you read this and want to be linked - please give me a shout! Special thanks to Chris March (who referred me),  Matthew James and Steven LeMay of Retrofit.  I want to give you all credit where credit is due: you guys kicked ass and have been my pillars of strength on numerous occasions!!!

 As you can see, We had some trees, planters, and benches to cut around. And we had to work fast. In the end, it was so nice to be able to sit down on the giant tablecloth and enjoyed some catered food and watch the smiles on the tourists faces!!

 The only down side to the project was that I was hoping some recycling businesses would take this off my hands. No way. :( This was pretty disheartening and I had nowhere to store it, so we had to throw it in a pile behind the store and I'm sure it was hauled off to the dump.

kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

Dont Be Mad At Us Vendors: Be Mad At The Republican Party

Ive been too busy to post lately and I was too busy to celebrate being here in my new studio and little town for one whole year as of August 15th! I have to be honest. Without the support of my customers, the move would never have been possible. I had great dreams for moving my business forward , decorating my studio, and getting a car. Well, as the bottom fell out of the American Dream, I ended up just trying to ride this roller coaster out and there was no moving forward. Treading water and trying not to sink was the focus for that year. And it was very scary. And I was really, really angry. All my hard work was just sliding into the toilet.

As when all apple barrels get upturned, someone gets mad regardless of whether you overturned them apples yourself or not. And so Ive managed to be overly late on a few custom Fluffie Rufflie orders that were being placed just when the shit came down. This isn't normal behaviour and these are special times. I do state on my Etsy listings that anything and everything can and will affect your order. It states right there in plain English all my info for you, the buyer. All you have to do is read it. Its just that simple. And everyone gets their goods. My postal receipts are sure fewer than they were last year, but I do still have enough to show that Ive been busy! Sellers don't want to talk about angry customers, but everyone gets one now and then. Its a numbers game. But I am here to talk about it all. Sometimes you get one or two that just don't get it, or don't read, or don't get the email that you sent, and sometimes you, the seller got it all wrong despite how hard you tried. But the truth is, nobody could stay in business if everyone hated what you did. I personally have had a few bad experiences buying online. Just enough to make me wary of doing it. But the vendors seem to have a happy customer base, so it was probably that this was when my number was up. Like I said, Shit happens and most vendors are more than willing to try to make you happy somehow. Nobody can make everyone happy all the time.

All my pending Fluffie Rufflie orders are done now ( except for one - and its almost done - and she knows about it) and I wont be making them again like I was.  Ive never believed in that saying that the customer is always right and I never will. If it were, we wouldn't have pages and pages of rules and information and contracts for you to read  to cover our asses. Because my loves: shit happens. And while I generally bend over backwards to give the customer what he or she wants - because I want us both to be happy with the product, this year pretty much almost did me in. Its nobody's fault. Fear is everywhere. And where there is fear, there is bad behavior. I have not been exempt from the fear factor, so Ive done my best to keep positive. Its hard to do sometimes and I have had my moments, but I don't want to attract that fear into my life any more than is already there.I want to thrive.

BUT. During this whole time, I have always felt that something new or different is around the corner and I still do. I have no idea what this "something" is, but its coming. Somehow, for some reason, Ive managed to keep this roof over my head and eat. And I owe this only to anyone who has ever purchased or commissioned anything from me. And I am here for a reason. The right people are starting to find me, and things are slowly feeling better. It may be another rocky winter, but for some reason, I feel that its not going to be that bad.

I love  what I do and I'm going to keep doing it one way or another. Ive got projects that I'm working on and Ive closed out the work that isn't viable  for me any longer. Its been a year of transition and those are always difficult, but very, very beneficial if you can get out of them in one piece. I'm still alive, I'm still working, I'm still in my dream studio, and if it wasn't the year of paying off debt, or buying a car and mega yards of brocade for new draperies that I had planned on, hopefully  next year will be.I still got to make some really cool stuff! And now that all those smaller orders are not hanging over my head, I am freed up for more work - for bigger projects. For making new merchandise. For a new day.

So don't be mad at us sellers.  Be mad at the Republicans or Demons of your choosing. We didn't cause this mess. Thank you.