Good Morning!!

Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen! As most of you - but not all of you - know, I have been helping Carolena E Nericcio-Bohlman create a fun line of wearables that can be worn to dance class or cross over into your day and evening wear! This is the Bessie line of clothing that started with my Bessie skirt! This skirt was designed to be practically lived in and Carolena and I worked on some improvements to the design and then went on to make more great things to wear! The Bessie skirt was designed to be worn in more ways than I can mention here - I wear mine ALL THE TIME!!!!! I have been seen chopping weeds and digging in my my garden in my old one - and sashaying into a party in my newer one. It makes your butt look dynamic!! All the butts.......
What makes the Bessie Skirt unique is the way in which it is designed to be flattering on all bodies, and to be worn in many different ways. You can leave it down, or take one or more of the loops placed at the hem and attach them to one or more of three buttons at the hip line. You can wrap it around your body, wear it as a strapless dress, bustle it up in back or at the sides, or turn it into a pair of pants - I kid you not! 

And now we have the Choli Dress, which is also a smashing success! It has a built in choli underneath, is open in the back, ties in the back like a choli, and has buttons and loops so that it can be worn in a myriad of ways!

Come here to this link to buy your very own or to see more photos! Keep checking in! We are working on so many new designs and ideas! I can tell you one thing......Plus sizes are going to be offered for the Bessie Skirt ! The pattern is being graded as we speak! More is coming down the pike, my friends!!!! Keep Checking In!!!

COME SHOP HERE

Sewing Instruction Starting September 16th at Studio SF!!!

August 16th started my new project: a collaborative effort of sewing and textiles instruction with Carolena Nericcio - Bohlman. I have been sewing and making things since the age of  5 and Carolena has been sewing since her teens. She has formal training. She has an extensive knowledge of textile, sewing, design, construction, and costuming. She has a tribal belly dance costume pattern that has been published through Follkwear.  I have an extensive knowledge of textiles, sewing, design and construction with a couple sewing patterns for sale under my belt. Ive done years of high end garment making and costuming. I design, do quality alteration work, understand the ins and outs of reading and following a pattern, I know how to make a pattern fit everyone or how to choose a design that will work for you - between the both of us, we have a lot to offer.

It is time. Time to break down the barriers between the sewing world and the world of the person who yearns to make things, but has no training. As we all know, the basics of making one's own clothing are skills that most of us are not taught any longer. We all should at least know how to sew on a button or hem a pair of pants. Many of us have fit problems or are sick of what the prescribed fashion of the day offers us.

So I took two new students down to Fabric Outlet: the local fabric store located conveniently down the street from the San Francisco studio, and I gave them a tour of the various sections. See - they don't look scared or confused at all!
Here are Isabel and Helen about to purchase taffeta for new pantaloons!

 I grew up navigating fabric and notions because if was common for little 5 &  Dimes to have a sewing department when I was a kid. More people sewed in those days and. it became second nature to me. We don't have access to all of that fabric abundance now. Most of us have never been in a fabric store. Our options are limited. Sewing machines that are now very user friendly scare us to death. What the hell is a bobbin??????????? And even though there is probably a Joannes or Hancock Fabrics near many of us somewhere.........most of us are still overwhelmed when entering the doors.

After our fabric store tour,  I gave a little tutorial on the basics of a sewing machine. It helped. They now have  fabric and notions that they were able to pick out without a lot of stress, and with some practice, they can take on their sewing machines with less fear. And there was a lot of laughter. That was a good sign.

Because Studio SF is set inside a belly dance studio, and because Carolena has her tribal pattern at the ready and  our first students are dancers, we are starting three segments that pertain to ATS (American Tribal Style belly dance) : Pantaloons, Dance Skirt, and a Choli. The Pantaloons class starts on September 16th!

And with luck, our intention is to be able to move on to things like hand sewing, simple alterations, and MORE Folkwear patterns!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG - there are so many to choose from and there are so many I want to make. What a great excuse!!!! :)

Register here  - Space is limited, but we have room for a couple more students!  Register now!!

Here are the deets for the classes:
Join Kathleen and Carolena in a series of classes designed to teach you the love of all things textile! Make your own costume using the Folkwear Tribal Dancer Pattern.

Pantaloons - 16, 23, 30 Sep
10-Yard Skirt - 7, 14, 21 Oct
Choli - 18, 25 Nov, 2 Dec

* Learn to shop for fabric and prepare it for sewing. Choose yarn and needles appropriate for a project.
* Understand how to read and fit a sewing pattern.
* Learn basic, intermediate and advanced sewing skills.


Week 1: We’ll start with a trip to the fabric store to select appropriate fabric for Pantaloons, a 10-Yard Skirt and a Choli. Next we’ll prepare the fabric for sewing and take a peek at the pattern instructions.

Week 2: Measure twice, cut once! We’ll take measurements, cut the fabric and start sewing.

Week 3: Fitting and final touches.

Price
$110 for the three-class in series.
Class Size
Limit 5 students per session

Please note: Fabric shopping starts at 5pm to give us time before the shop closes at 7pm.

Class Time: 6pm - 9pm

Address:
670 S Van Ness Ave
San Francisco, Ca 94110
415-431 -4322
www.fcbd.com

Slow Fashion and the birth of The Bessie Design Studio and Boutique

Ive been busy lately helping to set up a new sewing/design studio over at the FatChanceBellyDance, Inc. studio in San Francisco! I'll be working on my KCCC projects over here in the Crockett studio and *mostly* working on the Bessie line of clothing and accessories over in the city. So sorry to anyone who has attempted to contact me and didnt get an answer back.........Ive literally been pretty overwhelmed with juggling commitments and projects!

 We now call the whole FCBD studio "Studio SF". It houses the FatChanceBellyDance studio and store, the Nakarali Jewelry Company, and the Bessie Design Studio and Boutique. Carolena Nericcio- Bohlman has completely redecorated the whole place = including swanky new fixtures and office! The dressing room is wonderful! Its coming along nicely!
 Its pretty exciting!!

 Despite the commute, I am liking this arrangement and I'm having a lot of fun! Not only am I seeing new and familiar faces again, it has been awesome for me to get out into the world - now I feel that I have the best of both!!!! (and my favorite fabric suppliers are right down the street!!!!! How I and my wallet have missed them so!)

At the moment, Carolena and I are learning how to master a new little  coverstitch machine that may very well be a game-changer in our Slow-Fashion production. After we did some research, she ordered the Janome Coverpro900. We're working with that slinky drapey cotton/lycra jersey and while Ive previously avoided it like The Plague, there is no denying that it makes a fine, wearable garment that is economical to produce. We have a cute little top that would benefit by a good coverstitched hem and neckline and we've got quite a learning curve. We will both be taking classes in how to use her. And the reviews and tutorials in the PatternReview.com website are invaluable.  So in true Gemini spirit, I am again in two places that suit the many facets of my personality and skills. One always feeds off the other. The New Baby:

 Every day we are rearranging and expanding our space - and making it work.  And when we've got it a bit more under control and flowing smoothly, we will expand to include a class or workshop or two....we have a lot of great ideas that I think will be fun to share!  For now, we are focusing on fullfilling orders, getting our stock up, and getting ready for vending at Cues And Tattoos in Seattle and then, of course, Tribal Fest! I see us expanding into other sectors...but baby steps. It IS Slow Fashion after all. We are right on trend.

For ordering/shopping for your Bessie Design items, go HERE!! You can, of course, find out all about American Tribal Style Belly Dance and see what classes and workshops are offered!

ATS HOMECOMING 2015 !!!!

The brainchild of Carolena Nericcio-Bohlman, ATS Homecoming is a new three day convention for ATS (American Tribal Style) Belly Dancers and lovers of this dance style. This first of its kind event will be held at the San Francisco Marriott from Thursday January 8th - 11th. I will be vending along with many other amazing designers and artisans. I hope to see some or all of you there!

I am also organizing a little Vendor Fashion Show on Friday evening, January 9th so that we can each show you a sample of our clothing/adornments on a live body - and some ways you can coordinate your wardrobe with our fashionable offerings! Its going to be fun! If you plan on attending and would like to be a model - you can email me at kc.costumecouture@gmail.com.

The Bessie Line of clothing will be at the FatChanceBellyDance booth. I will be vending my KathleenCrowleyCouture wares with Salome's Suitcase for your shopping pleasure!!!

You can go HERE for more information and directions on how to get to the venue!!!

Studio SF

Well, Happy New Year everyone! 2014 was pretty good to me and I hope it was for you as well! And on that note, 2015 is coming in with a bang for me!! I will be spending a great deal of time at the newly renovated FatChanceBellyDance studio in San Francisco where I will be working closely with Carolena Nericcio-Bohlman on our growing Bessie Line of clothing and adornments!

 Carolena and I have known each other for a very long time now and we are melding our ever-growing love of fashion that is flattering, easy to wear, and makes you feel awesome at any age. But with our naturally maturing minds and bodies, we are gravitating to wanting older women to be able to feel as awesome as we did when we were younger. We do not strive to be invisible. You can still be fun and faithful to living outside the box. You can still feel alive and vital in your clothes! And that is our mission. We don't like what is being offered to us and so we will make it for ourselves and for you. Being dancers and of the dance world, we know how your clothing needs to make you feel and fit...........................

So I introduce Studio SF:

Stay tuned!!! And Happy 2015!!!

My Bloody Valentine

I started refurbishing some cholis that were not moving. I had a red dye pot and this is what happened. And thats how I like things to happen...........spur of the moment..........just like falling in love............it just happens............maybe Im watching too many Jane Austen movies........................

You can get the love here

Join Us at the 5 & Diamond Pre-Playa Loft Sale!!

I'll have a couple racks of Playa Wear at the 5&Diamond loft sale this year!! A bit of this and a bit of that - sequins, glitter, and cute, sexy stuff all geared toward adorning yourselves in comfort and style out there in the desert! Come by and say hi! Come get your Playa on!!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Cholis!

Ive got some lovely cholis going up in my Etsy shop right now! I wasnt focusing on the store for a while, but thats all changing now, and I'll be listing garments as I make them.

There are a few smalls offered although I have mostly larger sizes at the moment.  I had sold quite a few of the smaller sizes at Tribal Fest this Spring. But I will be making more cholis in a variety of sizes, fabrics, and styles as materials come my way!
- keep checking in!

Ive got some pretty green lace Rattie Tattie Skirts cut out and waiting to be sewn up. Perhaps I should make some matching tops!

Come by my Etsy Shop and check out whats going on! Ive got your classic Sampants, a few of this and some of that...............as always!

I Love My Life!
X

Tribal Fest 2012 Recap

 Tribal Fest 12

To make a long week very short:
It was fun.
I made a new Mother Goddess belt for Lori Tawasha of Bal Anat
I saw some  KCCC  grace the stage
I sold lots.
I caught up with old friends.
I made new friends.
I saw new things.
I took some pictures
I saw some dancing.
I saw a Baby Eater Thing.
I saw a giant unicorn.
I was busy.
I got inspired.
I got sunburned.
I got dirty.
I laughed a lot.
I cant wait to do it again.

Dance Cholis

 Ive started making cholis again.. I had some cut out and so when I had a few hours a while back, I put them together and posted them in my Etsy shop. At the moment, Im experimenting with fabrics and basic choli patterns. Its kind of hard (I think) to make a design that works pretty good, even better. But I dont really like how the larger sizes look sometimes on larger bodies. There is a woman who has designed a way to make cholis  more supportive, but the bottom line, is - you cant really do this the way she does it without some discomfort. And I dont like how those look either. You need to wear an undergarment if you are a full busted woman and want to wear a choli - AND have the girls held up. Or you need to wear a good supportive dance bra over the choli. Not those little tribal tie on bras that hang there. But a real bra with substance. A choli by itelf cannot support without some inner structure.

This, of course, is doable,  but going to take some work. As soon as Ive got my current last few orders out of the way, Im going to enlist the help of some ladies that I know and start to really tackle this problem. A smaller busted woman has no problem finding cute cholis. Those cute little stretch velvet and cotton lycra tops are adorable, but not so flattering on a womanly figure without either some inner support or outer. So we'll see what we can do.

Kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

HAPPYBIRTHDAYTOMESALE!!!!!!

 I woke up this morning and jumped out of bed full of life and energy and a touch of narcissism. Thats right - bonafide narcissism. My favorite word of the day. Usually I putter around for a while making coffee and answering emails and being a facebook friend. But not today. I donned some makeup and curled my hair.  Matthew James (you'll know him soon enough) said that I'm going for that 50's housewife kind of thing. I think he may be right. And this isn't so bad before coffee and a big birthday (we'll just say I'm 37 and leave it at that - because I say so. Don't argue with me). In truth, I had some clients coming over - so I do like to make a good appearance, but this morning was just different.

I don't know what happened. The moon is done with being full? Jupiter and Saturn collided?  The dish ran away with the spoon?

I never celebrate my birthday. I don't enjoy my birthday. I would just as soon forget about my day of birth. I don't know why. I don't say anything to anyone.  Sometimes the day is great. Sometimes its lonely.  I love to be remembered, but I feel no need to talk about it or announce it or remind anyone about it. It usually embarrasses me to have a fuss made. So what has changed?

I just don't know.

         Hmmmmmmmmmm. Its puzzling, int it.

So what should I do for my birthday?

I'll have a 25% off sale!

For my birthday, I'm having a 25% off sale in my Etsy shop. Thats right - 25% off.  I'd go higher, but I have to eat. Thats only fair. Ive never had a sale where I marked everything off 25%. And its making me HAPPY! Patterns and custom goods will be excluded from the sale, but there is a lot of fun stuff in there!

Please enter this code at checkout: HAPPYBIRTHDAYTOME
This will automatically take 25% off of your Etsy purchase. Pretty neat, huh!

So there ya go........hope you see something that you've lusted for and cant justify right now. I wish I had more sizes, but this is what I have left after my festivals and events over the last 4 weeks. When it moves out the door, there is room to make more! (yes, Jeanette, that's your vest in the mirror - I'm finishing it up!)

 Ive got a couple sword bags that I'll put in the shop. Vintage trims and drapery velvet make a lush bag to carry your dance sword or your gym clothes in - I dragged mine through the U.K three times (before the sword ban).Maybe its just the thing you've been looking for!

 Now that my Fluffie Rufflie Dance Pant pattern tutorial is up, I'll just put the finishing touches on the FR Pantaloons, and then I can focus on finishing some custom orders and new merchandise. I had talked a lot about teaching sewing lessons at one time, but my patterns ate up my life there for a while. So keep checking in - Ive got some ideas that I will throw out there. I think you'll like what I have in mind and I know we can have fun with it!

kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

Here is a video of the Salome's Suitcase ShadowDance Fashion Show.
Enjoy!

You can contact any of the designers and artists by clicking on their pages or going to:
salomes.suitcase@gmail.com

Thank you to Ariellah for inviting us to participate in ShadowDance as both vendors and entertainment!

Thank you to the models for your patience, and for your grace and beauty!

Thank you to Jessie Cowan of Crops and Bobbers for your uber amazing hair and makeup!

Thank you to Melanie Shapiro for assisting with hair and makeup!

Thank you to Bellyscape for the video!

And we thank ourselves/each other at Salome's Suitcase - this is a rare group of strong creative women who work very hard to make the world a nicer looking journey for you.

Designers/Artisans  in this show:
FoolProof Studio
KathleenCrowleyCostumeCouture
Katherine Summer
HiBeam Bindis
Sandi's Ocean
Minerva's Antennae

Models in order of appearance:
Elizabeth Strong wearing Fool Proof Studio
Natalie Nayun wearing a Salome's Suitcase Collective look
Predislava Derugin wearing a Salome's Suitcase Collective look
Amaryst Bauer wearing Fool Proof Studio
Scottie Chapman wearing Fool Proof Studio
Rose Nisker wearing Katherine Summer
Sandi Ball wearing KathleenCrowleyCostumeCouture
Molly Mitchell wearing KathleenCrowleyCostumeCouture
Amber Burke wearing KathleenCrowleyCostumeCouture
Jamie Lynn wearing Katherine Summer

Some models were wearing HiBeam Bindis and awesome jewelry from the Sandi's Ocean collection.

Music:
Miss Levine by Beats Antique

PRIDE 2009

Every year, FatChanceBellyDance and students get asked to open for the Dykes On Bikes at the start of the San Francisco Pride parade on Market Street. This always means getting up very early in the morning and there are not a whole lot of viewers out yet, but the DOB love us and the press surrounds us like vultures - its a photo op fest!

At first it didnt seem like a whole lot of dancers would be able to show up this year, so I volunteered. I dont dance much anymore but this one is always fun and while we all want to do our best, dancing on concrete isnt easy and I figured I wouldnt be the worst dancer! It is always such a flurry of color and drama that a little loose technique isnt going to offend anyone!

But so many showed up for the live drumming......it was a blast..........



While I was in one quartet, we started moving around and the lead dancer was heard to say ........"head for the biggest camera!" It was one of the funniest moments ever! She was right, of course! Ok - it was Kristine Adams, my room mate - photographer extroidenare. So she would know.........


Above is Kristine heading for the biggest camera!


photos: Sean Vallely


So to make a long story short, I and my friends got into an SFGate photo that day and if I never do this again, I have a nice momento to mark the occasion.



kc.costumecouture@gmail.com