Corsetry Day Today

Its lazy hazy summer in San Francisco today. I didn't want to get out of bed this morning and neither did any of the pets. Usually someone is up and at em by now, but the roomie is off teaching somewhere for a FCBD General Skills week and I must have been using her a.m. schedule as my alarm clock!

Today is my designated corset making day. Molly just got a real job and wont be sewing for me any longer so we are doing corsetry 101 before she goes off to her new life. I have a Victorian style mock up to make - as well as a waist cincher and hopefully I can get going again on a Victorian for me.

I'll soon be posting on Craigslist for a part time production sewer. Just one offs - or small lots. I would like someone who can speak and understand English, and not just have good sewing skills, but can crank stuff out with good quality control. Home sewers need not apply unless you have had production training. I cant afford to teach anyone new tricks at this point! I would prefer this person to make a few things here so I can show just how I like things done and then they can take it home for piecework. If anyone knows of anyone in SF who would qualify, please let me know! This person must have at least an industrial straight stitch and serger.

I often get people offering to help me cut and sew, but its just not the same as home sewing. You actually have to know the tricks of the trade and know how to crank stuff out. You have to know how to cut and sew accurately and quickly. Ive had interns and I may do this again, but this would slow me down right now. So for all the good intentions - and Ive tried hiring friends and home sewers - no offense, but I cant afford the slowdown!

I'm actually wishing I could clone myself in a body that's much younger, but don't we all!



So corsetry day is upon me. I coffee stained the one in the picture because I wanted it pretty ratty looking and distressed. I added lots of lace and trim and pearls. I'll make a skirt to match and post it on etsy one of these days.

I made a lot of black Sampants and they sold out before I could post them up on etsy. So I went and got more fabric yesterday and will try to cut it all out at some point this week.

What I really need to do very, very soon is to have someone clean up the patterns that I have been using, grade them properly (or again), get them up to speed so that I can hand them and fabric over to a cutter and have this all done for me. I am about to that point now. Its either do this right or do something else because its just all too much for one person to juggle. And why have I not done this yet? Well, its always a case of being able to afford it.........it takes a lot of money to make a line of clothing.

kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

Its been slow in coming. but Im starting to post some new merch up on etsy!
For all you lovers of a good stripe, I have a very small run of striped Sampants. This is what I have left over from vending at the SF Mecca Bazaar. Since my studio is belly dance central half the time, sizes get snapped up before I can get them listed online. When that proverbial ship comes in, I'll be able to produce items more quickly and in greater number. But til then, its a series of limited items, small runs, and custom orders.

These are great for Burning Man by the way!

Happy August! It is starting to fly quickly by!

kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

Prepare For The Playa

I dont know why this photo comes out blue when I upload it - but go here for the website!

Its time to start getting your playa groove on.........I'll be vending at Prepare For The Playa with Black Lotus Clothing on August 22nd!

I'll have more Sampants
Skirts
Tops - I'll have some tops this time - I promise!
Baby Bloomers
Hip wraps and scarves to keep the dust out!

Prepare For The Playa
Saturday, August 22nd
Artist Grotto and North Parking Lot
Sports Basement
1590 Bryant St. SF

Free Entry - so no excuses!!!!!

Hafla Tonight

I should have posted this a while ago, but I was just too busy to do much blogging til I took my much needed day off yesterday!

Gibson Pearl and Wendy Marlatt will be performing as well as many more, Im sure!

A Good Day Off

I took today off. Yes I did. I went to see the Richard Avedon Exhibit at SF MOMA. I didn't know I was going to see it - I just knew I was going to free day at the museum, so this was the icing on the cake!

And I saw the Georgia O'Keefe exhibit as well, but she doesn't float my boat like Richard does.

Sigh.

Then I went home and sewed sequins and buttons onto a shoulder bag, blogged, and made silly comments on facebook.

A good day off. I'll have another one day.........

kc.costumecouture.com

Dynamic Loveliness

Libby Bulloff took this lovely photo of Molly Mitchell (Deshret Dance Company) a while back. Its just gorgeous! Libby's art work can be found at her etsy store!

Molly is wearing a custom made gold knit jersey skirt based on the Rattie Tattie one that I produce. I made this skirt a little differently - longer and with more lace. It still scrunches up in three places for great draping effects! You can see her dancing in it at the Maker Fair below:



kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

Mecca Bazaar 2009

This woman was so cute. She modeled one of my lacie shrugs towards the end of the day. The whole afternoon was like this.....I think everyone had fun.......

I didn't know how the Mecca Bazaar was going to go today, seeing as I gave the world the wrong address. But everyone showed up and all the wonderful cutting edge usual suspects were vending and it made me happy to be among them! I heard the show was great last night and there is still more to come as this is an immersion - a week of intense workshops and classes and shopping - a perfect and unusual event for those who don't live here and cant have access to all the wonders of belly dance on a day to day basis that we take for granted.

I always love meeting those that have ordered from me or have contacted me in some way.
I especially love it when someone from far, far away comes all the way to San Francisco and buys something that I have made to take back home and wear. It feels like a part of me now lives in another country. This is so magical and romantic to me.

Today, I was amazed at how creative these wonderful women who dance are. They were taking my scarves and tying and wrapping and using them for everything but what I originally made them for! It reminded me of when I was a kid and took fabric and manipulated it to make myself into a princess or a frontier explorer, or a pirate.




Here is Deb Fink showing us how to wrap a scarf.........

Maybe now that we have to watch our pennies, our brains are churning ever harder and looking for more ways to make our dollars stretch. Why buy three skirts when you can buy one with three or four looks. Why buy a certain thing and wear it for one look, when you can take one thing and turn it into five looks. Its so much fun! Anyway, I noticed it more today than I usually have and I took note......

Thank you Lisa for being such a huge help!



kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

Mecca, Mecca, Mecca!

It is Sf Mecca Immersion time and I'll be vending at the Boutique on Sunday.
Here's the scoop:

SF Mecca Boutique Bazaar
August 2nd
City Dance Studio near Van Ness and Market
10 Cotton St. SF
3-6pm

I'll be bringing with me as many Sampants as I can muster!
Fluffie Rufflies, lace goodies, skirts, and more!

See you there!

Rattie Tattie Skirts!

Kristine, my lovely friend and room mate is wearing her Rattie Tattie skirt with her cotton Lycra Sampants.

I have two skirts left up on my etsy shop! You can wear these several ways, as there are three ways to rouch this skirt up for a drapey bustled affect. And its a subtle effect - appropriate for day wear, as Kristine can attest!

I'll be vending again soon - so grab these while you can! I may not be making more in the stripes!

kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

Stupid White People And The Meaning Of Life

This has nothing to do with fashion or costume, but its my blog and I'll write what I want - I just read a comment made by a family member who was joking about bringing a peace pipe to a Burger King on an Indian Reservation in order to get something decent to eat there. Maybe I'm being too sensitive, but I thought this was said in poor taste.
Maybe there was a thread of truth in the statement, though, as Ive seen what goes on behind the scenes in fast food joints and the sight of a wealthy, well fed, blond white woman stepping into a Burger King on an Indian Reservation might very well bring bodily fluids into the meal............just a guess. As would the sight of a wealthy, well fed white G-Man.......just sayin.

So this statement brought me a night of sleeplessness and trendy white guilt. I looked up all the info I could on the state of the Native American people today. Dear God. While it looks like The Bureau of Indian Affairs is trying to better the situation, it still looks like more of the same bullshit that has been doled out for so, so long. I'm no expert and most of us modern Americans are either not interested or we are too busy trying to occupy other lands. And granted, you cant turn back a clock and fix mistakes or wish people away. Many of us are trying with great difficulty to make ends meet in our own little occupied pockets of land. Every country has been occupied - taken over by someone. People and tribes enslaved, wiped out, assimilated. This particular genocide makes me so sad, though. It just wasn't all that long ago that a nation was almost completely wiped out. And look what we've done to the land. Its just awful. However, if I was a white person back then, would my consciousness be at this current level? Would I be like my grandma who chased starving Indians off their stolen land? Probably - but who knows.

This all reminds me of an incident that occurred last year when I was in line at an Asian run convenience store. A drunk Mexican man in front of me was hassling the store owners and calling them names. I tried to shush him up and help them get him out of there, but he spun around to face me and said "why don't you go back to England where you belong!" Well, he had a point and while I wasn't about to argue with a drunk, I totally saw where he was coming from. I couldn't excuse his bad behaviour, but I saw his pain. And all I said was " I tried, but they wont have me." Which was the truth. I looked into it - a lot. And we both just shrugged. We both knew the deal. Whataryagonnado?

So while we don't want to really look at these things or see the underbelly of the wealth of this country, there are real wounds caused by hatred, fear, greed or famine, religious persecution and fanaticism that take many hundreds of years to heal. If not thousands.

Maybe our dear government feels a debt is owed it. It was hard work to exterminate these people and force them onto these little parcels of mostly unworkable land. It cost the United States Of America a whole lot of money to conduct this project. I'm tellin ya - this made the Jewish Holocaust and the Japanese Internment look like a piece of cake!

There is the not so popular view that if the underdog has the tools and technology, it will conduct the same behaviour as the current alpha dog. This may very well be true. People are people and do stupid people things regardless of their color or creed. The humans with the most money and the best tools will always win out. Look at the Vikings, for cryin out loud. White people fight white people. Black people fight black people. Some offer help. Most turn away. Few want to be responsible for their miserable behaviour.

But it really is a sad state of affairs. I wish it would just stop. Well, they say that in 2012 it may very well..........stop. I cant wait to see what happens. I'll be mighty disappointed if there is no drama and happenstance. Mighty disappointed indeed. We need a little cleansing.......not a genetic cleansing, but perhaps the human species could use a little spanking soon. Time out? Play time over? A taste of medicine? One can dream. I dream that it will simply be a time of awakening. We will all just forgive and move forward. So this means that I also have to forgive my relatives, stupid people, ancestors, and my own arrogance ( I must seem stupid to someone )- and hope we all see the light eventually.

Sigh.

kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

Tension

Ahhhhhhhhh sewing machine woes. Just when you think you are almost caught up - or getting to the point where maybe you wont be feeling so pressured, your machine does something. Like not have proper tension despite all your best efforts to correct the situation. I know the drill. Change out the threads to contrasting colors and play with one tension knob at a time til it all gets figured out. Sometimes it corrects itself. Sometimes I throw down my tweezers in despair and scream "WHY AM I DOING THIS???????"

And then it goes back to normal and life goes on. But this is just one little tiny example of why things take longer sometimes to complete than we had planned. Today I start over. Help is on the way on Monday and the flow should be flowing better soon (seems like everyone has decided to go on vacation or something). I have been feeling like I'm in the middle of a log jam lately.

Best intentions and all - time management - the moon is where? Come to think of it, my phone wasn't working yesterday either - maybe it was some solar flare problem. Whatever, right? More coffee and back to my machine!

Maybe your order is in this pile of pretty fabric!
Kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

Climbing The Ladder Of Success

Lisa Hyde is climbing the ladder of success in her Sampants!

You can go to my etsy shop and special order a pair for yourself!
Timing of delivery will depend on how busy I am with projects.........help is on the way and hopefully I'll be getting caught up again soon!

kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

Congratulations Kae!!!!!

Congratulations Are In Store to Kae Montgomery who is now the newest member of FatChanceBellyDance!

As some of you may now know, Kae has been coming in once a week and helping me be organized. The universe was smiling down on me when she appeared!

Typical moment with Kae (workwise) was last week when someone was asking if I could have something done by July. I was all "sure! No Problem" And Kae looked me in the eye and said "Kathleen, July is tomorrow!"

So you see how I think. I lose track of time here in my studio quite often and I need someone to stay on top of things for me.

Kae danced and taught in Japan until she moved here with her husband. Im sure we all be seeing much more of her now!

She will be dancing with the troupe at Tribal Nights:
July 15 @ Baobob Village
8pm
$5
3372 19th st. SF

kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

Who or whatever god is: God Bless America

Im in a very creative mood these days. Yesterday some of my friends sat around and we made collages while drinking wine and collaborating on future fabulous photo shoots and things of that nature.

Yes, I should have been sewing as Im very late in getting some of my work out. Im at that point right now where I feel up against a wall and just have to take myself somewhere else for a day or two or I will explode. I somehow thought at first that running a business that is mainly online would be easier. Woe is me........not, not, not! So much of my time is taken up by being on the computer. And I dont get my sewing done. In a better economy, much would get farmed out again, but for now, Im on my own. Molly is on vacation and help is actually on the way.....but this week is a little tight for time and I hope no one is being too put out.

Tomorrow is American Independence Day. For most of us, its a day off with picnics and parties and fireworks. As with most holidays celebrating the glory of a country, its inhabitants forget who came before and who climbed over who to get said country to where its at. Ours is a bloody and unfortunate history full of genocide and slavery - much like most countries. Things we dont want to think about while eating our potatoe salad. But for all its mishaps and bad mistakes and bloodshed, there is an element of good and while I would still rather live in another country sometimes, Im always glad to get back to the food and ease of every day life that isnt shared in much of the world. Who or whatever god is: God Bless America.

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

Devotion 2009

It is interesting that weaving and cloth and all things pertaining to it seem to be celebrated this month. Dancing as well. I was a silhouette - a mannequin behind the screen at the Devotion show. I mimed sewing and weaving as Ling Shien of Helm read a poem about life, women, weaving, and the encroaching shadow of age. Carolena wrapped her head wrap and prepared to dance. It was lovely.

This meant a lot to me as I owe much to Carolena Nericcio for having a road for me to go down at a time when I wasn't sure what road to take. I certainly took the right one as my life has been forever enriched by discipline, hard work and the fruits of said labors! Oh my god - I could never have done the things Ive done and met the people Ive met without dance. American Tribal Belly dance - ATS - brought me back to myself.

I had such a fun time - the best time I could imagine for being in a dance show and not actually dancing in it! And I'll be dancing at the Pride parade this Sunday morning with the students and some members of FatChanceBellyDance. Very low key and fun to participate in! Market and Beale. 9 am. Come dance with us! We open for Dykes On Bikes!

kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

The Language Of Cloth

What Perfect Timing.......as I was cleaning out old photos from my multitudinous computer files, I ran into these images of a valance and some drapes I had made for Lynne Rutter last summer when I was working in a little shop under her lovely house.

This valance is made from vintage Vietnamese fabric that she got from one of her friend Dan's trunk shows: The Language Of Cloth

The fabric is beautiful and precious and we wanted to put it up so that Lynne could see it in all its' splendor, but I didn't want to wreck it. I wanted her to be able to take it down and use it for something else later on if she wanted to - so I lined the back with blackout curtain fabric to protect the fibers from the sun and we used velcro to attach the runner to the backboard over the drapery hardware. We may have used a staple or two in well disguised places to take care of the buckling problem. I didn't see that this would ruin the tapestry and I really didn't want to handle the fabric any more than I needed to. The backing was hand tacked to the face fabric.

The drapes are a wonderful linen from Discount Fabrics. I cut it up into 4 pieces, surged the edges, and threw it into a hot washer and dryer. It came out looking a little rustic and now she can just throw them in when they get dirty without a care!




The back door curtain is a vintage tablecloth that we hung to keep out the sun and keep in the charm......I love using older textiles that may be worn a bit. It adds so much warmth to a room - not that Lynne's kitchen would ever suffer from the lack of charm or warmth - but, well, its such a nice touch!

kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

My Special Copycat

Today was a big day for me. I wrote my first cease and desist letter to a knock off designer in Canada. I gave her the benefit of the doubt - perhaps she isnt aware of how wrong it is to steal a designer's design, mass produce it overseas and claim it as your own. But I know she goes through my customers' closet and takes my things to copy. I also know she goes to Tribal Fest and buys from designers and has them made across the water. Its wrong. She knows it and she justifies her actions. Im giving her time to rectify the situation. I will take no prisoners.

kc.costumecouture

Devotion

There is every reason why dance is related to the weaving of cloth. This is probably part of the reason I have been a dancer..........I get a little part of the opening act with Carolena Nericcio and this means everything to me.

You had better not miss this show!!!!

June 12-20 Devotion
2009...Weaving the Fabric of Devotion

:: dance ::

spinning, thread, twisting, turning, unity, web, weave, weft, warp, stretching, winding, sewn,

interlace, bind, connect, strength, mend, wheel, rhythm, practice, stories, histories, fabric, time
:: devotion ::

Devotion
FatChanceBellyDance, Devyani Dance Co., Colleena Shakti, Teresa Tomb and live music by Helm


June 12, 13, 19, 20
(Sun 14 2pm canceled)
Fri 8pm, Sat 2pm and 8pm, Sun 2pm
Climate Theater
285 9th St
San Francisco CA 94103
*only 50 seats per show, advanced tickets recommended $25, at the door $30 (this show will sell out before you get to the door!) buy tickets here*


Reception with the Devotion Artists
Vegan dinner and drinks at the Medici Restaurant
6pm Fri 12 Jun
$75 includes dinner, first drink and show ticket
299 9th St, San Francisco CA 94103

The Question From The Larger Ladies

Finally, Im getting some of these up on etsy! I sold most of them at Tribal Fest and after I got back - Ive got a few back orders to fill and then I can start making these and variations of them. They are awfully cute! They go well over pants and longer skirts. They even look great as is!

I like having things that I sell be versatile. I like that you can mix and match and dress it up or dress it down. Sometimes you can wear it as a costume and the next day as a sumpthin to run around town in.

Now, I have been asked why I dont make things for the bigger girls. Well, I do. In fact, Ive been making custom wear for plus sizes for years! Bridal, dance, fashion - you name it - Ive made the plus sized ladies look glamorous indeed! But the problem is this: I can only buy a certain amount of fabric at any given time. And it usually isnt a whole lot of yardage. So I have to decide what to make out of it and how to make it g o the farthest. Lets face it - plus sizes take up more yardage and I have to spend more money to change the pattern. The reason you see mostly dumpy clothing for plus size women in say, Ross, is because the patterns are graded up from little people. That just doesnt work. Plus sizes have a whole set of rounder dimensions and if you want something from a size 4 to look good in a size 18, you have to have a whole new pattern. If you want it to look good on you, it simply has to be a different garment altogether. Some may disagree with me on this, but this has been my experiance. I have made both big and little garments for both men and women. Its just more efficient and cost effective to make a few sizes and specialize in them.

Also, I HAVE made belly dance costuming for some of the larger ladies, but I dont often get pics - just like I dont often get pics of my bridal creations. And I dont have the time or energy to hunt these people down.

So if you are a larger sized person, I can make you look amazing. But it cant cost the same as regular sizing. It will always cost more and there isnt much I can do about it. It isnt fair, I know.

model and photo: Kristine Adams
www.kristineadams.com


kc.costumecouture@gamil.com

Tribal Fun At Tribal Fest 9

Wow! Tribal Fest was intense and amazing!

5 days - count em: 5 days of shopping!
For each day there, I had to take a day off after. Vending is very hard work and not for the faint of heart!

I sewed every single thing by myself this time. Crazy, but I just find nobody can do it as well as I do yet. I'll find that person one day, but I didnt want to take chances so close to due date. I really only had two weeks to prep. This isnt much time AT ALL!

Its Always fun to catch up when you get there and get set up.- and hanging out and vending with the Salome's Suitcase gang was a blast........ I think I can safely say that we all had a good time and there are lots of crazy stories to tell one day if I have a moment! I have posted lots of photos on myspace and tribe. Christina of Black Lotus Clothing has the best photos of all on myspace - so check em out!


Now its back to the getting orders out again. Back to normal for now - whatever that it!


Sandi Ball of Hi Beam Bindis

Collective Merchandising!

Katherine Summer

Medina Maitreya

Lee Kobus of Foolproof Studio

Christina of Black Lotus Clothing

Rachel of Minerva's Antennae

Photos: kathleen Crowley and Christina - Black Lotus Clothing(the nicer photos!)

Kc.costumecouture@gmail.com

pretty things at Tribal Fest!

Ive made over 30 pairs of pants. Yikes. Im fried.

I'll have some really pretty things at Tribal Fest! You should come by!

kc.costumecouture@yahoo.com

Pallete For Spring

I had the craziest dream last night. I went to a fashion party with my friend Chris. I was supposed to present a sample of my work. Because I never have time to make anything that stays in the shop, I made a little cake out of things I WOULD LIKE TO USE and colors that are on my mind right now. It was like a potpourri of whats hanging around in jars and bags and scraps I have stuffed in corners.

Someone sat on my cake and ruined it. So I had to quickly use what was left and create something new and unique. I just couldn't come up with anything quickly and everyone was growing very impatient. I was taking forever. I knew I was working from a place of extreme stress and behaving irrationally. Even Chris was getting mad at me. Steven Meisel was supposed to photograph this display and was disgusted with my unprofessional ism and ready to bail. But in true NOT NY fashion, they let me come up with SOMETHING. So I just started grabbing whatever I could find that caught my eye and made a display on the table in my hodge podge style. It did have a color theme which I thought was pleasing to the eye, but it didn't really make sense. Some fashion world big wig was telling me to get the hell out of there and Steven was growing very irate. I was filled with anxiety, yet I continued on. When I was satisfied I told Mr. Meisel that he could shoot. He refused and said it was crap or something like that and I said said, shoot, you moron. Everyone did the gasp of horror. And he looked me in the eye and I said "Its the pallet for spring." So he shot the best photo of his life.

Just a little anxiety there and I did talk to Chris last night about the drama in NY at the moment. So of course, I'm playing out a Project Runway theme in my dream. And I am a Little under the gun right now. I just don't remember my dreams much these days, and since it has to do with the fashion world and trends, I thought Id share!

And no.......I'm not sharing the next "pallet for spring"! That's for me to know and you to find out!
XXX

Tribal Fest 2009

Tribal Fest is almost here and I'm sewing frantically like a crazy woman! I'll have lots of Sampants and some skirts. Hopefully I can get some fluffie things - I'll have my fluffie bloomers for sure! I'll have some sleevelets and bum ruffles. I'll even bring some cholis and regular (ish) pantaloons.

And it will be super fun as I'm sharing a booth with Salome's Suitcase! All these amazing talents under one tent roof!!!!!! Or I should say under 2 roofs as those of us going will be parked next to Black Lotus Clothing. Oh, it will be wonderful to say the least! Only a couple of us will not be attending. And Minerva's Antennae will be there, but I forgot who she is sharing a booth with. I'll post it when I remember.

Back to sewing I go!
kc.costumecouture @gmail.com

Tribal Fest
Sebastopol Community Center
Sebastopol, Ca.

May 13-17th.

Come early for the good stuff! Its gonna go fast!!!!!!

Salome's Suitcase!

I am so please to announced our newly formed design collective called Salome's Suitcase!

For the moment, we have a new tribe (on tribe) where you can go and see who we all are and what we are all doing. You can keep up with where we will all be vending! (although I think most of are getting ready to vend at Tribal Fest on May 13th!)

Our customers range from the world famous, to the aspiring, but as Sandi of HiBeam Bindis said so eloquently: "you are all super stars to us!"

Each one of us has been at the forefront of design, bringing our vision into the public, starting and propelling trends that inspire many!

I am honored and feel blessed to be included among such a group of highly talented designers and artisans.

KathleenCrowleyCostumeCouture
Katherine Summer
Black Lotus Clothing
HiBeam Bindis
Medina Maitreya
Yasmine Yildiz
Minerva's Antennae
Rosehips

kc.costumecouture