Pulling Back

It's not as bad as it sounds!

What I mean by pulling back, is I've decided to limit what I offer down to two skirts and my corsets, plus a few pieces of jewelry. Why? Because I don't want to get ahead of myself. I have other things that I'd like to offer in mind, and I will do custom costumes and all that still if there's interest, but I want to get myself established before I offer hundreds (that's a bit of an overstatement, but still) of products.

I've made some decent headway with the Bride corset I have. Tonight I'm hoping to get it to the point where all that will be left is the modesty plate and stitching the ribbon binding on. Then I'll be working on drafting up remaining patterns (the dress and the new front for Holly's modified Elsa) and cutting out material for other corsets I'm working for, for the Dark Dreams Cabaret Carnivale.

I've decided to retire one of my personal corsets: my "Love" Lillith. I'm going to retire it and recycle it to use the busk and stays for my Carnivale corset. Why is this? Since it was the Lillith prototype, there are things that I don't like about it. For instance the way I cut the sides make it dig into my hips in an unattractive way and it would take too much labor to fix it, so I'm going to retire it and recycle the bits. This happens to a few of my own corsets over time. But I always reuse the bits ;-)

Business cards, graphics and designs

So I've been stewing around, trying to figure things out because I'm down to about 18 business cards. And since I saw someone else in town with the same VistaPrint design I chose, I've decided to finally do up my own. I had asked my husband to draw up a Tattoo Flash inspired graphic for me, but being under stress from work and other things, he opted to not do it for me, leaving me to do it up myself. I'm happy with it, and I will get it scanned and online soon, but I really wish he had done it, because his work is so much better than mine :) people get his designs tattooed on them for a reason, you know!

The design I did up is fairly simple, and will be paired with the logo Krista Engler did up for me earlier this year. Now I need to get the cards designed so I can get them printed before October 1st. I've been pricing things out to get them done up. I also need a poster with some basic information about my work for that event as well, so I can prop it up on my table for people to view incase I'm otherwise occupied.

I've also decided that once I'm caught up with my current workload, I'm going to work on a series of limited edition corsets. Ones that I would only offer five of each (doesn't matter what size since I prefer to work in custom sizing); inspired by the silver-screen horror icons as well as one inspired by the Showtime series, Dexter. Details will follow when I'm ready to start offering them.

"This is the time of night, when the moonlight shines down and we can reveal who we truly are"

It's been awhile since I've updated... I have had alot on my mind recently! I've been looking into getting a full-time job to get us through the fall, and perhaps further on, depending on what kind of job I end up getting. I'm up for a Store Manager's position at Claires Boutique and I'm actually really excited to see if I get that job, I think it would be great.

I have been able to do a little work, here and there. I've finally finished the Sweetheart corset for Stephanie, and I'm working on the boning casings on the Bride corset she's ordering. Then I have an order for a pattern/dress from a new client named Lori. I'm going do between 5 and 6 corsets to  be modeled at the Dark Dreams event on October 1st, and I think that may be the last time I make things to be  modeled for a good long while (although it already seems that most of my models are going to purchase the corsets I'm making ;) Here's to hoping!). I may not have the time to make things for events unless they are orders if I get this job, and I want to make sure I have time for orders and all that, on top of working. And I have to have time with my baby-girl, she's growing up too fast!

A little while back, I went to a yard-sale and picked up four panels of deep cranberry velveteen drapes. What am I thinking? of taking two and a half of those drapes and turning them into another 18th Century gown. I miss making historical costumes and since my soon-to-be sister-in-law got me a book on Lace Tatting for my birthday, I'm eager to work on those skills and make more costumes. Which next to corsets is a huge passion of mine.

It's been brought to my attention that I may be shorting myself when it comes to my cost of products. However, while I enjoy offering my goods at a reasonable price, I do want to see exactly how long it takes me to construct each of my corset designs so I can see just how fair my prices are. When doing custom work, I charge about $15 per hour, so I'm keeping track of my hours as I work on my orders, then add them up to see if my labor cost is fair and decently priced compared to other seamstresses/corset makers.

And I've also been informed that Hot Topic is now selling the skeleton hand necklaces that I offer for $25.00. They sell them in store for $12.00. But they lack the heart charm. While mine are just plastic rhinestones attached to the hands, I've been considering upgrading them to crystals since I've seen heart charms around town, especially the Swarovski charms. Until I upgrade, I think the price of my necklaces will be dropped to $15.00 for now, since I have some competition.