Sunday, June 22, 2008

Lobster Luau


A few weeks ago, I had a fabulous customer ask me if I would make some Vida dresses for her daughters. She sent me a box full of fabrics and her ideas... and the result was this Lobster Luau! Here are a few quick pictures I snapped before I sent them on their way.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Excuse me, is there a monkey in the office?

It seems like it's been a long time since I wrote on my blog, but it's bene a really long & busy week for me.

On Friday, I went to work. Huh? Yep, work. For the first time in over 8 years! DH pointed me toward a position at our alma mater, Elon University, for a part time, summer-only job in the same department where I had worked as a student! I am coordinating the Challenge Course (also called a ropes course) and having a blast when I'm not feeling totally overwhelmed. I have to get ready for several groups coming in the next 2 weeks, and the people I need to talk to always seem to be out of the office! I've been working all week long, and learning how to juggle my schedule as a working mom so I'll have more time for my family and my sewing, too.

The big production of In His Steps was last weekend, and the costumes were just to die for. I'll put a few pictures up when I get them off my camera. Have you ever had that feeling of emptiness when something is over? I totally felt like that on Sunday. No last minute costume details to take care of, no running downtown to check on things at the theater...

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Sis Boom, part 1

I've been so busy with costumes and life in general this past week, that I'm running a little bit behind with my Sis Boom listings. Here are the first two:


Ready to ship, size 18/24m/2T


Ready to ship, size 5/6

As with all of my creations, I welcome custom orders in different sizes or fabric combinations!

a hard lesson to learn

The big production of In His Steps is this weekend, and I finally got my last costume finished up last week. It was the coat from this pattern, probably the most difficult construction I've ever done. To add to the stress, the costume was for the head costumer's son, and she's a professional seamstress. He's 6'4", and is one of the leads in the play. This coat was gonna be noticed! Yikes! I took it in to the studio last week and left it because she wasn't there. And I didn't hear from her. Uh oh. I got glowing reviews on my first two costumes, and then nothing. So I finally got up the nerve to ask, and the sentence began with a long, drawn-out Southern "weeeelllll..." Not a good start. Apparently in my concern for constructing such a huge garment, I forgot to pay attention to the nap of the black corduroy I was working with. Fortunately, the problem areas were limited to one cuff, and the tail section. But I was crushed. I felt so stupid for not noticing! And under the stage lights, it was apprently to obvious for him to wear it. She was very gracious about it, and told me not to worry, but it bummed me out for the rest of the day. The way she was initially talking about it, it sounded like the whole thing was a loss, and she would be scrambling for a new, very important costume piece at the last minute.

Today, the coat is back in my hands. Thankfully, they had extra fabric, and I am going to rip apart and redo the wrong parts (by tomorrow!) I'm chalking this up as a life lesson, and this experience has served to provide me with valuable instruction. It's a mistake I will hopefully never make again.