Re-do + New Do

So, previously I mentioned a mini halter top listed in my shop that had some issues. Well, yesterday I decided to go ahead and cut off the snagged part (making it shorter) and update the photos in my shop.

As a result, this...


became this...





And you can make note of how I left it at the lower price. ;-)

I also finished up a simple little tube dress I'd been working on...

candy girl tube dress
$34

It turned out smaller than intended, but it works. Someone gave me several yards of this material last fall. I think I'm gonna use the rest to make something long. The fabric lends itself to something of that nature. Or else something like this. I'll have to decide. It took me forever to cut the material, cause I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do with it. I'm pretty pleased with how this one turned out. Very "summerish." :-)

Feelin' Froggy

One of ^^ those was in my sewing room this morning, and I have no idea how it got there.

The room is typically a mess with scraps all over the floor...





As mentioned in the previous post, I'm in the process of making a lime green top for myself as evidenced by the green chiffon scraps all over the place. So imagine my surprise this morning around 7 when I walk in there and one of those scraps (or so I thought) jumps to what seems like 5 feet off the ground. After running from the room screaming, gaining my composure and tip toeing back to the door to figure out what was up, I see a timid lil frog trying to get up the wall. First I had to crack up laughing at the whole situation--me running hysterically from the room-- then I called my manfriend telling him to come get it out. It wasn't a matter of me being afraid of the frog, but I just didn't want to do it. So I'm standing there cracking up on the phone while he's telling me to stop acting silly and catch the frog.

Finally, I managed to catch it under a cup and scoot it on out the front door. The funniest part about it is that the frog hopped on to freedom with numerous pieces of thread stuck to its foot. ha ha! I'm still trying to figure out how a frog got in here. As I was trying to catch him, his defenses went up and he headed down the hall towards the front like he knew the way out. That makes me think somehow it came in through the front. Perhaps he (or she) found comfort among the green material. It must have reminded him of himself and home. :-)

Slow Motion

Things have been somewhat slow on my end where the sewing is concerned anyway. I've been dealing with some personal things that I'd rather not, but such is life. Anyway, the other day I did manage to make two handkerchief style skirts. They're pretty similar, but one is shorter. The cool thing about it is that they're both best for large or x-large, so people can't be getting on my case about not making enough larger sizes! :-) There'll be more coming, too.

So, the skirts...

Groove Thang Asym Skirt

$30

The second one hasn't been added to my shop yet, but it'll be there be the end of the day.

I'm in the process of making a top like this in lime green for myself. Hopefully the event I'm intending to wear it to won't get rained out Sunday. I'm also *planning* on making a skirt to wear with it. Stay tuned for that...

What it do?

Lmao! Although I don't use the phrase (I'm more of a "what's up?" or "what's poppin'?" type person), I find it to be quite hilarious and love to hear others say it.

Well, lately I've been working on a couple custom order garments. First, there's the black handkerchief skirt made for someone who contacted me via etsy...



Well, it's kinda hard to really see since it's black, but it's based on this one, only shorter...

(Which can be purchased via etsy by the way ;-)

The other custom garment is a shrug for my friend in Boston. I'm still working on it, but in the meantime, here are some shots...

(Safety pin holding it together for now. I gotta figure out what type if closure device I want to put on it.)

I forgot to take a before shot, but it was a just a plain, gray sweater from the thrift store much like this one...



I also updated my shop today with a new top!

bianca mini top
$24

Now these usually go for $28, but due to snagging caused my a wacky needle, this one is a bit lower. The needle did fine until I got towards the end of sewing the hem. Then it started acting strange. I was gonna cut off the snagged part and redo the hem, but I didn't want to make the top too short. It's not bad and kinda gets lost in the folds, but it is there, so...

Anyway, that's what I've been up to. Be back with more soon!

peace

Flytie on Ebay

Yes, it's true. I have officially added some of my designs to ebay. *gasp* ha ha!

You can see them here: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZflytieonline


I've read so much stuff on the etsy forums about how ebay isn't a good place to sell handmade clothes, but of course, I figured I'd do it any way. Actually, it's been my intention to do so for some time, but only recently did I force myself to sit down and actually add some items.

Right now all the pieces on there are ones that I've been having on hand to for some time. They've just been chillin' out in the closet..never worn or anything. A few reflect my final project from school about 3 yrs ago, such as this lil nunber...






Oh the memories.

Eventually I'll add some new items and give people the chance to bid and win some of my creations at lower prices. Or, perhaps they'll be bid up higher than what I'd normally sell them for. One never knows, does one?? Well see. It might take forever for me to even get around to doing that!

I've been an ebay member for going on six yrs. and have been selling random items for 2 (including a couple skirts I made). It's an ongoing side hustle for me and my guy. So for those deterred by the "0" feedback under my "flytieonline" account (I know how many ebay bidders like to check the feedback comments), you can check the feedback of my other ebay username. And of course there's always my wonderful etsy feedback for flytie as well as sewfly.

Whatever doesn't sell of the older pieces will be donated, or maybe I'll start wearing some of them myself. As I was taking the photos, I thought to myself, "Man! I could rock this!"



In other news, I updated my shop today! Even with all the sewing and creating that's been going on in the past few weeks, it seems as though I've been neglecting it. Now that I can chill a bit on sewing for local venues, new pieces will be added to etsy.

So the newest one is this...

gisselle mini top
$28

As you may have figured out, it was created from the remaining material used for this dress. Pretty cute, dontcha think?? :-). Hopefully I can find the time to make a few for myself...a very rare occurrence around here!


I'm off to sew!

peace

Quick Fix

Today I'll be attending an event 2 hrs. away where it's requested that every one wear white. Well, everything white that I own that would be appropriate is either unappealing to me at this point or needs some repair that I'm not really sure I wanna do.

Since I do wanna wear white (it was requested, so why not?), it came down to me throwing something together late last night. There were quite a few sizable pieces of white jersy material left over from this custom made dress.

After some maneuvering and piecing together and gathering and sewing and trying on and adjusting, this...


Became this...





Quick and to the point. I like it. :-)

Oh! I updated my shop the other day, too, with a new dress. Check it out if you haven't!

Gotta hit the road...

peace

New Plan

Yesterday I saw a flyer stating that some organization or boutique (can't recall) is having a "prom dress drive." Basically they're asking people to donate formal dresses so that they can be distributed to those interested in going to prom but may not be able to afford a dress. Immediately I thought of the formal dresses I've made that are pretty much just sitting around.

At first I was just going to donate them and hope that they make it to someone who could use then. When I got home, though, my thought process really kicked in and another idea came to me. I'm going to send flyers, pictures, and garment measurement to the counselors at some local high schools letting them know that I have a few dresses to give away. That way, if they know of any students unable to afford dresses, they can send them my way. Also, I have a few connections with people who do shows on local access TV. I'll check into getting on there to state what it is I'm doing. Hopefully I can find some ladies to model on air for me. If not, I'll just do it myself.

It's always gratifying to use the skills I have in order to help out other people. Some of you may be familiar with the work I did for the Ethiopian children associated with the Umbrella Child Organization. Maaaaaan! What a good feeling it was to do that.

Being someone who would have *loved* to not have to pay for a dress when I went to prom (really didn't want to go, but people bugged me into it), this is what I can do to assist someone who wouldn't be able to purchase one even if they wanted to due to a lack of funds. I was too thrilled to get my lil dress for $60 at some store in the mall in Irving, Texas, ha!

(Supposedly everyone was supposed to wear white, but of course I wasn't feelin' that. Hey, you're looking at someone who was sent home to change clothes on more than one occasion in high school for violating the dress code. I ended up being voted best dressed, so perhaps it paid off?? My deviance might have also had somehting to do with why the students there have to wear uniforms now. In those days I cared. Now I just throw on anything. Too busy trying to dress others! :-)

It's so funny reading through my "Senior Year" book from high school. In the section concerning the prom, the last line I wrote was, "Basically, it sucked!" ha ha ha!

Seven years ago. Wow.

So anyway. I've decided to give away the turquoise dress (gotta finish it first) as well as the gold one. I have some more formal material that needs to be used, so most likely I'll make a couple more.

Yep. That's what I'm doing. I'll let y'all know how it goes. Hopefully someone will want them!

Brevity

Just wanted to drop in and show y'all two new dresses that I took to the boutique today. Please excuse the blurry photos...got some camera issues going on over here.

So, the dresses...








You really can't tell, but the skirt part of the dress is sheer. Seems like leggings are the big thing now, so it'll work great with a pair of those. (I have no leggings, so for the photo I wore this mini, mini, mini denim skirt that I have. Can't even tell can you? That's how "mini" it is. No, I do not wear this mini, mini, mini skirt out in public...anymore. ha ha!)

I'm not sure what it is, but purple has been heavy on my mind lately. I'm really pleased with how the style of this particular dress turned out, so there'll be more to come. I've got some of the fabric left, so maybe I'll make another similar one for etsy.

Then there's...





Made from some neat linen I found at a thrift store back home. This one was actually done from start to finish this morning. Soon as I woke up I was in the mood to make something, so I grabbed this striped fabric off the shelf, decided what would be a good style for it, and got busy. 2.5-3 hours later, "Ella" was born (name of the dress). :-D

I really like it. It's way too big for me, but of course I did my best not to let that show in the pictures. ;-)


That's it for now. Be back soon. peace.

And the Drama Continues

You know how in movies they'll play that suspense music when something's about to happen or be revealed? That creepy music? Well, that same music might as well have been playing when I stepped into my sewing room this morning.

First of all, I wasn't gonna even sew today. My intentions were to do some reading today, maybe fool around with my lil chia herb garden kit that someone gave me yesterday (lol @ the whole idea of "chia" merchandise.), and deal with my lil veggie seeds that are just beginning to sprout. :-D But I decided that I'd go in there and work on this particular dress that I started about 6 weeks ago.

As sorta mentioned in this particular post, I don't really do formals unless asked...and unless I just happen to have some formal-like material that needs to be used. Well, there was this pretty turquoise satiny fabric in my stash that I wanted to do something with, so I did. After putting the dress together, it occurred to me that
.
.
.
the two back seams were not lined up!!!! aaaaaaaaahhhhh! Nothing bugs me more than the obvious mismatch of seams on my garments. After fooling with it some, frustration got the best of me, and I put it aside to return to it at a later time. That time was today.


So this morning I went in there (as that music played in my mind), took the right side of the zipper out, adjusted the back seams a bit, redid the one zipper side, zipped it up, and the problem persisted. To give you an idea...

(the above photo was taken while the zipper removal was in progress.)

Notice how high up the right seam is in relation to the left. That just can't be!

After going through that process again and getting the same result, I concluded that I'd have to remove the entire zipper (which I was trying to avoid but probably should have just done from the get go) and do it all over...



And of course, my aggravation with the situation manifested itself in the form of a hole in the zipper tape right next to the zipper teeth...



$3 and something zipper gone to waste. :-/ (For those who know about zippers and how you can adjust the length to rectify situations like the above, the hole is too far near the top.)

Siiiiigh...so anyway. This dress is back to the "holding cell." I know when it's time to step away from a garment. Any further manipulation at that time probably would have resulted in a big hole in the dress itself, as annoyed as I was. There's no doubt that the seam crisis will be resolved, especially now that the whole zipper has been taken out. I'll undo the back seams, readjust, then put a new zipper back in. To give you an idea of what the dress will look like once it's completely finished, I utilized a few huge safety pins and the cute pink brooch that goes with my neck warmer to get this shot...


Note that this dress is about 3 sizes bigger than me, but a little strategic pinning helped to disguise all that.

Beyond the turquoise drama, I took new shots of those other two formal dresses...




These were at the local boutique, but I removed them some time ago with the intention of trying to get them into this other shop that's formal dress specific. Well, I never got around to that. Honestly, at this point, I really don't feel like it. They've just been hanging out (literally) in the closet, so between today and tomorrow they'll be uploaded to my etsy shop. I'm also gonna try to show 'em around town to prom dress seekers...those two along with the turquoise one (when it's done) as well as a couple more that I'm gonna be making.

As far as Friday's trunk show. It was a nice event, not a huge turnout, but a good crowd nonetheless. My dresses were a hit. :-D. I did have pictures to share but must have accidentally deleted them. They're nowhere to be found. :-/

Something I discovered while there indulging in the veggie try is that I really like artichoke. It was my first time ever having it but won't be my last. mmmmm.

Well, that's it for now. Hope y'all have a beautiful week! :-)

Well, Not Really Bright...

...but springy nonetheless.

Yesterday I mentioned that I was gonna make more of the asym dresses in bright, springish colors.

Well, the colors I came across in the appropriate material at the one store I went to are more pastel.


But people like pastels, right?? :-)

Since I only managed to make 4 of these especially for the show, some are being pulled from my etsy shop as fillers. I've put a big fat "RESERVED" in the item titles with the hopes that there won't be a double sale of the same item between now and the end of the trunk show. I didn't want to take them out of the shop or put 'em in "edit" mode on etsy (which makes them invisible on the site) since I'd like for them to be seen by new people who might check out my shop within the next 6-8 hours. If they sell tonight, I'll take ten down when I get home.

The entire batch has been tagged and taken to their appropriate destination. Now I've just gotta get myself ready. I'll see if I can take some pictures tonight to share with everyone.

peeeeeaaaace!!

Dresses, Shows, and Sales

So this Friday, April 4, 2008, I'll be participating in a traveling trunk show organized by two other local creative people. One owns the boutique where I sell my garments. The other has a local vintage shop where I've sold items before as well. The latter has an (empty) etsy shop here. I wish you could see some of her nice bags, but she took them all down. She was featured with me in this article.

Anyways, since I have no scanner, I'll type out the info for all the readers local to lafayette who might be interested.

DeTa's Traveling Trunk Show

presents

Frivolous Necessities

A fun filled shopping experience.

Where: Salon NV
200 Jefferson St., Suite B
Lafayette, LA

When: April 4, 2008
5-7 pm

What: A unique opportunity to peruse through quality handcraftedand vintage items thoughtfully selected for this special showing.

For further inquiries, please contact...



Ok, they might not be cool with me putting their info on the internet , so I won't.

One of the organizers wanted me to specifically make a few of my signature "asym" dresses for the show. I've got 4 so far including these 2...



I've known about this event for a month and had the intentions of having more dresses to show. These past few weeks have been so hectic though, so I couldn't produce them the way I wanted to. I'm still gonna try to turn out at least 2 more (hopefully in bright, springy colors) before the show. Last minute (quality) work is my forte. ;-)

So aside from all that, I decided today that I wanted to have a 10% off sale in both of my stores for the duration of the month. It's pretty outside, so why not? :-) I say 10%, but since I like nice round, even numbers, I ended up rounding down on most of them making the percentage off a bit higher.

From the flytie shop you can save on the following:

resilient woman warrior tunic

halima dress

krishna tunic

ethereal goddess tunic

nzinga tunic

ever more skirt

stepping razor hoodie dress

diana top

basquiat II--reflections on a star tunic

kenya dress




From the sewfly shop sale items include:

transitions tunic

after glow rainbow dress

dragonfly tunic

moment in time babydoll top

be hoodie

one hoodie (mean face not included)

formless hoodie

truth hoodie

So there you have it. An impromptu flyer plus individual links to all my sale items just for my blog readers. That's gotta be love. :-D

peace.