The Frilly Panda

I've decided that I need to expand my Chinese Brocade stash. I've used it many many times before, have a few really nice yardages, and it's just really pretty. I busted my stash out last night while picking fabrics for a birthday present I'm planning to make this week and had lovely visions of some of the yardages as finished pieces. Of course there were a few corsets and as it sits I will not be able to wear any corsetry until November and even then I will not be able to make any till then as I do not know what my post-partum measurements will be. I could potentially make one now based on my measurements from my first son but I don't want to take any chances with it. I really could just make some now with it and sell them this summer but there is no guarantee that they will sell and I dislike having multiple rubbermaid bins full of stock that is made and not selling. It's actually kind of irritating. I do get a lot of people saying "Ooh this is really pretty", "I wish I had something like this!", "I would love to order something from you"; and then no follow through. I know that this is most consumers and I myself am guilty of it too but as a producer of things like that it is very defeating. Almost like, yes I know the stuff I make is pretty and I wear it all the time myself but if nobody is going to purchase it then why bother?

On that note, I will try to take a positive action and give my etsy shop a go again this summer. I am re-opening it in mid June with most of the same products, new bags, handmade paper, silkscreens, and maybe some fabric de-stashes of pieces I have accumulated and never used. I'm also thinking of having a re-opening promo sale and hopefully that will bring some more sales in. With monster number 2 coming in the fall the extra income would be very helpful.

As an aside, I tried using a commercial pattern for some maternity shorts yesterday. Now you all need to understand how much I hate commercial patterns. They don't fit properly, you have to alter the crap out of them, generally they're very boring unless you use the perfect fabric, and sometimes even as an experienced seamstress they just simply dont make sense. Like the one I was using yesterday, it took them a whole page of random nonsense to explain how to insert a zipper. Seriously I read the page probably 6 times and it still didnt make sense to me, and zippers are generally quite simple. Luckilly I was altering the pattern to make maternity shorts (it was for actual shorts) and didn't need a zipper so I was able to omit that page completely :). Anywhoo, long story short, my hatred of commercial patterns was heavilly reaffirmed. I went by the size for my exact measurements, followed the instructions to the tee, finally tried them on after getting them together and bam. They were a freaking horribly fitting tent on my ass. The crotch seam was leaning to one side, the butt darts were inches too short, the butt itself looked like it was drafted for someone who had a big badonkadonk in their youth but had let it sag for a good 30 years, the waist was even huge on my preggo belly, and the nice trim leg portion (or as it was supposed to be) sat like gauchos. I tried for a number of hours to fix it doing everything aside from taking the whole thing apart, re-drafting the pattern, and putting it back together. And they still sucked. So needless to say I will be going through my bermudas and capris that actually fit me and simply replacing the waistband with a maternity panel. I didn't want to do this originally because I really like these shorts and didn't want to have maternity panels in them when I wanted to wear them again next summer. But really, for the amount of trouble that horrible pattern was, my only options are alter my existing ones, draft a new pattern based on the existing ones and try to make them in the next 2 weeks, or purchase maternity bermudas. Now being as I have to alter my bridesmaid dress (it was made for people much much taller than me) and make some more things for the re-opening when I get back from vacation I don't think I'll have much time to draft test and perfect a new pattern. And bought maternity bermudas where I am could easilly run me up to $60 a pair and being as my regular ones only cost me approx $15 a piece (I had my staff discount when I bought them :)) it really makes the most sense to alter the existing ones. I can always shell out the $34 per pair next summer for new ones. I really have to get over my attachment to material items.

I'll keep you posted on how it all goes.