Award Show Season Finale!

So everyone knows in the fashion industry the Oscars are the grand finale to award show season. No different than Miss America and Miss USA are the finale to pageant season. Last night was Oscar night, and OMG the fashions were AMAZING! Here are a few of our favorites.

Amanda Seyfried in Alexander McQueen

 I love that so many pale skinned girls are wearing pale colors in that old Hollywood glamor way.

Catherine Zeta Jones in Zuhair Murad

 This was so stunning when they showed a close-up of the skirt. It appeared to be sequined scrolling over a tulle skirt and was stunning.

Amy Adams in Oscar de la Renta

 This was a bit busy for me, but you can't deny the beauty of the dress.

Naomi Watts in Armani Prive

 This was amazing that neck line is just show stopping.

Charlize Theron in Dior Haute Couture

Jennifer Garner (back)

 This was my favorite of the night. Simple elegant and down right classic. The hair was amazing too. Not many girls can pull the pixie so well.

Jennifer Garner (front) in Gucci

 This dress was a question to me until I got a good view of the back. So very feminine!

Ann Hathaway in Prada

 I was underwhelmed by this, but it is elegant. She said she chose the dress 3 hours before the show. I am thinking she waited too long to select because this was a bit too simple for me.

Halle Berry in Versace

 I am in love with architecture in fashion and this is art deco architecture in fashion personified.

Jennifer Garner in Dior and Jessica Chastain in Armani

 I didn't really like the Jennifer Garner dress, but there seemed to be a lot of love for it in other circles it is lovely, but just not fabulous in my opinion. However Jessica Chastain! OH. MY. GOD! That is Veronica Lake back to life wonderful! I loved this madly. Again the pale skin and pale color trick working.

Zoe Saldana in Alexis Mabille Couture

 The detailing at the bust was what made this dress for me, then when I got the full view of the bottom I loved it MORE! What an amazing way to do this gown!

Reese Witherspoon in Louis Vuitton

 She just rocks cobalt blue! It is amazing

Jane Fonda in Versace

Jennifer Hudson in Roberto Cavalli

Jane Fonda in that yellow?! I think it is amazing and she was not going to be missed in that color! Jennifer Hudson was so beautiful in this gown by Cavalli I want it! The dress and that figure, she looks breathtaking!

A List of Suppliers

I know that we all like to find new suppliers and places to get specialty items for a lower price. I have been collecting supplier sites for quite a long time and figured that maybe some of you are looking for cool places too! You may have some of them, but some may be new.

Here is a list with the links activated, so happy shopping!

http://www.zuckerfeather.com
http://www.fabric.com/Index.aspx
http://www.fabricmartfabrics.com/xcart/home.php
http://www.fashionfabricsclub.com/
http://fabricdepot.com/
http://www.fabricdirect.com/
http://www.texassusannie.com
http://www.corsetmaking.com/CMSpages/CMShome.html
http://www.dragontowncorsetsupply.com/index.html
http://www.wholesaletrims.com/default.cfm
http://www.onlinefabricstore.net
http://www.spandexdepot.com/stores/
http://www.bblackandsons.com/
http://www.angeltrim.com/
http://www.tasselnfringe.com/
http://www.cheeptrims.com/
http://www.wholesaletrimming.com/
http://www.storesupply.com/
http://www.laceheaven.com/
http://www.welovecolors.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ShuShuStyle?ref=shop_sugg - GREAT TAG SUPPLIER!!!!!

This is not my entire library of stuff, but I will say this for costuming and pageantry Angel Trims, Zucker Feather, and Spandex Depot are my first stops! For fabric selections for dresses Fabric.com!

What are some of your favorite suppliers?  I know this is sometimes protected information, but we are all over the world and sometimes we need help finding specific things. Heck it took me days to find Angel Trim, and I may be against buying from China, but for pageant dresses I can't beat it!

Licensed Fabrics - How to sell

We have all seen the licensed fabrics that are available for colleges, professional sports teams, Disney, Sanrio, and a multitude of other providers. I had once been told that some colleges were going to stop allowing fabrics to be made with their logos and trademarks since crafters were making items with the fabrics and selling them, but the school wasn't getting any profits from those items.

I have recently been asked to make corsets for a local store that are in Arkansas Razorback fabrics. I was concerned about the possible impacts as I have known people that have received cease and desist letters from the University.

Therefore I did a little research. The university is breaking the law by requesting such a thing, but since most people don't know that, they are sufficiently intimidated and stop making the items.

See the manufacturer of licensed fabrics holds the license to print the fabric but when you buy it in a store the license isn't transferred and the fabric is effectively sold with out a license. Legally if the school or entity didn't want things made for profit with the fabric they should not approve fabric to be created. They can not control the use of the fabric after it is sold to a consumer. 

Here is the trick you need to be aware of for your listings and tagging...... The Tabberone Disclaimer.

This simple and sweet disclaimer should be listed in your Etsy, Ebay, or other listing online. It should not be at the very top or very bottom, but properly located in the middle so as to not be overlooked or scare off buyers. It should also be in at least the same font as the rest of the listing. You don't want to use super small print where it will be missed, and don't get too carried away with big bold print.

This of course would be altered as required to accommodate whatever licensed fabric you are using. Also I have elected to add a second tag to my clothing items with this same disclaimer so that it is properly displayed when my items are being sold in stores. 

For more information on court cases and where this comes from go here.

Keep the Feed Going!

So we all know that keeping our names in the forefront of the consumers mind is extremely important to return buyers, and leads.

A lot of you have Facebook pages for your businesses, and previously I discussed the promoted post, which can become costly. However, you should also know about the scheduled post! Imagine this, you have worked and slaved for weeks, months, years to get the likes you have on your page. You are working to keep your customers interested in your work and looking at the new things you are producing.

What happens when your customers are worldwide, in different time zones, and they don't see your items in their news feed because you are asleep and not on Facebook?!

TA DA

Enter the scheduled post! 

When you go to enter a new status update you have a little clock icon in the bottom left of the status dialog box.

See the pretty little clock?

 You can click on that and it will open individual select boxes, one at a time, for the Year, Month, Day, Hour, and Minute. I have all of them open below.

You can use these to schedule posts for maybe once every 2-3 hours, or whatever works best for you. That way the more people following you the more people will see your stuff! This keeps your items, posts, or whatever you are looking for in the main viewing window more frequently for your customers.

There are so many different social media uses, and according to Etsy they can be a BIG help in pushing your items in the marketplace. Sometimes though we may not know how to use them.

Good Luck Team Members, and keep up the good work!

Featured Team Member - Catherine Rogan!

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I have been sewing for as long as I can remember.  When I was 17 I started to volunteer at an Oxfam charity shop making clothes from donated fabric and reworking (the word “upcycling” hadn’t been invented) donated clothes.  I was working with two fashion students who recommended me a pattern drafting book.  I designed and made my own clothes for a while, but when I went to university it was to study Law, not fashion.

In 2010 my best friend got married and she had asked me to make her wedding dress.  People naturally assumed that if I was making a wedding dress I must sew professionally so I thought “Why not?”.

Apart from creating things, what do you do? As well as sewing I knit and crochet.  I draw and paint a little, and play the ukulele (which I think is a bit of an Etsy user cliché – but my son got me into it!). 

What would be the title of your memoir?

“Go Get Some Tigers”.  My son (when he was about 4) misheard my partner telling me to “Go get ‘em, tiger” and said “Yes, mummy, go get some tigers”!  It’s what I think to myself when I want to reach for something but also want to make myself smile!

Where does your inspiration come from?
I am very interested in traditional techniques like smocking and embroidery.  I love historical fashion and corset making, but on the other hand I also love post-punk and industrial design!  I guess all these influences mix up in my head and something comes out that’s not a literal interpretation of any of the above.  Although now I think about it “post-punk regency” should definitely be a thing!

What does handmade mean to you?

It means not mass-produced.  While I design and make everything myself, I don’t have a problem with designer-maker teams, I do have a problem with cheap factory made dresses being sold as handmade!  Handmade means a limited run, every item will be to some extent unique and most of all the maker has time to put care into the item in a way that someone who has to sew the same seam 500 times a day just doesn’t.

I love my sewing machine and my serger, there’s no way I could make an affordable garment completely by hand, but hand sewing finishing touches really gives a quality look and feel

When did you know you were an artist/maker?
Always.  I remember being very young and making little outfits for my sister’s Sylvanian Families figures.  They were the best dressed mole family ever!

How would you describe your creative process?
The design process can begin pretty much anywhere.  I carry a notebook and a pencil with me at all times so if an idea comes to me I can sketch right away.  Then pattern drafting and sewing all happens on my dining table, I’m afraid I don’t have a dedicated sewing room!

I have a dress form that lives in the corner of our living/dining room.   A lot of the design process is staring at that figuring how to make the dress work exactly how I want it.

What handmade possession do you most cherish?
I have a granny square blanket that my Grandma made for when I was born.  My son came home from the hospital in it.  She died last year, she left me her crochet hooks, knitting needles and tatting shuttles.  She loved needlecraft and art.  Looking at old pictures of her from the War she was very stylish despite rationing.

How do you get out of your creative ruts?
I have to do something else for a while.  Nothing pushes you into more of a rut like sitting there trying to force inspiration

Where would you like to be in ten years?
I would love design and sewing to be my main source of income.  I would love a little bricks and mortar store, with a room at the back for craft classes.  The challenge is to grow the business while keeping what I love about it, the individualism and the attention to detail.

 

 
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 If you would like to be featured as well... send me an email at dressmakersofetsy@gmail.com! 


We would love to feature all of our team members!

The Power of Triberr!

I am constantly trying to find special little things that will help us cross promote and increase our customer base! 

When I started my own blog I wanted to only blog about sewing, but I found myself talking more and more about all the random things that happened to me and things that I thought needed to be said. Therefore as time has gone on I have blogged about a variety of things, and developed online friends that are also bloggers. 

I began to follow these bloggers on Twitter and make more and more contact. I began to notice that every day I would see tweets that gave the name of some blog post, the link to the post and then said "via @twittername". I thought these guys have some sort of financial agreement to do this for each other as a way to cross promote and increase viewership to their individual blogs. 

I finally asked one of them what was the deal, and discovered they are not paying each other it is a website called Triberr that once you join the site you join "tribes". The tribes consist of people with like minded things, or not in some cases. 

When you join you upload the RSS feed URL for your blog, your Twitter information, and your Facebook information. Then you join the tribes you want to join! 

Each morning I log into Tribber and click the "Approve" button for all of my tribe mates blog posts that have uploaded since the day before. I look to see if there are some posts I have already promoted that I would like to promote again and click to send those again. 

Then through out the day on a time schedule I give it, Triberr automatically tweets the promotional tweets of my tribemates. So I am active on twitter a lot that it isn't actually me, and all my tribe mates are promoting my blog as well! 

It's like multi-level marketing for bloggers and tweeters! Don't worry we won't kick you out if you don't promote the "family". 

I have set up a Tribe on Triberr for Sweety Darlin's Dressmakers Tribe, and we have two members besides myself at this time. I would love to add more members so that we can start to cross promote daily! 

It did take me about an hour of fiddling to get things set up the way I liked it, but that was also because I had to research how to find the RSS code for my blog. Now it is a minute each morning and done! 

I have seen increased traffic, not necessarily increased sales, but that is because I haven't been talking about my sewing much lately! Some of the things I have been working on my clients have asked me to keep under wraps until the item makes it's debut. I can live with that. 

Look it up and check it out! 

Facebook Promoted Posts

Some of you may have noticed my facebook status updates and tweets about how there was rumors that facebook would start charging for business to have fan pages etc.

I did some research and have been able to figure out the following information. Keep in mind folks that the internet is a big array of information and if you look long enough you will find information that fits what you want it to say. I have tried to weed through all of it in order to attempt to find the truth.

If you go to your company page and post a status update you may find this new little blue word... "Promote" This is kind of like a facebook ad that gets forced into the feed of the people who "like" your page.

Here is the specifics, when you like the page of a business all of there status updates show in your feed. You can choose to hide those, or unlike the page, or just ignore your information. We all know that we ignore junk that shows up in our feeds. Plus with the new timeline and different ways to view your feed you may not see the status updates of the pages you have "Liked".

So if you choose to promote your status update you will have to pay a fee, and facebook will make sure that your promoted posts are not ignored. It will even make sure that if one of your watchers likes your post that the post may also show up in their friends feeds so that they can like your page too!

The fee is based on a variety of things frequency, etc, etc, etc, but you will pay a fee.

However you can always just keep doing what you are doing, without a fee, and hope that enough of the people that like your page keep watching for your updates.