Vacation?

LANETTA Caul

LOL I call it a vacation, but really it isn't.  I had to pull back so that I can get my projects completed that I had already on the docket.  During this vacation, I have added some new products to our ready made and custom, and something even newer!

The ready made includes a new caul design that belongs to the upcoming LANETTA custom options.  So the caul is currently available as a custom request as well as a ready made (in the green and brown).

HATTIE Bloomers

We've added a simple hand stitched (the insertion stitches are hand done, but the rest is machine done) BLOOMERS and look forward to offering two other options sometime before the end of the year.  And we've added a couple of new corset options as well.  The LANETTA corset has straps that are adjustable in the front and boned tabs.  The HOLLY corset has removable straps as well as boned tabs and is offered in a reversible fabric option!  These designs have been requested often so we have offered them as a regular design. AND We've added a new smock option: Low neckline--for those who have Tudor or Italian style bodices or who have a beautifully decorated under-partlet.

LANETTA Corset

HOLLY Corset

Low neck line Smock

And something NEW!  So far, most of my designs offered have been things I have sewn for friends and family--mostly family;  I have the pictures and experience to back these designs up--construction notes, etc.  This tends to lend itself to certain designs, i.e. my boys are dressed as mini nobles when they would rather be dressed as wizards and fantasy rangers.  Certain designs lend themselves to certain body types.  So I was zapped with an idea-- why not offer a brand new design to the world at large so that I can build a base of measurements that will allow me to create even more designs to offer both ready made and custom.  This led to the knew offering: Prototype at a discounted price 60% off what the final product is estimated to cost.  This, for the most part, just covers the cost of materials.  So my labor on these prototype offerings is almost free ( I think there is like $75 for my time).  Something to consider: the more expensive choices have upwards of 50 hours per design.  This is an estimate based on other designs I have done.  The prototype offering calculates therefore at $1.50/hr for my time, just to give an example.  I was appalled when I saw someone state that they would love to support custom artists but that to pay 3times the cost of materials was outrageous.  What I find interesting is that the person was only willing to pay for materials not time, however if that same person went to the grocery store, the prices paid for a can of soup covers not only cost of materials but the time of the workers time to work the canning plant, workers time to transport the product to the store, workers time to stock the shelves, workers time to ring it up and bag it.  The mark up from the materials stage to the final sale is well over 3 times.  Food for thought.

Lord KEITH Prototype

Lady SUSAN prototype

I run my business a little differently than some, maybe even most.  When a customer chooses my regular items, ie corsets, chemises/smocks, bumrolls, now prototypes etc, they pay for the whole product up front.  Even if, for some reason, the request cost more in time or materials, they are never charged for this--unless they've made a change to the design to begin with (which is why we ended up with the LANETTA and HOLLY corsets).  When a customer requests a custom work, I normally do not ask for a deposit.  Why?  If I buy all the fabric and put the time in and the customer doesn't like it, I can sell it as a ready-made item.  I do lose out in this sort of case.  Sometimes the product will sit on my shelf for a year or better, and I sometimes offer it at a discount or auction.  I usually only recover the exact cost of materials in this case when I do these discounts or auction.  But like any artist, I just want to see my product loved and enjoyed.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE when a customer remembers me and shares a picture of themselves in the product I made.  It brings me joy.  I am so grateful to my children for allowing me to dress them in my creations-- I can just sit and watch them all day.  I often display my personal costumes at home on my dress dummies just so that I can remember the joy of the design.  All of that said, this craft is my day job and does help support my family.