Thursday, February 28, 2008

Patrick McGoohan and I are pleased


Villager
Originally uploaded by I Will Fly design
Well, actually, I can't say if Patrick McGoohan is pleased or not, but I sure am.
I just sold my very first actual GARMENT on Etsy! It was this black fleece shrug with white satin binding and a penny farthing button.
My very first actual piece of clothing sold on line! I am terribly excited about all of this, as you can probably tell. So far I've only ever sold accessories, so this is a big moment for me. The moment when those five years of fashion design and construction classes almost seems worth the effort.
YAY!!

Monday, February 25, 2008

the mutha' of invention

So this Saturday I learned that if you are trying to dye rayon fabric black with Rit you will get dark brown fabric, instead. And I had already bought the lace and bias for a black camisole. D'oh!
But then the light dawns.
I was grumpy about it, and laying out some black satin ribbons on my ironing board over top of the brown rayon when I realized "hey, THAT looks kind of cool". I opened up the fabric, draped the ribbons over it creatively, tried the bias and a black lace edging with it, and wow, that IS cool! So, that is what I'm working on now :)
I ordered some tiny watch gears, too, which should accent it in a really very neat way. It isn't what I thought it would be, but I like it even better. Sometimes it just goes like that.

In shop news, I have started the terribly exciting process of relisting items that are near their expiration dates, re-cropping the pictures on some of them so they look nicer. I've gotten about a million times better at taking pictures and cropping/editing them in the last four months, that is FO SHO.
I've decided that some items, items that are unloved and unhearted and that no one seems much interested in, are just going to be allowed to expire and come join me in my own personal wardrobe. I just wish that more of them fit me!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

sick day


I'm sick today, and so have nothing of interest to report on my end.
So, to spread the love around a bit, I thought I would share my personal favorite item on Etsy:
check out the rest of their awesome stuff at mincingmockingbird.etsy.com

Monday, February 18, 2008

you can write but you can't edit


sailing to heaven
Originally uploaded by I Will Fly design
oops.
I accidentally just posted this top to Etsy, even though I was just trying to edit the listing so I could post it later in the week.
Well, there it is, anyway.
So, now introducing, for the first time ever, a made-to-order item from I Will Fly!
Yay *cheers and applause from audience*
I'm also sort of taken with this picture of myself.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Never ending work pile

This is my current to-do projects list. A lot of these have been in the works for a very long time, but something more interesting will come up and I will push priority two projects down the list, sometimes mid-construction. It keeps me making the things I am inspired to create, rather than the things I "should" create, so in a way, it's all good:

1) put snaps on navy blouse and take pictures, post to etsy (will be putting on the snaps today, but with the photographer (*ahem*husband*ahem*) laid up in bed with what must be bronchitis, pictures are gonna have to wait.)

2) finish navy cuff (I wanted to make one, I ended up somehow making the bodies of two. Which doesn't help as I only have embellishments for ONE.)

3) finish ivory lace bridal corset. This is a gorgeous one, guys. The same Tudor shape as the Anne Boney corset, but in ivory silk taffeta overlayed with incredible hand beaded European lace. I have the pieces mostly cut and the underlining/lining is assembled as well as the bone casings, I just sort of haven't figured out how to actually create the overlay yet. But it will be extremely lovely, if I can con a model into wearing it for me so I can take some pictures (doesn't fit me worth a damn, of course)

4) custom bra prototypes. I need to find 5-6 inch wide stretch lace for this, which is proving very difficult, even on line. I can get red and purple, but no black or white. I am still hoping that the local store I shop/work at will reorder it, but even though I requisitioned it, no go (yet).

5) personal project: a shirt for my dad's birthday, which is May 3rd.

and various projects I want to do but haven't gotten to yet, may or may not change in conception:

-"Marion" hooded shrug in dark brown wool lined with green, edged with old gold (possibly) paint work.
- rework hem of off-white lace wedding gown (you can see it on my flikr page) and post to Etsy.
- several personal projects including a lincoln green linen blouse, a chemise of lady bug print charmeuse, a skirt and vest set of lovely striped wool/silk/poly blend.
-Some more ruffle cuffs, vaguely sort of inspired by watching too many very old movies set in the 1700s, and a pair of gothy-cuffs vaguely inspired by poker. BUT the poker cuffs have to wait until after I get the nasty after taste of "Casino Royale" out of my mouth (James Bond doesn't wear chinos and Hawaiian shirts, period).
- "branded lady" (?) a blouse similar in style to the navy blouse (and several others I've made over the last year or so) in pink slightly stretchy pima cotton with a front ruffle and sort of tie-back at the waist, gold buttons, and a gold Fleur De Lis on the back left shoulder. Inspired by the Three Musketeers and their beautiful yet devious lady.
-I want to do some bloomers and chemises and such, and an underbust corset of white and black striped floral-printed featherguard pillow ticking.
-I also want to make some A-line ruffle-hemmed skirts, possibly on a custom basis. These are awesome for summer, as I make them with broadcloth and such so they are easy wear and wash. But I don't really need any of them right now, which makes creating a prototype a trick (if I was selling at a boutique I could get rid of my prototypes there, and that would be fabulous!)

I also have a bunch of stuff that I have never taken pictures of and posted, but need to get around to, including:

-black lace kimono
-celestial print yukata (kimono)
-two black shirts in large sizes, one with an apple appliqué, one with a tropical flower appliqué. these shirts will go straight into the sale section, as they were made for a fashion show and I am trying to get rid of them ASAP.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Nautical reasoning


cuffs-in-progress
Originally uploaded by I Will Fly design
My Spring "line" is leaning heavily towards nautical. Also, pink and purple and other colorful additions, as well as some florals. I'm sorry to say it, because I know that black and brown have been my big sellers, but I am in need of some color in my life.
The navy-inspired blouse I was talking about yesterday is now finished (save for the front closures, I need to buy some snaps today) and I just started this new also nautically-inclined project this morning.
I am not sure why, exactly, but ships just seem to fit the season for me.
I was at a Macy's the other day with my mother (it is pretty gosh darn rare that I go into a department store these days) and was noticing a lot of the black with white piping look (hey, there is something currently fashionable in my store, and I didn't even do it on purpose!) and a lot of the navy or black and white striped look. So, I guess nautical is "in".
Honestly, the sail boat fabric for the blouse was purchased months ago because I thought it was precious, and the navy cuffs in progress were inspired by someone's Horatio Nelson icon in a Master and Commander forum. Sorry, guys, I'm afraid the awful truth is out, I couldn't be hip to save my soul.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Velcome my leetle ones!

Looky here! A new and fancy blog to update you about the comings and goings and ins and outs of what we (by we I mean the royal "we") here at I Will Fly are working on.

Right now I am in the middle of a project that should prove an interesting experiment. I am making a shirt, the newest design in my line for Spring, but I am making it as a prototype. When it is completed I will take pictures of it, and post it to the shop as usual, but as a custom order. So, it will be made to whatever size the customer requests, but in my design. It's a pretty scary idea, as any number of things can go disastrously wrong in the custom process, but all in all I am very excited about it. It means I don't have to try to market a garment in a size that only I can wear (because again, as a one woman show here, I am my own model most of the time).
If this seems like a good plan, I will be doing a bunch of other stuff on this sort of basis, including skirts, bras, shirts, etc. It also serves to make me a new wardrobe (of originals, which are a good advertisement in and of themselves) and to cut my stock and inventory, which cuts my costs a bit and frees up room for new projects.

Soon I will be implementing a SALE section in my shop, too. Because I have a lot of stuff from the fashion show that I haven't been able to unload and I want them OUT of my LIFE. So they will be sold at cost, basically, which hurts in some ways, but I just need to get them gone so a new year can begin.

Anyhow, here I am, and here is the spot for information and updates about what is new and hot in today's fashion world (or, that is to say, in MY fashion world, which is entirely something different) so check back and I will ROCK YOUR WORLD!*

* Your world rocking mileage may vary.