That's My Story, & I'm Sticking to It!

What Winners Wear is alive!

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:57:53 GMT

Well, although I haven't been posting much here, I've been very busy! I finally got my Trade Name Certificate (the day after I receive a note from my bank that they're going to close my account because I haven't produced it!), and my credit card machine, and my sales tax license... now I need to get my county license (couldn't do that until I got the TNC!), got new business cards printed and a banner made up, and finished all the suits I had cut out just in time for my first ever show last weekend!

Who would have thought that the guys were all the impulse buyers! I guess since their suits only cost $30, they can buy on a whim where as the girls already have what they're wearing. I sold 9 suits from stock and pre-ordered 2 that get delivered at the show this coming Sat. Hey, that's more than table costs! Ok, there's all those setup costs (see above, which all add up a lot) not to mention the fabric and rhinestones..... but, you gotta start somewhere.

The guys who bought the suits were all very happy with them! One guy from Britain (a whole team came over) bought two because he loved the price - said the green velvet ones are now his 'lucky trunks' because he won 4th place in the Pro Lightweight class. Another guy in the Pro Middleweight class bought a pair and borrowed my needle and thread (thanks, Gaia!) to adapt the sides narrower, won the Best Routine in his class. I left before awards were handed out Saturday night, so I have no idea about anyone else (I left at 11:30pm and it was still going on!). The Best Routine guy was thrilled that I seemed to know what I was talking about because I said that 'diaper-butt' was a very bad look! Apparently that clinched the sale. <G>. a lot of women liked my suits, and say they'll be in touch in the spring... we'll see.

So I actually used the creditcard machine 3 times! still kinda scares me, and one time I tried it and it just beeped at me. but... hopefully I'll get the hang of it.

Also talked with one of the other vendors (there were only 7, and I was the only one with suits), apparently a big mail-order website is going to be closing down! So maybe I can get some tips from him... (patterns would be a big help, too!)

It was a very long weekend, but a good one. I sold out of all the smalls, even the x-small, and 1/2 of the larges, and 1 med. I have a lot of sewing to do this week for the next show. Anything left over can wait until spring. I've got 15 suits all cut out and waiting to be worked up. Busy busy busy!!!!

Now I need to update my website: <http://www.whatwinnerswear.net>

Busy Busy Busy!

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:35:36 GMT

wow. my head is spinning with everything necessary to start a business - and I had hoped to keep it low key for a while! not a chance <sigh>.

so in addition to being on the phone constantly trying to get set up for credit cards (oops! tha tmeans I need a sales tax # too), and get a Trade Name Certificate, and get my new checks corrected, get DSL set up at work, and get bags to put sales in, and a stamper, and a banner (which I still need), and............
I'm trying to get also get sewing done! With two bodybuilding shows back to back, I need a lot of stock. So I'm trying to spend as much time as possible making suits. Easy to get the men's done -which makes me want to do those more (more satisfying) it's the women's that might bring in more money, so.. gotta work more on that.

Plus, I have no weekends until after Thanksgiving which also means a lot of planning, laundry and packing and stuff to prep for whatever weekend event is happening. This weekend was a trip to visit my mother and pick up some furniture. Next weekend is the costume guild library haunt, after that I fly up to NH for a trip to visit the house, and then the two shows, ending finally with Thanksgiving. whew!!!!!!
But, while I was down in Roanoke, I did manage to snap a pic of a restaurant sign I mentioned last July. So.. for all the Whovians out there....

next one

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:52:26 GMT

I think this one has good potential - but I wish I had a hotfix navette (pointy oval).
Would be a better 'dangle' based on that instead of 2 large rounds. But I still think it's a nice, elegant design with good potential. What do you think? Now that I have one of my wholesalers (the easy one), I can order more - and they have colors... I think a blue or a green center navette inside the cluster would be nice!

glitzing

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 14:11:48 GMT

Well, I've been keeping somewhat busy. Aside from spending a good 2 hours or more talking with the Verizon guy about getting DSL at work (and therefore having to change my phone as well), I've been doing some sewing.

I've made 3 or 4 men's suits on spec (a couple different sizes), and I'm working on 4 women' s suits (again on spec). I'm looking into getting a table at one of the Nov shows. Pierre thinks I can sell a lot of the suits right there, but I'm having issues about people trying them on to check the fit/size... while they seem to be comfortable with the hygiene issue implicit in this, I'm concerned about the tanning crap they've got all over them that will get on the suits. Would you want to buy a suit that someone's tanning stuff has gotten on? Sure it washes off, but.... So I don't know about the selling - though it would be nice.

And I'm glizting up tops. I've done one for myself and 3 others to play around with, and actually sold the last one! No, haven't opened the etsy store, maybe I'll look into creating that today. But now I have 5 or 6 more tops to play with. Since the tops were given to me for free, what I've decided is that any of those garments that I sell, I'll keep enough to cover the cost of the stones and the rest will go to the Gladsheim (church) roof fund (since that's where the shirts came from, kinda).

Some of you have seen them already, but here's the shirts I've done so far.

this one is for me. I had to do most of the leaves free-hand, which made it take a whole lot longer. Also, while I had enough emerald stones for the top edges, I ended up using topaz, jonquil and in the end some iridescent ones for the blade edges (at least I kept it symmetrical and the color faded towards the top) worked out pretty well, though.

and here's a closeup of the neckline. I was going to put a little design, but I decided I liked it simple better.

Do you think I can sell things like this on etsy??

buying rhinestones and banging my head on a wall

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:33:53 GMT

I'm trying to buy rhinestones and it's got me sooo frustrated!

OK, some of you have heard that I'm looking at the idea of opening an Etsy shop selling t-shirts (well, any clohtes I come by) with decorative necklines. I've got a number of ideas that I can do in rhinestones that look very nice around a neck, and everythng I've seen on there has been the usual tacky souvenir stuff that you iron on - pictures or text. and maybe I can put rhinestones on dog coats, or anything else I can think of that would sell. Anything to help bring some money in to pay the bills.

But in order to do that, I need to buy rhinestones at the best prices. If I want to do them in simple glass stones, crafts2do.com seems to be the best, and comes in at about $.03ea (depending on how many gross you buy of what size). But, there is no flash in glass. That means either Swarovski or Preciosa. In this case, I think Swarovski wins because they have more facets (28) which means more glitter close up, these aren't stage pieces that need distance fire. But I'll need to get Preciosa (they're Bohemian crystal from Czech Republic) for suits because theyhave fewer facets and much better distance look than Swarovski. In general, the best place for a retail prices is HotFixQueen.com (who also sells non-hotfix) and artbeads.com who carries bigger shapes. But Fred Frankel is a wholesaler out of NYC. And they're prices make me choke. Ok, what I can see of their prices, they don't put much on the web.

To give you an idea, Artbeads sells a Swarovski pointy oval (usually called Navette) 18x9mm for $1.42ea if you buy 12 or more, FF sells a Preciosa navette for essentially $.25 ea! but you have to buy a gross - I'll use them up! Or Artbeads sells Swarovksis an 18mm teardrop for $1.36ea for 12+ while FF sells the same thing but called a pear and 20mm for $.25ea in a gross. Now, that's about the only pricing info I can get off their website, but dang!! I use those shapes and put a bunch of them on a suit. That's a price I really need to be getting - even if I have to buy by the gross.

So why am I frustrated? They don't take credit cards, you have to set up an account. Ok.... an order to set up an account, you have to give them your bank account number (so they can check that you really have a business account) and 3 trade references. Not just any references, trade references. And not just any trade references, I can't use all the fabric and other rhinestones I've bought because I always used a credit card on those and FF only counts vendors who took payments by check! yeah, uh-huh. So what's a newbie to do?

About my only chance is to set up a COD account (someone still does COD??!!! ewwww) and they tell me how much it will be, when UPS will get there and I need to have a money order ready (or taped to the door, or left with a neighbor) for the UPS guy. If after a few months of ordering that goes well, I can upgrade to using a business check -but still COD. And then if those go ok, eventually I can upgrade to the 45day net account without trade references, I guess. Jeez-o-flip!!!

I'd blow them off, but dang, if that's an indication of their prices, I can't afford to! Even if all I bought was Preciosa shapes from them, that's a heck of a savings. I mean, paying $195.84 for a gross of pointy ovals or paying $34.75 for the same size in a brighter stone. I'm not that dim, but geez......
ewwwww: COD with a money order, that's the worst I can think of aside from overpaying.

yeah, patterns!!!

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:42:00 GMT

I've been wanting to make new patterns for the tops of my suits for a while. I got some bra-cups from Joann's (gotta love those 50% notions wall sales!) and tried to drape pattern stuff over them to make shaped tops. Should have worked. Really don't understand why it wasn't, but when I tried cutting out the pieces in spandex and sewing them together..... utter crap. And there are no commercial patterns I can find on bra making!

So I told hubby to bring a book with him on our weekly Target shopping, and I checked out a couple clothing sections. Woo-hoo!!! Score!!! I actually found a C-cup bra that a) isn't underwire and b) isn't machine pressed into shape. It actually was a seamed cup!! I've just ripped apart one side (leaving me with a bra for an Amazon?) to use as a flat pattern. and it had some sort of foamy lining to it (also seamed and backed), so maybe I'll be able to trim one of the sew-in cups with it. Unless I can possibly find a source for that lining.

Other thing I found, in the clearance section (gotta love the clearance section! You can find a V-neck t-shirt for $5 instead of $9+! Why on earth are t-shirts costing so much?) there was a bathing suit top that was the same triangle shape that I've been using -most standard shape for the suits- that had a piece of cup tucked inside it. Great! So I bought the top, ripped it somewhat apart since I noticed it actually has a bit more side-shaping than I've used, and pulled the piece of cup out... so I can trace it and see what it is I need. I've been trying to cut the sew-in cups myself, and just making a total hash out of it. And yes, in both cases I marked which is the medial edge and which is the lateral edge, since once it's apart I'll never know again!

Cool! Hopefully, I've now got improvements to my suit tops! Now I just need some clients to call and order them.....

Angel Dress - (forever) re-vsitited

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:45:42 GMT

I figure that it's heading towards Halloween, I'd best get back to that <#@$> Angel Dress that's been hanging on a post all year. She wanted more glitz, more 'costumey' look - silver around the flounces and a star on her chest. <sigh>

I put the silver (silver spandex - at least it doesn't shred, and those seams were already stabilized anyway) around the flounces on the 3/4 sleeves and at the hem. She was thinking something at her neck, but I told her that she wouldn't be able to pull it on over her head if I did that (was thinking about lame' at the time, rather than zig-zagging on the spandex, but I don't care). So I agreed to make a rhinestone star on the front. That was all I really needed to get done.

So, Tuesday night, I brought my pattern and my hotfix stuff and zapped a bunch of glass stones on - all different sizes for interest, and then a cloud of tiny (2mm!) ABs around it. For a tacky star on the center of her chest, it's not too bad! I was all set to turn it over tomorrow, but when I took the pic, I'm seeing tucks at the waist line that shouldn't be there. gonna have to fix that first - my pride in workmanship doesn't like them. But anyway, here's what it looks like.

glitz

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:43:34 GMT

Lets talk rhinestones. Well, the fuschia suit did glitz a bit more than the red, so many it's soap film. I'll have to try to look into that. Unfortunately she didn't win Best In Show ("only" 1st place in Women's Figure) so she doesn't qualify for the Nov show - which means she doesn't need a new suit for then <sigh>. She's done competing for the year now.

But, while checking around last night on lots of rhinestone sites, I found one by a guy out in CA who had an interesting opinion: he said (in his opinion)the Swarovksis have nice glimmer, but their new cut with more facets don't sparkle as much. They look nice up close, but after 4feet away, they lose the fire. He says the Czech stones (Preciosa) have fewer facets and therefor more fire, although they may look a touch duller up close. Interesting. I wonder if that's it. I know most of the websites I was looking at say 'we only use Swarovski crystals' but... that doesn't mean the ladies I've seen in the shows bought from those sites. I have no true idea who made them, or what crystals they used - they wouldn't necessarily know even if I asked them what kind. I just assumed everything was Swarovski since that's the easiest to find. hmmmmm...... maybe I need to change brands. Unfortunately it looks like Swarovski is the only one who makes the different shapes (rhombus, teardrop, navette/marquis....) that get used in building up designs. I know HotfixQueen sells both, maybe I should make a small order and play with them and see if I can tell a difference.

Other thing this guy had on his website, was a talk about gluing them on. Interesting: I've been holding them with tweezers in one hand, and the glue bottle in the other - putting the glue on the back of the stone and sticking them down (and hoping they don't drop, twist, or stick all of which are annoying). He says to put the glue drops on the fabric, a few at a time (just not so many that the glue sets before you stick the stones on), and then press the stones on to them using a waxed stick applicator - which he describes as basically a toothpick with dental wax on it. Of all the places I know that sell the stones, they all sell tweezers but not this waxed stick. Shame his prices aren't better than HotfixQueen. I wonder if I could make something. Dental wax?? what the heck is that? and would beeswax work as well??? Hey, if this speeds up the glitzing, and it sure sounds like it, with less chance of rogue glue spots from dropped stones..... Interesting idea, I wouldn't have thought of doing it that way.

Anyone else that has worked with rhinestones, how have you put them on?

swarovski dilemma

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:25:58 GMT

So now we know the skunks aren't living in our yard. Yippee! And I've chosen an oil company, they should be filling the tank this week and making arrangements to tuneup the system around the end of the month. And.. we lucked out that the company we chose - in spite of it's rep for being more expensive than most other companies - turns out to be the one that had the contract on our house for 4 years! so they had records of how much oil was used. exactly what we needed. Although.... they said it was 859gallons for '08 and 859 gallons for '07... yet the house was winterized in '08 - at least everything was off in Jan when we saw it, and we were told the tank was empty (there certainly was no hot water available, and you need oil to make the water hot). So I don't understand how they used all that oil in an empty house. but the last 4 years were very consistent - within 20 gallons or so. At least it gives us an idea how much to pre-buy. So things on the house front are going well.

Wish I could say the same for the bodybuilding suits. Remember that red suit (with the really narrow front) that I had to remake (with a wider front, and a couple extra changes the coach wanted)? I re-did the whole bottom piece, re-stoned it (some harvested as carefully as I could, many new), and the client wore it in her next 2 shows. I was able to go to the second one so I could see it/her on stage. The other ladies came out, their suits were firey and sparkly, just lovely. She came out... and I thought to myself 'well that looks like crap!' I can't figure out what happened. I know I put a ton of stones on it, there was barely room to put more on, yet you could barely see anything at all. There was a few little sparkles, but nothing like the other ladies. And with that 3-row band I would have have expected a lot.

thinking of scenarios: maybe there was a problem with the harvesting. the foil backing tore a little bit on some, but certainly not all, and I only re-made the bottom, and the top didn't sparkle either. Maybe, because this was a second show, after she washed it (I told her to use Ivory Snow or Dreft - certainly not the woolite she was thinking of) there is some soap residue and she should have vinegared it. Maybe. Maybe I got finger oil on it while making it? don't think that much. Maybe there's different quality of stones at the different websites, and buying at lower prices I got lesser quality?

So I called Swarovski and explained my problem. She went to the websites I said I bought from and said that they did all look like they were indeed using the Swarovskis they claimed to be, and no there isn't any quality levels - it's all first quality from the factory. So maybe I need to vinegar rinse it after I make it and tell clients to do so afterwards? I don't know. She did say I could send a couple stones and they could analyse them to see if they could tell anything - not sure what they could tell.

There was another show last weekend that I didn't get to. I think she might have been wearing the fuschia suit. So I asked our trainer, who was going, to pay attention to the sparkle on the other ladies and the sparkle on hers and tell me how it compared. It looks fine in the photos, but then that tends to cut out most sparkle anyway.

Haven't heard yet, but it's quite a dilemma and I have no idea why my swarovskis aren't behaving the way they should. anyone out there have a clue??

We have squatters!

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:30:50 GMT

Got an email this morning from my friendly caretaker: it seems we have squatters! under the back deck.
" Yesterday when son and hubby were over mowing the lawn they could smell skunks. While mowing the neighbor came over and said you have a whole bunch of skunks living under your deck. He's put up, hubby thinks, between 5-7 safe traps on the slope area between your houses as around 8pm they come out and come over to his yard. He has only been able to catch 1 and said to let you know you need to call someone to come and get rid of them. He said it looked like a whole platoon coming up over the slope to his yard there were so many. Hubby suggested you call Pest Control to come and get rid of them as there are too many for animal control at this point."

I called a few Pest Control people, it seems the average fee is $125 to set up humane traps, and $75 for each critter caught and re-located. BTW, they said you have to take skunks at least 2 miles away to keep them from coming back, but they take them about 10 miles (hey, I know a lovely field near a great empty barn... easy access in the 'basement' part). Let's hope the neighbor catches some more! I don't like the sound of a whole platoon (ka-ching!) thought it would make a really cool pic!
Welcome to the country. <Sigh>

house costuming

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:51:21 GMT

Yep, it's ours! Lock, stock and no furniture.

We've gotten a few things set up: we put our new bed together at 10:30pm that night (determined to sleep in our new home rather than at parents)... and since we aren't going to set up in the Pepto Pink master bedroom until it isn't Pepto Pink anymore... we're kinda crammed into one of the other rooms. But it will work for a while.

We brought up some spare dining room chairs (like we need to have seating for 6?) and bought a nice butcher-block dropleaf round kitchen table to put them against. Looks very nice in our big kitchen! We also got a fridge and a stove. We still need a washer & dryer and some day a dishwasher that won't gush water all over the floor, but those can wait. My sister gave us her old computer desk which is quite cute, and I picked up a night stand and a coffee table at a yard sale for cheap. The hardest thing was at the first yardsale to walk away from the compact treadle sewing machine (one of those in a cabinet) that was going for $10 or less! Yes, the kid opened the front door and pushed the treadle and the needle went up and down (not a clue about bobbin tension or works) and I lifted the extended table and the machine did begin to drop nicely into it's cabinet. Man, it was tough to walk away from! Especially with Mum and Sis both telling me to get it (and offering to buy it for me).. but if we did, we wouldn't have fit the coffee table in the trunk. <sigh>

We've also got curtains put up in about 1/2 the rooms. I'll feel better when we get oil in the tank and can have hot water for showers and dishes, though!

So... now I'm focusing on costuming the house. The living room is first, I think. The walls are cream/tan, we put up rust curtains (they may be called 'nut brown', not sure. Bought at Walmart), and the coffee table is a pine with a Jacobean stain (which means it's nearly black). The artwork for the living room is mostly a few Maxfield Parrish prints (and a lightswitch covered in a Wynsocki print). In spite of Parrish's usual colors, they do pretty much all work with a harvest color scheme. You can see what I'm working with at www.theoldforest.net/NH/CrickHollow/index.html (no new room pics, unfortunately, but I added new text and the living roomstuff). So what would you think of this for a sofa? It's the Ashley Burnham-amber loveseat. My thought is to get two of them. My mom will give us a wing-back chair that is rust & cream narrow stripes. I think we can tie everything together with throw pillows and a carpet. Somehow I'd like to pull in some deep brown, maybe a sage green, possibly a deep blue (Parrish after all). what do you think??

I've never really had an eye for decorating, but if we're going to buy new living room furniture it's got to be good enough to keep when we finally build Mathom Hall. I think this looks kinda hobbity.....

Have I turned blue? I'm holding my breath!

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:50:08 GMT

wow, I think this really is going to go through this time! I've picked up the van. Geez, I live 10 minutes from enterprise, and it took them an hour to get to me?! and then most of an hour to get the van processed and rinsed off (I don't know that I'd call it washed, but it was wet). Go figure. Man, this thing is huge!! First I need a ladder just to get into the driver's seat, and then ti's so long (longer than my minivan) and with only windows on the back doors... I'm scared to jump into traffic on Rt 1 (During rush). Finally got a bit of an opening, pulled out - but I need to go south and it's a divided hwy.. turn into the Thrift Store to turn around... yikes! no easy way to do that, I'm going to have to pull into a parking space and back out! holy moly. it's so not easy to do. But, I got home, no accidents. And we spent the early evening packing it. I got the stuff out of my van (would like to put a few more things in, we'll see if there's room - baskets of viking stuff- and we began pulling a few things out of the house. And the thing drives like a cow. I swear it's longer than the Queen Mary my parents own!
Then we took a break for . Yes, I know how it ends up (I do believe in spoilers!), but these first two episodes have been very good. And since we're leaving Thursday morning, I'll miss the nasty ending anyway. Oh my! a butt-nekkid Barrowman! in the 1/2hour interview show afterwards, 'Gwen' described his birthday suit as having a pair of handcuffs, and a little dust on his shoulder. hmmm. And he apparently greatly enjoyed doing the shot (why aren't I surprised!)
After that DH went back to readying boxes of books to pack in later. Geez, the dining room looks so odd without 2 stacks of 5 book-tubs! Hey, that's prime space for stacking the next stuff that will go up in the fall.

On the lighter side: I had a woman stop in the office trying to find a job (she's new out of massage school and hasn't even taken her national exam yet). I told her I was transitioning out of the business and hoping to switch to sewing.. turns out she wants to learn to sew (but has no machine) and may have a friend teach her. So we talked costuming a tad. Ultimately she wants to design/sew her own clothes because it's not easy to get nice trendy looking clothes in large sizes (either they're ugly, or there aren't enough and they're all gone! I'd say she's a 2x, maybe 1.5 x<G>). I told her I'm not hiring, but I will teach 'remedial sewing' She's got my email, we'll see if she calls. I also got a little bit of work done on the new posing suit top styles: a few different versions of pieces shaped over cups, instead of the formless triangle top.I'm doing mockups to see what will look the best. And since I have someone coming in next week for a fitting, I can see how one looks on her.

Hopefully we hit the road early Thursday morning! We may try to see Harry Potter while we're up there (not amused by the amazing lack of theaters to choose from. There is actually a drive-in not too far away, but I'm not sure how comfortable the Titanic is will be for movie watching. There's not even armrests!)

Mice!

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 03:10:59 GMT

I don't know where they're coming from, but in the last two days Magnus & Canute have managed to catch 3 mice (they get smaller each time).

On the house front: settlement is delayed until next week. That should give everyone enough time to get their signatures, verifications, and maybe burst pipes fixed! geez.

On the suit front: I'm so glad some of my customers plan ahead. That glitzy red suit? She tried it on for her posing coach (who is also a judge) and he said 'no way, not regulation'. Apparently the front is too narrow (in spite of it being what they show in the magazines). So, since I can't have her getting disqualified in the show next week, I have to make a new bottom! good thing I have time. Yes, I'm going to salvage the stones - but not for this particular suit, but I will try to get them off. I think I'll wash the suit and let the water soften the glue to make it easier. The fabric is toast, don't care about that, but if I can re-claim that $60+ worth of crystal....

Some day I'll get back to Sprout!

House ranting

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:23:51 GMT

No, we haven't lost another house. but things are so screwy I could just scream.

I thought everything was all set, coordinated and we were just waiting for the final amount to get the check and head on up the road Thursday morning. DH was picking up the rental van today while I was at work, and we'd start packing it up tonight. Boy was I wrong.

First thing this morning we get a call from the mortgage underwriters - they're having trouble getting confirmation of DH's employment. well, duh!! I told them last month on the other house it can only be done in writing and gave them the phone & fax numbers to use to talk to HR Dept to get it. Apparently the guy who did it last time was a bit over eager in cleaning his desk and destroyed everything before the 30 days.... So the woman got the numbers early in the morning, and called - but was apparently told it would take 1-3 days to get her the confirmation they need. And settlement is this Friday??

So if that wasn't fun bunnies enough, apparently when the Listing Agent went in with the plumber last Saturday (correction yesterday or today, seems Sat didn't work!) to fix a leak that went gushing through the dishwasher all over the kitchen floor... they discovered that the drain was all blocked and the seal or something was bad (hence all the leaking). Not sure if it's fixable... the owner, since it's a short sale and she's not making any money off it, may decide not to have it replace and just let it go to foreclosure (oh wouldn't that put in a nice delay). The LA is musing whether he might buy a new danged dishwasher out of his own pocket just to get the loan through! But, as they were in the house checking out the assorted plumbing that our inspection couldn't do.. they heard water running where there shouldn't be any. Oops! seems a pipe in the mudroom closet has burst during the freezing (winterization didn't go to well, I guess). So they quickly turned the water off again. No, they can't fix the pipe because they aren't authorized by the owner to do that.. which would require another call and a Hold Harmless letter to let the guy sweat a pipe so close to a wall inside a closet or some such. Or will she just say 'screw it, and foreclose it'. Not a clue. And if she allows the repair, will it get done in time? the Mortgage won't go on a house where the water is shut off....

And the van. DH was going to pick it up at 2pm. Well, he called for a ride and they said 'oh! the one we had was just given to someone that was ahead of you... we need to get another one. It's going to take another hour or so....' I got home around 5pm and he hadn't left yet! Just as well because....

Just before I left work (canceling a vet appt for one of the cats with another lip ulcer) I got an email that there's a problem on the seller's end getting all the paperwork done and signed and we probably can't close on Friday! Or maybe we can, but they can't guarrantee it. At least I was able to get hold of Enterprise, explain the situation and put the van on hold for either tomorrow or next week - hopefully I'll know something in the morning.

So here we are with the rental van that we really needed to get packed, and the bed being delivered to my parents tomorrow and taking up their dining room... canceling sessions and rearranging schedules so that we can drive 9 hours each way.. and now they aren't sure they can get it done. Or for that matter if our underwriters will finish their stuff.

It just makes me want to scream. I think I will. ARRRRGGGGHHH. You know, it's been 25 years, but I really don't remember this house having so many problems trying to buy.
If you actually read all this, I'm amazed. Mostly I need to vent. I hope your day was better. I spent mine chasing phone calls and pressing creases into fabric so I can sew the curtains I may not need this weekend.
<sigh>

Catching Up... do I dare???

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 03:05:18 GMT

Do I dare?? Settlement is set for this next Friday (well, not 'set' - we don't have the appt time yet). The inspection passed, the appraisal passed, the mortgage company has everything they want and are happy, the insurance company is tickled we want a new (1949) house that doesn't have 6 fireplaces - and are charging us 1/2 the price we pay on our primary house! Everything seems to be set. Even, and remember this being a shortsale is also 'as is', the listing agent sent a plumber in to fix the busted valve that flooded the dishwasher & kitchen during the inspection and was also going to have him fix the two tub drains that don't open and close properly.. and no mention of charging us on it. Do I dare really hope this is it? It better be! we've already ordered the mattress set and frame which are being delivered to my parents on wed, we've been shopping all weekend for various sundries we'll need (gotta love goodwill: telephones for $2) though we need more. My mother gave me a spare sewing machine she's had for ages and never used because she couldn't figure it out (never heard of the brand) in spite of her being disgusted that I already have 5 - but this one is essentially a 12-stitch so it buttonholes and zigzags which means I can take suits up and work there if I need the extra time to work. It's the very first house we wanted back in Feb and got beat out on the contract. If you want the tour (it got updated last week) go to theoldforest.net/CrickHollow/PeptoPink/PeptoPink.html Yes, the pink bedroom will get painted at some point - I'm hoping for maybe a peach. In the meantime, we'll set up in the blue room.

this also means that while I probably had planned to go back to mocking up Sprout's yoke (since the robe came out so well), instead I'll be sewing cafe curtains for the kitchen and mudroom. Found a really nice narrow blues/white stripe that catches both the dark blue of the kitchen, the white, and the moderate blue of the mudroom. Can I make 4 sets in time?????

As for catching up: remember the pics I posted of the purple and res suits? Well, the client said she wanted a lot more bling, so last Tuesday I brought them and blinged out the second one. She came in for her fitting on Thursday and loves them. Also picked out the hunter green velvet and a royal blue foil for the next ones, due in Nov. Yes, she knows they'll cost a lot more.

P's tiger fur has come in, he wants a 'skirt'/wrap thing that looks like a fur wrapped around his waist, and he's borrowing my black silk essence Hogwarts cloak and wants a short overlay of the tiger fur. He loves the fur that came in, so we just have to make those - with velcro or snaps or something he can very quickly pull off once he enters on stage for the posing 'reveal' Except that I have to juggle my workouts, I'd have been working on cutting that this week.. but he's doesn't need it untl.. November, so there's no rush.

I got a couple of swatches in for the brass corset.Good thing I swatched! <sigh> what they are calling bronze (and looks kinda bronzey on their website) is really the same copper everyone else has. Not a clue why they think it looks bronze. It doesn't. The gold is gold, but then new brass can be pretty bright. I'm not sure I'm going to find anything different, all the sites have gold-y stuff. I'll bring swatches next chance I get and Tues folks can see what they think.

Well, I'd better go shift the curtain fabric to the dryer so I can do some cutting on Monday. Wish I'd been able to stitch the ends together to keep it from twisting all up <sigh>.

oo! oo! an idea

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:17:12 GMT

last night I came up with a really cool idea.. now I have to find the fabrics and DH has to figure out the electronics if it's possible

Ok, I've been wanting to make a metallic corset for a while: maybe brass, maybe copper... copper spandex (sure, I'd have to interface for stability anyway) is easy to find, brass less so. Gold tone is easy, but it's a bit too bright. But Spandex House now has a bronze.... hmmm. well, I think it's a little too brownish, more old bronze and I want new shiny tone. But Stretch House might have some things. They dont' have a good display on their page so I'll have to get some swatches.

Now picture this: a brass metallic looking corset edged maybe in brown, over a brown fabric that looks kinda wood-y (not moire though), a miniature matching brass top hat maybe with a kaleidoscope on the tip. That could be really cool... what do you think?

Bits & Pieces (and no suits!)

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:20:38 GMT

So I actually got some work on the Sprout mockup done!!
I've assembled the basic pieces of the robe. the body is fine (my it's interesting trying to gather all that fabric around the yoke!), but I think the sleeves can narrow in a bit. and definitely shorten! they are very floofy - especially since they aren't sleeve-seamed closed on the repro robe. but, looking at my stills, I don't think hers were quite so wide. That's nice. scootch them in a bit. I may have to slightly change the shape of the neck opening. Next I need to create the overlay that is the main characteristic on her robe - the bit with all the paisley pieces and shells and stuff. I wish I had a clue what to do about the little neckerchief. never seen anything quite like it: tan print with fringe. maybe I'll have to make something out of some sort of quilting calico and look for fringe (would rather have a proper blend that I can just shred/fringe the edge, but....). so it's well underway.

and since I don't have any other hand-sewing to be working on, I've been working on my sami belt at Tuesday Sewing. I've finally made the center zig-zag out to the end, and I've turned around to double back. It really would look better with 3 rows, but I don't think I have enough tinnthread to do it (or patience to outline and zig-zag yet a 3rd time!). But I do have enough to be able to afterwards zig-zag a patch on the collar of the 'dickie' . So that's good. Then I can finish that off. I have a friend who is currently in Sweden taking a class (lucky thing!), and she may see if she can find anyone with some reindeer antler - I need a round spike about 3-4" long that I can hollow out to be a needle case. We had thought of faking one using the apoxy stuff that taxidermists use to fill in antler or bone.. turns out I'm seriously horrible at playdoh! I can't even make a nice clean cylinder with etched designs! how sad. I think I'd rather hollow out a spike if I can get one. Also, I'm hoping maybe one of her contacts can help with a question I've been stuck on for a few years: if you have a commercial, off-the-rack day dress (a shirt dress), how were the seams finished in the 1930s? They were just starting to use sergers (or whatever they were calling it at the time), but only on lingerie weight fabric, not on a sturdy day dress. Would they have been pinked and flattened? Would they have been turned within the seam allowance an stitched like a fake french-seam? would they have been flat-felled (I don't think so)? I have no idea and haven't been able to find anyone who knows. Maybe one of her contacts will. That would be nice. I also have to start completely over on the wool over-dress since I shrunk out of it, and start over on the shirt-dress that I had started to make the top part of. <sigh> good thing I bought a large amount of that plaid fabric while Joann had it (some of their 'homespun'). It will be nice to get that back on track again. I'm hoping maybe we can run it in NJ.

House news: if you weren't at sewing to hear the current state of things (and care)... there's no hope on the farm. 10 minutes after we were told the bank was rejecting our offer, the listing agent already had a cash offer signed by the bank! we weren't even given the opportunity to bid on it. yeah, it smells pretty fishy to us, too. Especially since the bank had asked us what names we wanted on the deed and were drating up a 'hold harmless' for the septic contractor. As soon as we find out what the sold amount was, we will be writing a letter to the real estate commission about it.

But aside from that.... there are two other properties we might consider. I think they're a touch expensive for us, but I got a return call from our mortgage guy and he has a higher opinion of what we can afford than we do (like almost twice), so at least we know that if we want to suck it up and go for something a little pricey by our standards, we'll still have no trouble getting the loan.

But more importantly, our first choice house (no, not the farm) in Greenville is actually still pending! Since Feb! their mortgage company still hasn't come back to say they can get their loan (never go with Countrywide!). and I found the property listed on zillow.com and trulia.com... at about $10k higher than I know the current buyer is offering. I'm assuming that's what it would take for the bank to decide to toss them over. Heck, that's still less than either of the properties we're considering, we love that house, we've seen it twice, about the only thing it needs is to have that pepto-pink bedroom repainted something a little less... nauseating? anti-nauseating? not so bright. And frankly that's nothing. Oh, and it needs all it's appliances. It does have a dishwasher - but I'm fairly certain that after around a year or so it's dry-rotted. So.... as soon as our agent comes back from her personal leave (a good friend just died), we'll hopefully see about putting a contract on it. I haven't told DH about it, I'm hoping to hand him the purchase & sale papers to be signed as a surprise. He knows it hasn't settled, but he doesn't/won't know if I have her draw up the papers. His birthday is next week, I thought it might be a nice surprise (no, without it being signed and faxed back, nothing is actually 'done'). I know he'd go for the asking price, since, as I said, it's still less than the other houses we're considering, and he still really likes it and has said he'd be happy with it. So.... still crossing the fingers! At least this listing agent doesn't look as sleazy as the last: since it's been pending since Feb and while he's got it on zillow & trulia, it's listed for a higher price and he doesn't seem to be actively calling up people to buy it for cash! If he's let it sit this long waiting on Countrywide.. he must be relatively decent.

So that's the news. At least all that's fit to print <G>

here's the red suit

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 02:26:59 GMT

Here's a glimpse of the red suit bottoms. I've been moving the center design over a smidge and then stuck a few extra on the back. Personally, I don't think it needed the extra bling, but I did say I'd put some random ones on just for texture, and I'd already done some on the top. I hope she likes them. This one has almost twice as much in the stones.

My biggest concern making this one, is that I work with the piece stretched out on this form. Works great. But.. then when I take it off and the fabric relaxes down... the stones also shift down and move a whole lot closer - sometimes on top of each other, and I'm afraid they might come off. Yet I see suits with the stones this close! I dunno.

a pic! well, 1/2 a pic

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 01:27:35 GMT

I've pretty much finished the fuschia suit. I've left a gap in the stones so I can move the loop & hook over, then I'll fill in the gap. But other than that... here's a pic of the bottoms that I've been working on today. The stones are all crystal clears, color is only how the flash hit them.
I think it will look pretty good on stage.

And I even went out for a mile walk tonight!

trying to get back in the groove

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:06:09 GMT

I got so depressed about the farm I just couldn't get fired up to do much work. But.. I'm trying to push past it (deadlines can be useful things).

I've got one suit all glitzed, but now I find I've got to figure a way to pull off a few stones to re-set them. You know, if you're a little bit off-center in the first row, but the time you're down around the 6th row in a star-burst, those rays are going to be very off-center. Not sure how many other people would notice, but it just bugs me. One ray ending at the seam line and none of the others that far out is just not good. so...... (wish it was as easy as ripping the seam)

I've gotten a lot of the second suit glitzed. did the top the other night, and did a good bit of the bottom while watching Narnia just now. But... I can't finish one side of the back because the loops are not evenly centered. Yeah, I noticed it early on, but it matched where the marks were on the pattern. But it just bugs me, and that means her straps won't be centered at their connections. So... no stones near that seam edge until I rip the loop & hook off and re-set it! At least I'm deciding that before I glue the stones on <G>

I have the main pieces still cut out for Sprout's robe, but... haven't been inspired to sew the mockup. so the pieces are still sitting.

I did do a fitting for a new customer. She wants a somewhat fancier stone pattern. Problem is that I really have no idea what to charge for it! I'm going to have to count how many stones I've used in these two other suits, see how I feel about those selling at the promised price (she asked for 2 suits at price and I agreed), and try to figure out how many stones I'm going to need for this pattern.

I'll try to get some pics of the suits. They do look pretty. One is vivid red with a 3-row band along the edges (top 2 edges of the bra, and waistline of the bottoms) with a V in the back and a star-flake in the front, the other is fuschia with a tryinagle/pyramid edging and some sort of flourish at the centers. The new one is going to be a single row outline with 18mm ovals (ok: navettes - they're pointy ended) outlined in rounds. About 7 or 8 on each top triangle and a couple on the bottom centers. and some random loose spangly rounds.

No idea how to cost something up from the materials! I guess I've got to learn. My time to glue is getting better, and I really don't know how long it will take on any particular pattern so I can't just say $X per hour. they want a final figure. Gotta get to it.

Follow-up on glueing crystals

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:48:21 GMT

I finally did the glue test. I know I was going to do two, but I got lazy (er.. busy) and only did one. But it was the most rigorous!

I took a strip of cheap crushed panne straight from Joann's (nah, didn't bother to pre-wash it) and glued a little design of glass rhinestones using Ailene's jewel-it and another spot in a different pattern (same stones) using gem-tack. Since Ailene's said to wait 7 days before washing, I waited a week. Then I tucked it into a mesh delicates bag, and tossed it in with the rest of the darks!

Ok, technically it should have been washed on cold/delicate. In a perfect world, and I had enough laundry to do a load of just that, I would have. But it's not a perfect world and I was curious how it would stand up. So.. in it went, along with all the rest of the darks on warm/cold nearly heavy wash. No, I didn't run it through the dryer. Oh, and I do have a front-loading washer which is a little more easy on things than a top loader and doesn't drown the clothes soaking in water.

Results: I took the strip out when I transferred the load to the dryer. The panne had slightly stuck to itself, but wasn't difficult to carefully flatten. in both cases the glue had returned to its original white state, but as it air-dryed, both went clear again. I stretch and manipulated both sections. Amazingly, with this harsh treatment (oh, and I didn't use any delicate detergent, just the usual Gain and Clorox2 that I always use. When I truly do a delicates load, on a load of costumes or something, I usually use Ivory Snow or Dreft). Anyway, so I stretched and twisted and sorta picked at the stones. Only one of the Ailene's came off, the rest are still there, and none of the gem-tack game off (one seems to have been stuck overlapped. I don't think I did that originally, so it must have shifted in the laundering). So, that's pretty darn amazing. Yes, they are both delicate when damp coming straight out of the washer, but letting them airdry before messing with them - they went back to looking like they should. I'm amazed. Huh, should have tried a 3rd piece with the hotfix. I really expected to find missing stones, or stones loose in the mesh bag. So, maybe gluing really is more secure - if you glue with a good blob of the stuff. I keep trying to 'halo' it: blob enough on the back that it smooshes out, cupping the stone.. but it seldom does it on all sides.

I figure after what that strip went through, checking to see how they held up to handwashing wasn't terribly important.

I'm just sick about it!

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:08:04 GMT

I can't believe it. We have the mortgage all lined up. the insurance all lined up, the insurance co's requirement for a central fire & burglar system all lined up, we actually found the previous owner who has the septic design (and company who installed it) and all the other receipts for all the work he updated on the house. everything was all set except that the selling-bank was sitting on it's thumbs. Yesterday we get an email asking what names we want on the deed (although they still haven't given permission to fix the septic so that Wells Fargo will release the mortgage money and we can actually close...). Today, they suddenly say 'Nope. Not gonna take it. counter off of the dropped price with the request to fix the septic before closing... rejected. For a week and a half they sat on this!

No bank is going to give any loan on a house that is uninhabitable. The seller-bank isn't going to fix the septic, they won't let us do it (yes, there's a clause that if our offer falls through for some odd reason, they pay back our investment on the septic).. they think there's cash buyers hanging around wanting to buy this house. The house has been vacant for 3 years! If there was a cash buyer, they would have by now. But we're not good enough. oh no.

so now... just because we're about as tenacious as rats and won't give up until we have no more teeth... we're going to see about getting a cash-out refi on our current house (which has no mortgage) and become a cash buyer. Then it doesn't matter that the septic needs to be fixed before anyone can live in it. We're not happy to have to go that way, but in the long run it really doesn't change a lot of the money being spent. Other than we're back up to full asking price instead of the sweet appraisal price that came in. And since it will take close on 30 days to put the cash out through.. we can't offer a low price and request closing in a month. Full price and closing in 3 weeks - maybe. we'll see. We just don't want to give up on this. I can't believe they've done this.

Got me too upset to get motivated to do any sewing! I've got the mockup for Sprout's gardening smock cut out, but can't get interested in sewing that or gluing rhinestones. Mostly I've been on the phone all day talking with loan people, husband and agent.

Finished the house tour

Sun, 31 May 2009 20:52:48 GMT

If you're curious, I've got the rest of the house tour pics up. www.theoldforest.net/CrickHollow/OldFarm/index.html Though there's a snag in the purchase. We offered the asking price as long as it assessed at equal or higher value. The assessors were just out last Wed... it came in $24,900 lower than the asking price!!!!! That means, according to our contract that our offering price drops, because our mortgage bank won't give a loan for a house that isn't worth that much - and neither will anyway else! So, the selling bank just got their noses stung. We're waiting to hear back from them about our lowered counter offer. However it does guarantee that there is no way the selling bank is going to fix that bad ceiling from the water leak (even if it was their fault/watch). Other stipulation is that the septic must be fixed and inspected before settlement. Ah well. we had planned on doing it first thing, and fairly soon - not necessarily THIS week, but we can. Su-weet. I hope. Anyway, it's a huge place and I've got the tour all levels of the house, the grounds and the barn (not every part of the barn). If you do the whole tour (we took 3 hours walking around, the place is huge), you might want a cup of tea with you.

Vindication!

Sun, 31 May 2009 02:39:33 GMT

I went to my first body-building show today. Well, it was... different. And it's another case (various times) where the audience is left thinking 'what were they thinking? So-and-so got robbed!' So, see? It's not just in costuming and ice skating!

My trainer, in his tiger suit, seemed... tired? He came in 3rd in his Master Class (knew at least one other guy was going to beat him out), and 2nd in the lightweight division - he was robbed, he was better than the 1st place winner.

The couple who wanted 3 suits in 2 weeks, and then complained they were too skimpy? He came in 1st in his group, but second in his division (Novice) - it was really close, I personally think he should have won and his suit was a much better fit (and costuming is everything! <G>). I was amused to see that in the pre-judging, while he said he was going to wear the black suit from Lily because he thought it made his butt look smaller... in fact he wore my red suit! He did realize, once he saw the other guys, that it was the right fit and Lily's was too big. In fact, he's going to bring me the other two suits he got from her to have me take them in!

Unfortunately the girlfriend didn't even place. To be honest, she wasn't toned enough. But there's time for toning and polishing. It was her first show, and it was a tough group. But.. while trying to tie her suit on he ripped out one of the elastic straps (not going to do them any more anyway, but it shouldn't have come out!). I went backstage and pinned it on her since they still had the safetypin to feed it through the loops. And for some reason, although I tested all the rhinestones, apparently some of the hotfix stones still came off! I don't understand it, hotfix is supposed to be machine washable it's so durable. I have noticed that most of the other girls' stones are all hotglued on. I'll have to try that. Unfortunately I'm going to have to practice as I'm not a good hotgluer. I wish I trusted Ailene's, but I think it's water soluble. And I know I"ve seen old costumes where the glitz is hotglued on and the stones still fall off. Any suggestions???

But at least now they trust me that I'm making them look ok, even if it seems skimpy (duh!). My there was some stunning bling on those girls' costumes.

now there's a hitch

Sat, 30 May 2009 03:14:29 GMT

got a call from my agent today - there's been a hitch. Our contract said we'd pay the asking price as long as it assessed at equal or higher than that. Well, the assessor went out a couple of days ago... and it assessed for $24,900 LESS. And the mortgage people insist that the septic has to be fixed (and inspected) before settlement. We had planned on doing the septic first thing, but not necessarily next week! guess we'll have to. So... we've put in an addendum to lower our offer down to the assessed price. It's possible the owning bank could say no - but who on earth do they think will buy it? No bank no how will lend anyone (no matter how sterling their credit) more money than the house is worth. So unless they think some cash buyer is going to come along and pay that much more.... we'll get it for an even more amazing deal. Oh, but in this case there is no way the owning bank will repair the ceiling in the Old Kitchen. They did get a plumber in to repair the pipe that burst, but they don't care that it happened after our contract was put in. Frankly, it's not worth walking over - it certainly won't cost $25k to fix. Heck, the septic won't cost that much! So... we faxed up the new offer and may have to wait until Monday to hear. Cross your fingers!

Going to my first body-building show tomorrow in Falls Church (George Mason High School), going to see other people's suits and hopefully hand out cards.