I just listed this dress on Etsy as a made-to-order item.
Click here for the Etsy listing
Click here to see the original blog post
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I’m designing textiles! Click the image if you’re interested.
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Rolling in Cloth 
5 Comments
Just breathtaking, Claudine. I started reading your blog a year ago, so I never saw this before.
Hello,
I really like your dress – its idea and the detail it shows.
Maybe it would be nice if you could also show someone wearing the dress on Etsy – I could imagine it might make a difference. Clothes always look nicer when worn by someone. I find the two-colored background in the photo a bit distracting.
Do you need it to be striped in order to make the smocking more accurate? If not, why not let the customer decide whether or not she would want it from striped fabric? I could also imagine this in a dramatic red, for example 😉
If you are planning on listing more made-to-order items (which I think is a good way to go – less work beforehand and a higher chance of selling something because colour, material etc. can be chosen by the customer) from your previous work, I think your Striped Dr. Seuss dress (I so love this!!), the wool-jersey top with split sleeves, the quilted dress, the Print and Lace Blouse, the Short Suit (love it!), and the bias cut wool dress would be good candidates :))
Don’t know any others, since I haven’t been reading your blog for that long…
I hope this doesn’t come across as critical? I love what you sew and I sure hope that Etsy works out for you!!! Of course, I also love your blog 😉
All the best,
frifris
Thank you for writing this comment. I find it incredibly flattering that you have favorites among the clothes I’ve made. You have a good point about the photos. There are 2 reasons that I used those photos, which are the original photos that I took immediately after I made the dress. One is inexcusable laziness. The other is that I did not make this dress as a sample, but rather as something for me to wear. I have worn it maybe 30 times and have washed it in my washing machine at least 10 times. It just does not look as crisp and new any more. But you’re right, I should at least try to get a better photo of it. And I could certainly make it in any thin woven fabric at all, I just think it would look better in a stripe.
I’ll think about offering the other items you mentioned. All I can hear in my head when I look at the list is all the reasons why I can’t offer these items for sale. I need to quiet those voices down a bit. For instance, the Dr Seuss Dress is very form-fitting and not stretch, so it is a bit constricting. I can deal with it, but I’m not sure that other people can. I can’t make it in stretch fabric because I’m afraid that all those horizontal seams will pop. If I make it with a bit more ease, it will not be the same dress. I’m not arguing with you, I am arguing with me. Eeek.
Again, thank you for your graciously worded criticisms and suggestions.
The dress in a striped or check silk would be fabulous. Good luck with the Etsy shop. I was thrilled/relieved to see you asking a realistic price and hope you get a sale. I find it annoying when pricing is ridiculous in relation to the work and the supplies involved and does nothing to support artists as a whole. YEAH you.
– Myrna
Myrna, thanks for your well-wishes. I hope I get a sale, too. I think it would be a lot of fun to make this dress for someone. I smiled to see your description of my pricing as “realistic”, but really, it is realistic considering how many hours of work go into a dress like this one. Unfortunately, it is a huge leap of faith to buy something so expensive from an etsy vendor who has not yet sold anything, but I’ll keep re-listing it and see what happens.