I suppose it is about time I put some information in here, right?
Well, in the long run, I plan on using this as a way to post what I happen to be working on on a day-to-day basis, whether that be commissions, pet projects, or the plethora of distractions I always seem to cook up for myself at the most inconvenient of times.
I suppose I should also say a little about myself.
I am a sewer, which is something I never, ever though I would become. I have been an artist my entire life thanks to my mother, but I never thought sewing would be the art form I'd be knee-deep in.
Growing up, my mother tried to teach me time and again how to sew, and I hated it every single time. Oh, sure, I'd get in a kick where I'd go "I want something to wear to the Renaissance Faire!" and go pick out fabric and a pattern or two, but when it came to the actual doing, I would just not like it one bit. I still have a few of those projects tucked in a corner, now that I think of it...
Anyways, this is how I went on with my life. It took until I was 18 to find that I actually kinda enjoyed sewing, and should try it a bit more. From then on, I've been doing absolutely nothing else (to the detriment of all of my other art skills... I had aspirations to be an illustrator for a long time, and those skills have gone down the tubes to the point that I feel like a monkey with a paintbrush!).
I'm now 26, and sewing is pretty much my life.
I went to college first for Web Development, until I found out that I was really into sewing, at which point I finished up that Associates Degree and transferred to a larger University to get a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Costume Production.
Not "Costume Design," mind you. There is a huge difference and it gets me a little angsty to see them get lumped together.
I spent three years working in a professionally-run costume shop, where we did nothing but sew. We were taught pattern making in every conceivable way possible, from flat patterning to draping to drafting to handling vintage garments and reproducing from them - our last year was focused on every week reproducing a garment from every major time period from the 1200's onwards (luckily, many of those were in half-scale).
We had to know how to do millinery (hat making), the painting and dying of fabrics, shoe repairs, wig making and styling (I still have a cringe when I think of hand-ventilating even part of a wig), casting and molding, leather working, corsetry, and, of course, the whole "how a professional theatrical costume shop is run," amongst other things.
Ironically, we only had one class in Costume Design, which was entirely optional (although a load of fun!)
So that is where I come from. My mother started me on this path, and I've taken it to quite an extreme.
That's my background.
From there, I expanded a business I had started reproducing cosplay costumes (these are costumes from Japanese animation and video games) and moved into other areas as well, including my original design work. I only produce quality garments, because I truly feel that if I would not proudly wear it, then it's not good enough for my customers, either, and I'm very adamant on that point.
And that is where I am today.
Tomorrow, I'm hoping to be in an actual storefront, creating not just cosplay pieces, but alternative wedding attire and my own designs of clothing and corsetry pieces as well, with the aid of a dear friend who also suffered through the years of abuse in theatre-land.
So, that is enough about me. I'm not all that serious of a person, even if that does come off that way sometimes. I'm a quite person when I'm around people I don't know, and outspoken with those I do. I don't take compliments very well, because am truly my own harshest critic. I love helping other people, because when I first started learning how to sew, I had so many people try to shut me out, and act like what they know is some sort of secret. I despise that sort of thinking. I have three cats, a wonderful husband who helps me out when he can, and a mother who still supports everything that I try to do.
Now that you know me, I think I should get on to actually making things!
