28/06/2024
Sorry, long post ahead, please feel free to skip…….I make my own clothes, have a passion for hand embroidery and help my eldest to turn his ideas into wearable art. Some of it is stunning!
I also make robes, cloaks and the odd handfasting dress or medieval outfit, usually for friends and also on a commission basis.
I have posted robes and cloaks all around the world, and have had very positive feedback from lots of lovely people. I love seeing things I have made pop up at pagan events too 😁
Last August I was asked to make a ‘fairy worriors’ dress. I agreed to do this, even though it is not something I usually do. We had a verbal agreement that the customer would provide a clear idea of what she wanted and a full set of measurements by February so I could make it, fit it and finish it for the end of May.
She eventually gave me some strange measurements (not all started at the same end of the tape measure!) and a very vague idea of what she wanted……in April.
At this point I should have said ‘sorry I don’t have time’ but as it was for a charity ball I did my best. I made a corset in calico, posted it and fitted it with the help of one of her friends by video chat…..it wasn’t too far off the shoulders needed taking up and a bit added to the waist so it closed properly.
I made the corset in fabrics she chose and approved, offered three sketches of skirt to go with it and she chose one…….this was a green a line long taffeta skirt with layers of horsehair braid edged organza wrapping around the skirt and I did it as a rush job between work, marking and getting ready to go away.
I itemised the costs of the fabric and the hours I spent on the outfit and postage to and fro and she was happy with this.
A week after the event it was planned for she contacted me to say it was too big and she didn’t like the skirt and could she return it so I could sell it on or repose the fabric. I am not very happy to say the least.
I have wasted the best part of £80 worth of fabrics (and included some left over from other projects as it was a charity event for nothing) I spent £30 on postage, and took the best part of 30 hours of hard work making it. I worked my time out at £10 per hour and then rounded the cost down to £250 to help support the charity event she was organising.
I can’t sell it on as it is like nothing I make at all, know no one of that size, and can’t face the hours it would take to unpick it all to be left with a pile of fabric scraps that I probably couldn’t reuse if I tried.
Sadly this just makes me want to give up making things for anyone ever again…….
