Growing my Business in 2024

I am no business expert, but I have learned a thing or two about running a small business since I went full time as a entrepreneur nearly two years ago. I have learned that it takes long hours, major sacrifices, dedication, hard work and finding ways to get things done faster, better and more efficiently all while trying to spend less money and earn more.

That’s me: Boss Babe Stephanie showing off some of my work!

I am very proud of my business and what I do. I am a designer seamstress and dressmaker, creating custom garments for ladies focused on special occasion, bridal and tailored apparel and offer bridal alterations. I have managed to grow a client base, hone in on couture and quality sewing techniques, get the word out on what I do, decline work that doesn’t fall into my specialties or timeline (or that I simply don’t want to do), open a little boutique space outside of my home, price my products and services accordingly, earn more money year over year, and become better and more experienced with each job that I take in.

I have paid off all of my debt, paid off my car in full, and have a little chunk of savings in the bank that I would like to invest back into in my business.

It’s now up to me to work on my business plan and focus in on how to grow my custom sewing & dressmaking business. I need to sit down and figure out the smartest means where I should invest my money, and that starts with a plan. I have read several books and articles on running and growing a small business, now I need to take what I have learned and apply it to my situation.

A quick shot of me and a couple of dresses I made back in 2012

Although I can’t do all of my ideas with the budget that I have, here are some of the specific ones that I have thought about that I can invest in to make my business run smoother, more efficiently, and make a profit:

*new sewing equipment, namely an industrial sewing machine

*take on an intern or part-time contract employee

*hire a professional accountant to handle business finances

*physically (and mentally) declutter & organize

*automate scheduling

*improve website

*invest in and create sellable inventory-manufacture a small collection

*invest in marketing and advertising

*hire a professional photographer

*market and target customer research

*research and development

*foster newness and excitement

*continued education

*travel

*learn from those who are more skilled and experienced than I am

*hold events to attract new clients, thank existing and previous clients

*network

Me and my models walk the runway in my Love, Stephanie designs 2016

Do you have any good advice for growing a business, taking it to the next level with smart investments? Has something worked for you, or held you back from success? I’d love to learn more about it and try to figure out the best ways to take my business to the next level.

Me finishing up gown I made in 2023 for a special lady Michel. She said to me recently “I don’t think I’ve ever felt that gorgeous in a piece of clothing”. Words to live by!

I know I need help and can’t do alone. I also know that there are success stories and big dreams can come true, it just takes hard work, smart decisions and perseverance. And a plan.

Meanwhile, I’ll keep on plugging away at my existing client needs, holding up my end of the agreement, while trying to create newness and examples of my potential and sharing with my audience. Soon I will be posting about some lovely projects that I have been working on, but have to hold back the excitement until the client’s special occasion occurs so not to spoil the surprise.

Photo shoot dream project come true of a custom gown I made for lovely Payton. More please!

Life is short, time is limited, and I want to make a difference and impact in this world and in the lives of others. Even just a small part, a little influence, make someone smile and feel beautiful in what they are wearing.

That’s all I want out of this life, at least business-wise. I feel strongly that what you wear says a million words and evokes a thousand emotions. So why not that be me to make that a reality!

I make dream garments come true!

Love,

Stephanie

A Beautiful Heirloom Bride

Like a beautiful breath of fresh air, Peyton came to my studio via word of mouth and brightened up my life! She is a lovely, fun & fresh young lady with long dark hair and a beautiful warm smile.

She had with her two dresses: one from her grandmother’s wedding from the 1940’s, and one that belonged to her great-grandmother for her wedding dating back to the 1920’s! There also were a couple of bridal accessories in the garment bag including sheer gloves and a detachable collar with lace edging and covered buttons. She wanted to use the dresses in some way to create a dress for her own wedding. She had been given permission from her family to use the dresses in any way that she wanted, but with the condition that she incorporate parts of the dresses into her own wedding dress.

She sent me some ideas of what she wanted for her dress: Something simple for the top, not fussy, and a tea-length skirt. Just pretty, romantic and comfortable.

Some images of the dress she wanted, plus her wearing the current dress.

The lace from the bodice of her grandmother’s dress was unusable as it was discolored and sadly disintegrating from age. The skirt, however, was in good condition and made of a nice quality silk chiffon and lined in a lightweight silk material.

She trusted me with her heirloom dresses and I got to work deconstructing her grandmother’s dress. We decided that great-grandmother’s dress was far too discolored and not a good shade of white to use, so we left that one in-tact.

I ever so carefully removed the vintage stitches, many of them hand-sewn, separating the bodice from the skirt. Once the skirt was off, I overlocked the very top edge of the skirt to give it stability and keep it together for what was coming next for it. A bath!

I gently laundered the detached skirt in my clean bathtub in warm water with Woolite and a sprinkle of Oxyclean, gently swishing it in the suds and rinsing it out with warm water. The bath water was pretty dingy after all of these decades! After pressing out the dampness in a clean white towel, I then laid out the skirt to air dry on my drying rack.

Once the skirt was completely dry, I hung it on a skirt hanger and carefully steamed it out with my handy dandy steamer machine. I love that thing! The skirt came out like a dream! It was soft, flowy, fresh and pretty. Best of all, the wrinkles, dingy hue and “old lady” smell magically disappeared! Horray!

The clean skirt, just before steaming, and attempting to even out the hem

Meanwhile, Peyton had homework to do involving purchasing a new lace material that she wanted for her custom-made bodice to be attached to grandma’s skirt. She found a lovely floral lace fabric and some lining that she delivered to me to be sewn up into a fitted bodice that I had already made a muslin mock up to her liking.

Fitting time! This is always an exciting, and totally nerve-wracking, stage in the dressmaking process. The bodice is mocked up in muslin and pinned to the skirt. So far so good!

After the fitting and approval of the work so far, I got straight into cutting out the bodice in lace and began to construct it.

Here I attempt to do a lace overlay hidden seam. Could be better, but I tried! — An attempt at making a hidden seam in the lace.

Bra cups added to the interior of the bodice between the layers of lining. — Bra cups sewn into the interior of the bodice

Fast forward to the dress being close to finished, I added the final touches with a new zipper, buttons from grandma’s gloves and a new little ribbon belt. I the share photos with the bride and schedule the last fittings and deadline.

The interior of the dress including a ribbon stay, hanging loops and an old version of my Love, Stephanie label.

I love to present my custom-made garments to clients in a garment bag embroidered with a monogrammed initial.

I was just so touched and honored that Peyton came to me to create this special and sentimental wedding dress for her. I loved working with her, her family and loved ones. She is a delightful and beautiful person and I am touched to have been a part of her wedding!

Draped in a Dream Dress

This journey began with a bright eyed beauty, curious to know more about what I might be able to create for her and what the process of creating a custom dress looked like. Laura contacted me, looking for a custom dress to wear to her sister’s wedding event. She wanted a dress with a 1930’s feel, one that had fabric interest with unique design details.

She had seen a dress in a movie that she loved and wanted to get a similar look. She sent me photos of screen shots from the movie, plus some inspiration shared on Pinterest

She loved the rich tones of the fabric combination, and the soft ruffled neckline of this dress

I got to work and found a pattern that was designed in the 1930’s and had the basic shape of the dress style she liked including the sweetheart neckline, the low back and the long, softly shaped skirt

I found this pattern and ordered it from Etsy

We hit the fabric store shortly after I received the pattern, and I also made a mock up of the dress for her to try on

It was my first time making a ruffle like this at the neckline of a dress. Although we like it, we decided it was a bit too much for her.

The fit of the dress was great, but here we are playing with different strap placement and neckline shape

Back to the drawing board!

As the construction of the dress progressed, I kept Laura posted with details of what I was doing and got her input on any options she had.

She loves the combination of the drapey lavender chiffon with the deep plus satin. I also thought the colors were beautiful together, just the placement was not as compelling as it could be.

I brought up an idea of draping over the entire top of the dress, allowing both fabrics to have their moment. I presented her with this idea of draping and criss crossing the chiffon over the bodice.

She really like that idea, approved it, so I got going on making it happen!

I finished constructing the dress underneath by adding boning and bra cups to the lining of the dress.

The lining turned out beautifully and was a pleasure to look at as she slipped into the dress. That kind of detail makes me happy, and hopefully also the case for the wearer!

The bodice and skirt lining ready to be installed into the dress!

Plenty of pining and hand sewing happening on my trusty dressform

The bodice front, sides, and eventual side drape piece, all pleated and basted, ready to be sewn together, then sewn over the main dress bodice.

So after quite a bit of trial and error, as this was my first time creating such a dress with the draping detail, I finally finished the gown!

Here are some photos of the versions I sent over to her before finishing up on her final version:

She looks so pretty and elegant, even unfinished!

The drape happening in the back would also look so gorgeous! I might need to make this dress again just for fun!

And the finale!

Meanwhile, Portland was hit with a big snowstorm that essentially shut down the city and trapped many people at home. Well, that didn’t stop me! My sweet husband offered to drive me and the finished gown over to Laura’s house and deliver it in person in his SUV that is great in the snow. What a nice guy!

Laura was radiant in her dress as she tried it on in her bedroom! I brought along a small sewing kit and supplies to do any last minute fixes as needed.

Well, it turned out that the dress needed a little more than just a few stitches to make it perfect. So, unfortunately I had to take the dress back home and make some fitting changes to the bodice and straps to make it just right. No problem! OK, one major problem: the dress was meant for her to take along to wear at her sister’s wedding event in California the next day and it wasn’t ready. UGH!!! I was hoping to be able to make the changes that same day and drive the dress back over so she could pack it for her trip. I ran out of time and wasn’t able to make it happen. You have no idea how SO disappointing this was for me, not to mention for her as well. So she left early the next morning for California, all without the dress we worked so hard to make in time for the event. GRR, I was SO upset with myself!

Well, now the dress is complete and altered and ready to go for the next occasion she may have to wear it. All in all, Laura was such a wonderful client to work with and I hope that she’s willing to work with me again on another gorgeous creation, and possibly even teach her some sewing lessons so that she can learn to make her own beautiful and unique clothes!

Lesson learned: time management is KEY to making deadlines and leaving room for error.

The gown turned out so elegant and eye catching!

Thank you so much Laura for choosing me to create such a beautiful gown for you! I enjoyed every moment of the process, mishaps and all. Enjoy wearing your dress and may you glow and shine in it as you do so naturally! Love, Stephanie

A Goddess Bride in the Making

I was overjoyed to have been contacted by an acquaintance to create a custom wedding gown for her elegant and opulent wedding happening in October of 2019. Dione is a lovely boss-lady who has a bold sense of fashion and an arresting beauty, so of course, I was super excited to have the opportunity to create something unique for her wedding dress!

We started with ideas, concepts and visions of what she wanted for her gown.

She was going for BIG, BOLD and DRAMATIC!

She shared these images with me for her visions of the gown:

The High/Low hem and embellishments of this dress really caught her eye.

She loved the embellishment details of this dress, and the volume of the ballgown

So I got to work right away coming up with concepts that I would be able to create and achieve with the skills that I had.

I made some fashion sketches and shared them with her:

And the fittings began!

I started with this McCalls 7720 sewing pattern for the shape of the bodice, and possibly the skirt too if I could get the fullness:

I ended up just using the bodice of the pattern and draping the skirt.

At first, she wanted to have a tulle underskirt to wear for the wedding ceremony, then take off the underskirt to reveal the underside of the hem and her fabulously shapely legs. Here is a raw version of the dress mocked up in muslin with a tulle skirt underneath for fullness:

I perfected the fit of the bodice easily on her slim torso, so that was easy. It was getting the skirt length, fit and drape just right that was the major challenge:

Here she is, in the dress, cut in the satin, pinned up to make the hemline as we wanted

Placing the motifs with the tulle underneath

And with a couple of the fancy gold trim motif’s pinned to the front.

At the next fitting, I had pinned the gold trim all around the skirt and we tried this on for fun (meanwhile, we were moving into a new house, was planning our own wedding, and I was making my own dress, so please excuse the chaos of my sewing room):

Nice, but we weren’t happy with the back length at all so I kinda had to start over.

OK so fast forward, I was starting to admire my work as I worked late into the night up in my new sewing loft. I had a bodice, a skirt, and it was starting to look like a real wedding gown.

Once we had the shape decided, I started the tedious task of sewing on all of the gold trim on, one motif at a time, with this annoying, yet beautiful, gold metallic thread. I was married by now, so I could put the making of MY dress out of my head and focus on Di’s dress:

Then, it was on to sewing the lining to the outside of the dress, all by hand:

Finally, the dress was done and ready for the final fitting! (Again, please excuse the pile of junk shoved in the corner, I was BUSY!)

Get ready for chills up your spine….

I can’t…SO HOT!!! Photo: Dina Chmut Photography

Sums it all up: BAD-ASS BEAUTY! Photo: Dina Chmut Photography

With her handsome groom Howard, LOVE! Photo: Dina Chmut Photography

Those legs go on for miles! Photo: Dina Chmut Photography

We had a BLAST at the wedding! It was a a huge, black tie event, so of course I had to throw together another dress to wear to it as the official dressmaker to the bride!

I just threw this together in a few days to wear to the wedding, no biggie..

We were honored to attend the grand affair!

What an honor it was to create such a special gown for Dione! She was a lot of fun to work with and so great to get to know better. I loved EVERY minute of the process (ok, maybe not the hand sewing part) and am delighted to have had the opportunity.

CONGRATS!!! You’re a Goddess living amongst us!

Romance In Color

Chartreuse Silk Wedding Gown Ahh, sweet, sweet love!

I was SO honored and excited to have been asked by a friendly acquaintance of mine to custom make his fiance’s wedding gown. We are friends on Facebook and had seen and admired some of the garments that I sew and post on my Love, Stephanie page.

I gleefully met up with the bride-to-be Terri and we started to plan the project right away as we only had three months until the wedding.

She wanted a vintage style look, and had an original idea of 1935’s-era inspired separates of a gown, an over-blouse and a long-line jacket all in silk. It was a beautiful and wonderful look that she showed me, an actual Vogue Pattern that I happened to also have in my pattern library-how about that!

Pattern-Review-Vogue-2859-top-pattern-envelope-786x1024

After mulling over this idea for a few days, we decided that this pattern would be a lot of pieces for me to make, take up quite a lot of fabric, and that we really didn’t have enough time to make it all work.

Idea # 2 was the perfect vision! It combined a vintage look, simplicity, and I knew it was absolutely do-able in the time that we had. I just love this look!

Plus, when she said she wanted a solid color, I rejoiced because those chevron stripes meeting perfectly down the center front of this dress in insanely slippery silk charmeuse-yikes!!!

I got started researching a decent sewing pattern to base her dress off of in order to make the whole process a little easier and not have to make a pattern from scratch. I found this Simplicity pattern which is a vintage one, but from 1972:

il_570xN.777076852_f9su

The dress had the V-Neckline with the center front seam and angled seams under the bust and a floor length semi-flared skirt. I would lower the neckline, turn the bust darts into gathers, and make a new sleeve to resemble design lines of the inspiration gown as closely as I could.

She wanted the dress to be in a beautiful color, one that was vibrant, memorable and looked great on her warm brown skin tone. She ordered this gorgeous and lustrous silk charmeuse in a color called Citronelle from NY Designer Fabrics:

Of course, I took a few minutes to sketch out the vision of the dress, adding to it over the time and finishing it off with the look that she executed for her wedding day:

Meanwhile, I got started modifying the pattern and creating a muslin. I chose to make the first muslin out if an inexpensive polyester satin to mimic the silk, but I really should have made the first mock-up out of actual muslin and saved the satin for mockup # 2, but oh well, they both served their purposes:

Fitting #1: we worked out a good deal of fitting and design adjustments to the gown.

I added to the sides where she need more room, lowered the neckline, and checked to see if she liked the sleeve.

Then back to flat pattern adjustments and cutting muslin #2:

She was actively loosing weight, so now the dress was TOO big! But, that’s just fine, better to have more to work with than a too-tight fit. We wanted drop the under-bust seam a little more and obviously take in more fabric in the back. Overall, the 2nd fitting went really well, I knew what I needed to do next and it was looking good and she was starting to really get excited about her gown!

We had two more fittings before the final delivery. The next was in the dress sewn up most of the way in the actual silk fabric with the changes from the last fitting, but before the zipper was put in, before the hem was cut and sewn, and with generous seam allowances on the sides and back just in case we needed more room. The last fitting, the dress was done, but she wanted to take in the sides a tad more, and there were a few seam tweakings to perfect the dress.

I added finishing touches to the dress using a beige silk lining for the bodice and sleeves:

As an added little luxe touch, I sewed in satin ribbon hanging loops at the top of the sleeves so that the dress did not just slip off the hanger when stored:

A little satin ribbon sewn into the seam makes a great hanging loop that just falls into the dress invisibly when worn.

I made a tiny narrow hem to finish off the dress:

Making the narrow hem, almost done!

Here is the dress, all complete, steamed and ready to roll, hanging in my sewing room (not the best hanger-appeal on this dress: it really needs a body and boobs to fill it out to perfection in my opinion):

The wedding day was upon us! I was nervous about the dress and hoped and prayed that she was happy and loved her gown. It turned out to be really lovely and it looked so beautiful on her! The silk was just SO lustrous and flowed beautifully as she walked and danced with her new husband.

Success!!

I had the idea to make him a little matching pocket square out of scraps of her dress fabric which she was delighted to give to him during the ceremony. So cute!

I am so in love with their love and simply honored to have such a big part of their wedding ceremony. Thank you Terri and David! Congratulations!!!!

Kiss your beautiful bride!

Cross Bodice Jumpsuit

I made up this pattern in my Advanced Pattern making class that I have been taking at Portland Fashion Institute as a part of my first collection for my label Love, Stephanie.

FF_2016_STEPHANIE

I got about 4 yards of a lovely silk twill-like material that had just the right amount of drape to it without being sheer or flimsy.

I love how easy and free-flowing this jumpsuit looks and feels:

FF_2016_STEPHANIE

It was a fairly easy design to create. I made a cross bodice top with a back zipper opening, drafted a long sleeve with a wider sleeve hem, made a wide leg palazzo pant, and sewed them together at the waist and added elastic. I then whipped up a simple sash and tied it loosely at the waist Boom! Done!

FF_2016_STEPHANIE

I have been admiring the whole jumpsuit trend and have been saving up inspiration photos on Pinterest:

fashion blog for professional women new york city street style work wear

Jumpsuit with leather sash

Love it! I can now take what I have made and create different versions of it; narrower leg, sleeveless, halter top, all kinds of fun and fashionable looks. Sew exciting!!

Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned for more custom designs from me!

Love,

Stephanie

Animal Print Brocade Holiday Party Dress

I love this dress! I thought it would be too poofy and make me look bigger than I would like to look, but after wearing it, I was OK with the poof.

Vogue Pattern 1434 by Isaac Mizrahi in animal print brocade

I used Vogue 1434 to make this dress. It’s a Vogue Patterns American Designer pattern designed by Isaac Mizrahi:

V1434 by Isaac Mizrahi Pattern Cover

V1434 Pattern Envelope Back and Line Drawings

I cut out this dress in a size 14, making a fitting muslin of the bodice first, which took some minor tweaking at the shoulders and bust princess seams, but the fit was pretty great overall. I cut it from a beautiful Italian animal print cotton blend brocade in metallic cream, rose and peach shades from Oscar de la Renta I ordered from Moodfabrics.com:

Oscar de la Renta Cream/Wint/Rose/Peach Animal Italian Cotton Blended Brocade Fabric

Pattern Cutting the Brocade

I had a nice red silk crepe de chine fabric in my stash that was just barely enough yardage to fully line the dress:

cranberry red silk crepe de chine for the lining

The dress was fairly easy to construct with a basic princess seam sleeveless bodice and full pleated skirt and deep pockets, lined by the same pattern pieces for the bodice and different patterned pieces for a gathered skirt lining.

The most time consuming part was making the pleats.

I traced the pleat placement using the handy pleating guide included in the pattern pieces:

Pleat Guide Pattern Piece

I found that this would have been helpful had all my pleat tracing work had actually shown up and stuck to the brocade fabric once it came time to sew them. Instead, I actually held the guide up to my fabric as I pinned each pleat in place, then carefully basted them down:

Pinned and Sewing Pleats

This took the most time and attention, but it was worth the work!

finished dress!

I love how the lining turned out, accept the fact that I didn’t take the time to make French seams on the skirt as the inside of the lining could show my mistake or if anyone looks at it throughly inside and out. Oh well, I might just pink the seam edges so they don’t fray.

Mood Fabrics even sent a little label with the fabric that I sewed into my dress below my Love, Stephanie label. Oh, the little things make all the difference!

Labels Pinned and ready to Hand Sew Into Lining of Bodice

Lining of Bodice with Labels

this dress is fully lined in red silk crepe de chine

This dress was a huge hit at the two little holiday parties I went to Saturday, and I plan to wear it to another party on Sunday! I even met a woman who wants to talk to me about making some custom dresses and apparel for her! Plus, friends of mine have been dying for me to make them something custom, and we have some really great project ideas in the works! So exciting!

I was going for a dress inspired by these dresses I pinned on Pinterest:

Eliza J dress at Nordstrom

Lanvin Jaquard Dress

It is so very cool to be able to make my own clothes, and then wear them and “sell” my work to others!

The Deep Pockets are Wonderful!

Love My New Dress!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and and Happy New Year to ALL!!! MWAH!!

Tie Neck Silk Blouse-Coral Pink Charmeuse

OK, maybe these tie neck or “pussy bow” style tops are old school, maybe they are haute couture. I don’t know for sure. All I know is I love them. And, I know that I will make them over and over again, until I cannot bare to make any more:

This beauty I made for my stunning brunette friend (you know how you are 🙂 ) as a gift. I have had this pinky/coral colored lustrous silk charmeuse for about two years now, keeping Her in mind to make a top for. I finally had her body measurements (I measured them for her on Thanksgiving 2014 before dinner), and figured she would look really nice in a lower cut, tie neck blouse, in a favorite color that she loves, not to mention looks really pretty on her.

I used Simplicity 1784 pattern, view A, to make this blouse.

1784_fbv Simplicity

I ran out to Button Emporium to find some pretty , unique, and special buttons to use for this top. I found some lovely German Word War II-era pink glass buttons and grabbed up enough, plus extra, to button up this beauty.

Buttoned barrel sleeve cuff

Front buttons of blouse

I attempted to make this top as nicely as I could. I used French seams for the side, sleeve and armhole sleeves, plus hand stitched the interior of the cuff and neckline seams. Next time I make this top, or any top like this, I will not use fusible interfacing, at least not in the neck facing, because it left the facing a little warpy and stiff, plus it shows a little. I will try a silk organza, or the self material, for any interfacing parts the next time.

I have seen, and Pinned, several tops and blouses lately, that were an inspiration for this creation:

I hope that She loves and enjoys this top and can wear it for many years to come. Who knows, maybe she will commission me to make her more of these, or similar ones, to add to her wardrobe and wear for the future. I would LOVE to do that! For Her, or anyone else who would like that. And who can afford me too 😉

Leather inset peplum top and skirt

I made this top and skirt yesterday to wear as an usher at Fashion Week fashion show next weekend. I had some leather in my stash I got at Tandy Leather in Portland and used a mystery thick ponte knit (I think this was actually a neoprene fabric) I bought over a year ago at Mill End for the rest of the top and matching pencil skirt. I used New Look pattern 6130 for the outfit.

I may be a little late to the peplum party, but I have found some similar dresses online at high end retailers such as these pricey ones:

\ faux leather bodice peplum dress $595

Raoul $395

I can’t wait to wear this to the fashion event!

Update: Here I am wearing my outfit at a fashion show in October 2014. I got tons of compliments on this dress, and was asked if I have a line of clothing! I think I’d better get on that request and start designing for real!

Posing with some of my fashion friends at FashioNXT fashion show in POrtland Oregon

Posing with some of my fashion friends at the 2014 FashioNXT fashion show in Portland Oregon

Classic and classy silk blouse

I’ve been slowly working on this silk crepe de chine blouse from McCall’s 6606 sewing pattern. It is a lovely, classically cut, set-in sleeve, button front blouse with a front yoke pleat, a back self-lined yoke, long sleeves, sleeve cuffs and a pointed stand collar. I’ve done hand stitching where needed, and sewn and pressed it with great care. Although not complete, the blouse is already hanging beautifully and softly and the deep red color is gorgeous.

Red silk crepe blouse in progress of sewing, floe to finish

I just need to complete the hand slip stitching inside of the collar stand, make the self-covered buttons (first time for doing this!), make the buttonholes down the front placket and on the cuffs, then sew on the buttons, and it will be done.

Here is a photo of hand basting in progress attaching the collar band to the collar stand. I used a silk thread for ease of sewing and removing later, which I really like to do as a technique for basting.

Basting stitches by hand with silk thread.

I can’t wait to wear this blouse! I have tried it on several times for fit and feel, and so far, it feels amazing to wear! So soft, luxe and a beautiful color. Plus the back hem dips down a few inches which is very nice for coverage on the backside. I most likely will be wearing this with skinny pants or jeans, or tucked in to a pencil skirt. The hem line is perfect for either of these fashion situations.

I am actually considering putting this up for sale before I wear it and make it my own 🙂 I think I could get a nice amount for this blouse, or make one in another size, color or print as a client desires. I think I should always have a silk top in the works, and finish some that I have already started. They are so nice and feel wonderful to wear, and people want them! So many things to sew…..

4/18/14 Update: I finally finished this blouse and I love it, but I am wearing it, so it is sadly not for sale 😦 Oh well, I’ll just have to make more!

Oliver has approved it too as he looks on at the “photo shoot”.