Mid Summer Reprieve

Well, I'm doing better than I thought, it's only July and I have time to make a post!

I can't believe that I started this in February - it seems like yesterday. Anyway- I survived prom and the early wedding rush. I have been enjoying somewhat of a lull the past week or so. I think a lot of people must be on vacation because the whole town is empty. I have been getting lots of phone calls wondering whether I can still get people in for alterations for September and October weddings, so I know this lull won't last.

This is my 4th summer running my business. I finally feel like I am starting to get things under control (don't hold me to that). I am basically a one person shop as far a bridal sewing and alterations go. I rent out space to a friend of mine (my former apprentice) who does most of the non bridal work like pants hems and zippers.

I managed to alter nearly 40 prom dresses in about two and a half weeks time plus stay on top of all of the wedding alterations. I also costumed a theater production in the middle of all that - put that on the list of things to never do again!!

I get hooked by the adrenaline rush of working under extreme pressure. Like costuming a theater production in the middle of prom season. Or sewing 9 quinceneara dresses in two weeks - don't ask - language barrier. I will be looking into taking some Spanish courses before I take on another project like that!!

The problem is that after all the craziness of a big project I don't have all the pressure and time constraints to keep me going on the not so pressing projects. That is basically a long winded way of saying I'm a big time procrastinator. So I put things off until the last minute, thereby creating urgency and adrenaline. I think I would have loved working in an emergency room.

Amazingly I have made considerable progress in stabilizing my adrenaline addiction since I first opened the shop. It has been at least a year since I have had to pull an all nighter to get a project finished on time. I hardly know what to do with myself when my time is managed efficiently:-) Take Spanish classes I guess LOL!

Wedding Season 2005

So far I have 10 confirmed bridesmaid dresses to make from scratch. Two different wedding parties, both weddings in September. I had one wedding gown re-creation from an original 1920's wedding gown, but the bride backed out and opted for a more simple wedding with no formal gown - bonus was she gave me the original 20's gown.

Alterations have already started coming in for March and April weddings. I have been getting phone calls about Prom already too, which is a good sign that maybe the high school kids are starting to think ahead a little bit.

This is concieveibly the only posting I'll have time to make until next winter. I would really like to get some picture of my work posted, but we will have to see if I get my photo editing software installed so I can at least post the pictures upright instead of sideways or upside down.