One Renee Terese Original Finds a Home

I opened up my Etsy shop a while ago, not because I wanted to fill it with all sorts of items, but because I had people asking for my designs all the time and I needed a place to direct them. The disappointing thing is that I don't think people quite understand what goes into making clothing. When you can find a great dress at Marshalls or Target or even at a thrift store for around $20-$30, it's hard to justify a purchase of over $100 for a dress that seems pretty basic. After all, many of my dresses are simple cotton sateens, mostly either a solid color or a floral print. And I try to find fabrics at the lowest price possible. My red dress was made using $6/yard cotton sateen. In contrast, the grey/yellow skirt I made was $30/yard eyelet and $8/yd yellow cotton sateen. Regardless of the cost of the fabric, though, the amount of work that goes into each garment is no small matter. I've made enough dresses that I can usually crank one out in about 3-4 hours from start to finish, but that's provided everything goes according to plan- no broken sewing machine needles, no mistakes marking or cutting the fabric, and especially no mistakes sewing the actual pieces together. If I'm making it for myself, I'll often put the unfinished dress on at least 3 or 4 times to check the fit and make adjustments. If it's for someone else, I'll put it on the dress for at least that many times to step back and make sure it's taking shape the way I want it to.

After reading all of that, I'm sure you can understand how discouraging it can be when I put hours of work into a dress because I believe there are women out there who want it, only to have it sit online in my Etsy shop for months without a single inquiry. And on the other hand, imagine my complete and utter joy when I receive the email from Etsy stating that someone has purchased an item from my shop!

Last week, I got together with my friend Melanie and she surprised me by wearing the ginkgo dress I made nearly a year ago and that she purchased just about a month ago!

I think she looks absolutely adorable in it and I'm so thrilled that this fabulous dress found a home where it will be worn and loved! 

I've got fabric in my sewing room that I purchased about 4 months ago that is reserved for a lovely admirer of my dresses. I have been so busy lately that I haven't had time to actually put the dress together, but I hope to get to it soon so that another Renee Terese original will have a loving home to go to!