Miss Red
  • Home
  • Shop
  • All Stitched Up
  • Crafty ME Blog
  • Challenge Miss Red
    • Your ideas
    • Your designs
  • Social Media
  • Mailing List
  • Members Area

Quickie Piccy

21/7/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
The lovely new owner of the silver flame corset very kindly took a photo for me on her first outing in it.

Note the boots, the remit for the corset was to match the New Rocks :)

The photo really doesn't do it justice, the silver is gorgeous & shiny, shimmering between black & antique silver.

Want your own unique corset made to your own measurements?  Drop me a message via the Contact Miss Red page!

Miss Red x

0 Comments

Corset Win Part Two - Attack of the Head Squirrels

18/7/2015

0 Comments

 
I know I have a few craft business owners here reading my posts & I suspect what I'm about to write may sound familiar to you guys.

Those of you who are potential customers & friends, (I hope) this is a little food for thought when it comes to choosing whether to buy handmade.
Picture
You've probably gathered by the title I'm going to talk about the corset I just made.  I am, but this could equally be applied to any of the other things I make & probably a lot of hand-crafted items out there.

So, we craft businesses owners decided that we loved creating things so much & people loved what we made so much that we'd turn our hobby into a business.  We have gorgeous products, lovingly handmade with painstaking perfectionism, often with slight imperfections leading to the whole thing going in the bin because that one stitch out of place that nobody but us notices, or the bit of glue that dribbled slightly, covered up but still there all the same, just wasn't good enough for our customers.  We've spent years honing our skills, reading, learning, questioning those more experienced, practising until we are the experienced, then practising some more.  We work through illness, pain & fatigue to meet deadlines. (See part one)  Every item we make is passionately born of love for the craft, for making each person smile when they receive it, for the people who have to have one of our items, for the "Wow!" & the tears & the speechlessness.

But what happens as we near the finish of our project?  When onlookers are amazed & impressed by our work.

Head squirrels!  Mind Monkeys!  Doubting Dora! Aargh!

What if she doesn't like it?  What if it doesn't fit?  What if she wanted these flames different?  What if she hates the fabric?  What if I take too long?  What if she wanted thinner bones, or a more rigid busk?  What if she wanted it looser, or tighter?  What if the shape isn't what she had in mind?  What if she doesn't want to pay that much?  What if she tells all her friends how terrible she thinks my work is?

All this & more whizzed through my head this week, as well as feeling guilty for every nap I needed to take & every hour I should have been working on the corset but was stopped by my health.  This week I put that corset & the customers wishes before my own body's requests in order to make sure she was happy with her purchase & the experience of getting a Miss Red corset.

Am I feeling worse for wear?  Yes.  Do I regret doing it?  Hell NO!!

Why not?  The first word out of her mouth when she saw the finished corset:

 "Wow!"

She loved it, she stroked it, she adored the fabric & knew it would look amazing under the lights at the event she was wearing it to.  She tried it on & was pleased with the fit, impressed at how it moulded around her bust rather than indecently exposing her if she moved her arms too much or dared to bend over, like all the corsets she's had or tried on previously.  She looked absolutely stunning in it, even just over her everyday clothes, & the smile on her face was utterly contagious.  The sizing & cut was perfect with room to lose a little weight - this was intentional on my part as I know that's what she's trying to do, & has been doing successfully over recent months.  She's looking fabulous & my corset accentuated her beautiful curves wonderfully.  Not a single negative comment was uttered & I lost count of the number of times she said thank you & complimented it.  What's more, she handed over the amount I'd asked for (albeit mates rates) without question & I dare say she may even have paid more if asked.  She headed out of my door literally hugging the corset with that smile still across her face & with a hand full of my business cards to hand out to anyone who complimented or asked about her corset because she was so convinced people would.  On top of all that she can go out in her new corset safe in the knowledge that not a single person out there will ever be wearing the same one because hers is completely unique.  Sadly, having finished it last minute I don't have any photos, but hopefully will be getting some after the weekend so you can check out my work ;)

Head squirrels, mind monkeys & Doubting Dora - thanks but no thanks for your input.  As always everything you said was a load of rubbish so kindly take a hike!

If you're considering buying hand-crafted but see something similar in the shops that costs less I hope you'll consider all the effort, time & consideration that goes into making those perfect, non-mass-produced, beautiful items offered by small businesses like mine.  

Give the little guys a break & buy hand-crafted.


Miss Red x

Want to read more like this?  

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

0 Comments

Corset Win - Part One

17/7/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
This last week or so I've been working on a commissioned corset for a friend, a black corset with silver flames, to match her New Rocks. 






 With a deadline of the 17th she'd asked me to make this corset with over a fortnight to go until it would be collected.  This is plenty of time to make a corset usually - I've made a few in a day & most in two sewing days, the time consuming part being ordering pre-cut bones once I know what size they need to be then waiting up to a week for them to be delivered.  These days I have bulk rolls of boning & just cut off what I need then add end caps.  It's a little extra work but saves a whole heap of time & money, slim-lining the whole corset making process & putting the schedule back in my own hands.

Of course, as soon as my M.E heard I was going to be busy it decided it was having none of it!  The first week was spent entirely in bed apart from my birthday* when I managed to get out of the house for a few hours.**  Week two started off catching up on all the Ebay & Etsy orders, making sure everyone who'd ordered got their goodies in a reasonable time.  Of course, once I'd made, printed, cut, packed & posted I was yet again no good to anyone & stuck in bed.  As ill as I was I knew I had that deadline looming so forced myself to the sewing machine with the help of a few extra drugs & Adam supplying me with tea & maybe a few cheeky beers.

For a limited time only, I'd managed to fight back against the M.E & get things done.  Done in smaller chunks of time than would have been optimal & whilst feeling lousy, but in my eyes I won.  I was just completing the last bit of hand stitching when my customer arrived to pick it up.

Take that M.E!

I know there'll be payback but you know what, that's fine, because for once it's on my terms.



* 21 again!  :p

**We had a lovely meal at Wong Ting, thanks for asking ;)

Miss Red x

0 Comments
    Picture

    Miss Red

    Seamstress and craft addict with too many ideas, too little time and not enough spoons!

    Blog subscription

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Archives

    January 2017
    November 2016
    July 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013

    Categories

    All
    100dayproject
    100daysofxstitch
    Achievements
    Age 9
    Aida
    Anniversary
    Anxiety
    Application
    Applique
    Art
    Artist
    Artwork
    ATOS
    AVON
    Awareness
    Badges
    Beauty
    Benefits
    Bespoke
    Big Girl Knickers
    Bipolar
    Birthday
    Blackfield
    Blackwidow
    Blog
    Blue Nose Friends
    Blue Ribbon
    BlueSkyDesign
    Bondage
    British
    Broke
    Bunting
    Business
    Business Planning
    Busk
    Busy
    Captainamerica
    Cartoon
    Cash Flow
    Celebration
    Challenge
    Charity
    Chart
    Childhood
    Christmas
    Chronic Illness
    Chronic Pain
    Clubtickets
    Collaboration
    Comic
    Commission
    Confidence
    Consumer Protection
    Corset
    Corsetiere
    Corsets
    Cosmetics
    Couples
    Cows
    Craftaholic
    Craft Fair
    Crafts
    Creative
    Crossstitch
    Cross Stitch
    Cross Stitch Floss
    Cross Stitch Kits
    Cthulu
    Curves
    Cute
    Daily
    Death
    Dedication
    Depression
    Design
    Devil
    Disability
    Disabled Provision
    DLA
    DMC
    DMC Kit
    Doubting Dora
    Dragon
    Drawing
    DWP
    Early Cross Stitch
    Earning
    Embroidery
    Embroidery Floss
    Exciting
    Exclamation
    Exhaustion
    Fabric Dying
    Farce
    Farm
    Farmyard
    Fashion Corset
    Favour
    Felt
    Festival
    Fibro
    Fibroawareness
    Fibroflare
    Fibromyalgia
    Finances
    Flames
    Flare
    Floss
    Flowers
    Flowery
    Fms
    Followers
    Frame
    Freebie
    Free Stuff
    Fun
    Fundraiser
    Funny
    Garden Stitching
    GBSB
    Gentle
    Germany
    Gig
    Gizmo
    Goodies
    Good Turn
    Great British Sewing Bee
    Halloween
    Handcrafted Academy
    Hawkeye
    Head Squirrel
    Head Squirrels
    Health
    Heart
    Hedgehogs
    Help
    Holiday
    Home Brew
    Hoops
    Hulk
    Ideas
    IiME
    Illness
    Income
    Independent Sales Leader
    Inmyowngoodtime
    Input
    Insomnia
    Inspirational
    Instagram
    Instructions
    Invest In ME
    Invisible Illness
    Ironman
    Jellybeans
    Job
    Joinme
    Kits
    Landmarks
    Latch Hook
    Legal
    Littlemissred
    London
    Lotsofideas
    Love
    Lucky
    Made To Measure
    Mailing List
    Manic Depression
    Marvel
    M.E
    Me Awareness
    Me Awareness Week
    Mecfs
    Memories
    Mental Health
    Mental Illness
    Mentors
    ME Research UK
    Me To You
    Mind Monkey
    Missredchart
    Missredcreates
    Mobility
    Mobility Scooter
    Modern
    Motif
    Motivation
    Motivational
    Moving House
    Music
    Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
    Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
    Needlecraft
    Negative
    New Baby
    New Items
    New Release
    New Rocks
    Newsletter
    New Stock
    New Year
    Numbskulls
    Opportunities
    Owl
    Pacing
    Painting
    Papercraft
    Papercut
    Parcels
    Partnership
    Passion
    Pattern
    Patterns
    Personal
    Personalised
    Photographs
    Pickers
    Pillowcase
    PIP
    Planning
    Politics
    Positivity
    Poverty
    Prints
    Prize
    Prize Draw
    Professional
    Progress
    Project
    Proposal
    Pumpkin
    Purple
    Purple Ribbon
    Questions
    Recruiting
    Red White And Blue
    Reflection
    Reindeer
    Restock
    Retrospective
    Review
    Robin Williams
    Rope
    Rudolph
    Rules
    Sale
    Scissors
    Seamstress
    Self Employment
    Self-employment
    Sewing
    Share
    Sheffield ME Group
    Silver Lining
    Skill
    Sleepy
    Small Business
    Snips
    Spooky
    Spoonie
    Spooniecrafters
    Spoonierules
    Spread The Word
    Squirrels
    Starter
    Steel Boned
    Steel Bones
    Steel Busk
    Stitching
    Stock
    Stranded Cotton
    Strength
    Stress
    Strong
    Subscribe
    Suicide
    Support
    Talent
    Tape Measure
    Tatty Teddy
    Teaching
    Teamwork
    Teddybear
    Tentacles
    Terms & Conditions
    Thank You
    Thor
    Tied Up
    Tight Lacing
    Tight-lacing
    Trebleclef
    Tribunal
    Trick Or Treat
    Tutorial
    Unemployment
    Unique
    Unmissable
    Valentine
    Vampire
    Variedthreads
    Waiting
    Walk
    Walk For ME
    Website
    Winder
    Wine
    WIP
    Work
    Work In Progress
    Xstitch
    Young Crafter
    YouRock
    Zombie
    Zzz

    RSS Feed

Subscribe to the mailing list & receive a FREE cross stitch chart!

* indicates required

View previous campaigns.

Contact

Contact Miss Red
Picture

About

Crafty ME blog
Shipping & returns

Connect

All Social Media
Proudly powered by Weebly