Nerds-and-Corsets

Just giving a general head's up that I will be updating some of my pictures here on dA as I'm getting a portfolio together and will be attempting to get better quality pictures of some of my pieces.  Nothing is set in stone, BUT, I might potentially be getting a seamstress position here soon!!!!

So, this year my hubby and I are going to do out best to make it out to ACEN this year.  -grins ear to ear- Which clearly means I need to get my sew on!  At the moment I'm working on some pieces for a steampunk outfit to wear.  Though it's going to be hard to narrow it down to what exactly I'll be wearing as we'll only be there on one day.  Which means that I'm going to have to be super picky as I want to make sure whatever I wear will be comfortable.  

In any case, I'm super excited and can't wait to show off what I come up with.  <3

Alright, so I'll be quick to admit I don't really do new years resolutions.  Never really have.  This year is a bit different.  I've gone through a lot in the past few years and have come to realize that I am ready to make some much needed changes.  Part of it includes the awesomeness that is pin-up. 

My goal for this year is to do at least a few different shoots.  I will admit, I have never felt as amazing as I have during a shoot.  It is exciting, and for once, I'm not super self conscious in my own skin.  I feel like I can be myself.  Not only that, but it totally gives me an excuse to fill my wardrobe with some awesome outfits that I probably wouldn't have made otherwise.

So, to start my goal of doing more shoots, I already have my first one lined up at the end of this month.  I'm already getting to work on an outfit to wear.  (hubby is super stoked because it involves a crop top)  Not only am I going to work at getting comfortable in my skin.  But I'm going to push my comfort zone.  You see, I have a love/hate kind of deal with my belly ever since I had my sweet little munchkin.  

In the end, though, my goal is to have fun.  And to perhaps collaborate on some awesome projects.  (who knows, maybe I'll see about putting a calendar together at some point!   )

It feels like it has been forever since I have really been active here on dA.  So much has been going on in my life I'm not sure where to even start.  Part of it is stuff that really isn't something I can talk about online.  All I can really say is I've been having to deal with CPS in the past couple of months and it has made life somewhat difficult.  The other part that I really don't feel at liberty going into detail about is my ex getting involved in my son's life once more.  On a more positive note, I did get engaged last week Wednesday (April 27th) to the love of my life.  Even have a gorgeous ring that I picked out that has opals on it.

With all that said, I do promise that I have not been idle in my crafting.  I am just about finished with a major commission I've been working on.  (and have more work for the same person in the near future)  I'm quite possibly picking up a side job as a seamstress for a small online business sewing headbands as well.  Things are looking up for the most part, so hopefully it keeps going well!

So, people wonder why I don't knit items to sell. There is a lot that goes into each item that I make, and two of the biggest things for me is time/money.

For example, I recently finished a cardigan that I've been working on for about a month. Keep in mind, this is off and on and at times only doing a few rows when I was working on it any given day. And at least one week out of the month I was working on it, I didn't do any work on it.

So we'll say, took me maybe about one week total to actually knit this item.

Now we'll look at what my time is worth.

I've been knitting for approximately 7 years. During that time, my skills have improved and I have learned a multitude of techniques on my own time at my own expense. This means buying the tools, buying various books/patterns, and extensive amounts of time spent on youtube/online learning how to do these various techniques.

If I am making an item for somebody, that is also time that I will never get back. That is time taking me away from housework, taking me away from spending time with friends/family, time taking me away from improving other skills. And to me, my time is worth a lot.

If I was to make something for somebody, I would reasonably expect to be compensated for the time I have taken away from all of those other things much like I am compensated for my time while working at my place of employment.

So asking me to make something, and then expect to pay me pennies an hour, it isn't going to happen!

Moving on from that, let's look into the cost of the materials.

For my cardigan, I used three hanks of yarn priced at $28 dollars a hank. This adds up to $84 just for the yarn. And with this being a cardigan, there are buttons. I'll be using a total of 10 buttons. At $6.96 per set of buttons, three buttons per set, I need four sets. That is $27.80 just for the buttons.

This puts me at a total of $111.80 just for the materials to make this cardigan.

And if I was (for example) to charge minimum wage per hour ($7.25 in the state I live in) and for the sake of things, we'll say a week is 40 hours of knitting, that would put me at $290 for my labor.

Between those two costs, that would put me at $401.80 just to knit my cardigan.

Even if I wasn't to charge per hour on my labor, I would say that it is fairly reasonable to at least around $200 between labor and materials for this cardigan. And if I was to only charge $200, that only equals out to $2.21 give or take an hour. That is less than half of minimum wage.

So I hope this clears up why I chose not to knit items to sell for profit. And if I chose to gift you an item that I have knit, you can comprehend the time that I have put into learning this craft as well as the love and passion that I have put into knitting that item for you.