Celebrating Girl Power!

It may come as a surprise to some of you that I am actually a pretty big NASCAR fan.  I know that doesn't necessarily quite go with the whole boutique image, but my husband and his dad always followed racing so I started watching it, too.  And come on now, some of those guys are seriously hot!  Nevertheless, I got into the strategy, found someone to cheer for and I've been watching it for several years now.
This year, Danica Patrick sat on the pole for the Daytona 500.  She is the first woman to ever do so.  Patrick also led laps under a green flag, another first.  It's kind of a big deal.  She is now one of the most recognized athletes in the world.  Little girls everywhere are looking up to her, whether they like racing or not, because they know that if she can break down barriers and overcome stereotypes, so can they.  She's a symbol that women can do anything men can do--and sometimes we can do it better!
In tribute to Ms. Patrick's accomplishments, I created a rhinestone bling t-shirt. The front says, "Race Like a Girl" and the back has her number, 10.  It's super-cute in the same lime green color that her Go Daddy sponsored car is generally painted in. Of  course, I could do it in any color, any size, short or long sleeves. I could also make a shirt for any driver--or any sport, any team, etc.  But this one is definitely special because of all that it represents! You can find it in my Etsy shop here.  Price is $20.

Close-up of the rhinestones in the #10

The front of the "Race Like a Girl!" shirt

Another view of the back

Sensational Custom Idea for a Fabulous Party!

This weekend, I worked on an order for two custom t-shirts for two apparently amazing ladies.  Though I've never met them, it sounds to me like their birthdays are quite the occasion!  There friend wanted to make sure they knew how wonderful they are so she ordered custom t-shirts for them.  One says, "Fabulous at 50" and the other says, "Sensational at 60."  What a great way to celebrate two the lives of two people who are clearly very loved!

Dark pink with clear rhinestones, this shirt turned out FABULOUS!

Though the film has yet to be removed, you get the idea of how sensational this pink on pink t-shirt turned out.

If you have a big day coming up, why not consider placing an order for a custom rhinestone t-shirt? It's a great way to show your thoughtfulness and the shirt will be as unique as the person we're creating it for. Whether you already have an idea or you're just not sure, I can help you from concept to finished product.  You will be as involved as you would like to be.  If you want input on the design, I'm happy to work with you.  If you would like for me to design and create the entire product by myself, I can do that as well. Please don't hesitate to contact me should you have any questions. My email is glitterandtulleboutique@gmail.com

Celeb Baby Shower

I am currently working on three items for an upcoming celebrity baby shower.  This is the first celebrity event I've worked on so I'm very excited and extremely nervous!  I am hopeful that she will really like the outfits I'm putting together for her sweet baby. There's supposed to be press coverage, which adds another layer of fear and demand for perfection! I took my ragtag crew into Dillard's yesterday afternoon and purchased some Ralph Lauren onesies for this special occasion  And now I feel bad that I'm going to alter them--apparently, based on the price,  they are laced with gold or something.  I don't normally shell out that kind of cash for something children will probably only where once or twice but I thought this occasion warranted it.  I wish I could always offer such high-end brands but  it would make my items a lot more expensive.   Maybe it wasn't necessary for me to buy the high-end onesies for the celeb mom but I want to maximize my impression so I thought it was the way to go.  What do y'all think?  Would you have splurged on the higher-end item or gone with your normal brands?
I was able to finish the first tutu last night and I have the second one about half-way done. The third set is for the press so it will be very similar to the second outfit. I have two weeks to put this all together but I think I think I"m going to try to get it done sooner rather than later and then I'll just wait to hear what she has to say.  Think good thoughts! I hope she loves them as much as I love making them!

For tutu number one I went with pink and brown

8 layers, including 4 layers of shimmer tulle

Soft and full of extra poof!

Custom Rhinestone Shirts Are a Big Hit!

I had a feeling when I decided to start creating and selling custom rhinestone t-shirts that they would be very popular and so far I haven't been disappointed.  Oh, I haven't been selling so many of them that I can't keep up but I am definitely keeping busy.  I think a lot of people see the freedom being able to create your very own message brings, they know that rhinestones are extremely popular right now, and the value is pretty awesome. So I am getting a lot of messages about pricing and quite a few orders.  It's definitely changed the way I view my shop.  I've always said I make tutus and other little girl's accessories but most of my shirts have been for women and I'm starting to sell about as many of them as I do tutus.  Maybe it's not a tutu shop anymore, maybe it's finally just a boutique. . . .

Making a custom order is pretty time consuming.  I have to make sure I have all of the supplies that I need, including the right color of rhinestones.  If I don't have enough of the right color and size of rhinestones, it can be a big problem because it takes a couple of weeks for the rhinestones to arrive once they've been ordered. I also have to make sure I have the right size t-shirt in the right color.  So far I haven't had to worry about not having enough transfer tape but that's another consideration.
Once I have the order, I enter the design phase.  I want to make sure the shirt is exactly what the customer wants so I ask a lot of questions. I need to know what font the customer likes, what color of stones, what size, how many lines, how thick, if they want a picture or scattered rhinestones, if they want it centered on the shirt--so many things!  I haven't had any problems yet with asking too many questions, most customers don't mind because they want it to be perfect, too.

A template I designed for a customer last weekend. Not sure what it means but it turned out super cute!

Next, I make a template.  I usually make it in Microsoft Paint because it's the easiest to manipulate.  I usually draw up a few versions and send that to the customer.  Once the design is approved, I print it out and turn it into a pattern for the rhinestones.  This can be really tricky if it's a complicated pattern. Once I've laid down all of the rhinestones, I usually send another picture to the customer for his or her approval before I actually apply the rhinestones. Once the customer has approved the rhinestones, actually applying the rhinestones is the easiest part. Then, I package it up and ship it off!  The whole process can take anywhere from 3 hours to 20, depending upon how complicated the design is.  Laying the rhinestones is tedious and difficult.  It's hard to get them all in the exact right place,especially if they are touching or if they are the smaller size rhinestones.  But it's also extremely rewarding. It's like putting a puzzle together or completing a work of art.  I know it's easier for big rhinestone companies to create templates because of the tools they have but I don't think they can get people exactly what they want as quickly as I can.  I also don't think many of them will apply the transfer for you.  With all of the shirts I've done I've only ever had one complaint and that was that the shirt was too small--even though it was the size I said it was when I posted it--and I'm very proud of that because it's a very complicated process and I pour a lot of heart, soul, time, and energy in to it so I want people to absolutely love the completed product.

Before I apply the rhinestones, I get the customer's approval.  Another interesting saying!

Very popular shirt recently

Tis the season for the luck of the Irish!

I'm watching the Daytona 500 as I'm watching this and I think I'm going to have to make myself a bling t-shirt with the number 5 on it. I'm pretty certain that I could sell a few 88's and 10's too.  Danica is the first female to ever start on the pole of the most popular race in motorsports. Pink bling for Ms. Patrick?  I think so!
(And Kasey just wrecked--grrr!)
The possibilities are endless and I can't wait to see what interesting ideas customers bring me. They are always more creative than I am!

Sometimes I Feel Like I Need This Shirt!

This "Gymnastics" t-shirt has been very popular lately. I'm about to ship another one today. Maybe I need to modify it and write, "Mommy is a gymnast" or "Gymnast of Life". Don't we all have to be gymnasts anymore? Hurdle obstacles, be flexible, hold on when we find ourselves barely hanging on? Oh, yes, we can all learn a little something from gymnastics!

Rhinestone Weekend

I've been working on an order for a custom rhinestone t-shirt most of the weekend but I also found a little bit of time to work on some tutu/rhinestone ensembles I'm getting together for some upcoming events.  Placing hundreds of rhinestones is a lot of work but it's totally worth it when you're all done and the t-shirt looks exactly how you'd envisioned it would.  Here's what I've been working on:

Are you feeling lucky?  4 -leaf-clover, shamrock bling for St. Patrick's Day

Easter Egg bling, can be customized in any color/color combo

Cupcake Bling, perfect for a birthday or any fun occasion 

The plastic is still on in these photos but I think you get the idea.  What do you think? I don't know if I like that stripe of darker color I put in the middle of the egg.  It's kind of glaring.  Is that distracting to anyone else?  Do you think I could change it?  I'll be listing these on Etsy and ArtFire soon but I will also be taking advance orders so message me if you want to place an order.  I will be making matching tutus and headbands with flowers on them, too.  Entire outfit will list for $25.  Just the t-shirt or onesie will be $10, tutu $10, headband $5.  I'm still running that blogger discount through tonight so I can apply it to any orders I get emailed to me today.  If you want to visit my Etsy store today, use coupon code BLOGGERLOVE2013 to save 25% on anything and everything.  My email is glitterandtulleboutique@gmail.com if you would like to message me about this new bling.

Custom Tease

Yes, I know that should say Custom T's but I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you the process I go through when creating a custom rhinestone t-shirt so I can get you thinking about all of the possibilities!
I am working on a t-shirt for a wonderful new customer.  We have been working on it together for a few days, going back and forth, and I wanted to let you know a little bit about how the process has been working.
This customer contacted me through Etsy on Sunday and asked if I could put a specific phrase on a shirt for her son's grandmother.  It's kind of an unusual phrase but it's nothing I can't do.  I gave her a price--not a quote--I don't believe in quotes.  If I can't do it for what I think I can do it for, that's my problem.  Yesterday she said, yes, let's go for it!  So, I spent about an hour yesterday drawing up some templates.  I use the program Paint for my templates most of the time because it's fairly user-friendly and it has a lot of options.  I sent her three templates and then we messaged back and forth a few more times. She sent me a picture of a font from one of my other shirts that she would like for me to use. I created another template and I am waiting for her approval.  Once she has agreed to that template, I will create a custom order for her in Etsy.  (If you've never ordered anything through Etsy or used a custom order, it's super simple and it's a great way to make sure your order is specific to what you want.  Maybe I'll post about that later . . . . )  Once the item has been paid for, I will lay the stones.  Then, I'll send her another photo of the stones on the shirt but not transferred yet.  If she loves it, I'll transfer the rhinestones and ship!  If she doesn't, I'll make any corrections I need to and send her another photo.  That will continue until she's 100% satisfied.
That's the process I use for my custom t-shirts!  I know a lot of other artisans read this blog.  What is your process for custom orders?  I'd love to hear!

A custom t-shirt from Glitter and Tulle Boutique!

  

Dress is Finally Finished!

Lucy is seriously pondering her new dress

Earlier in the week, I posted about Lucy's New Dress and how I couldn't get it over her head!  Well, today, I went back and added a button.  It wasn't as much work as I thought it was going to be.  And it was well worth it! She absolutely loves her new dress.  I could hardly get it off of her! It's about 50 degrees here right now so I felt like she needed to change after our quick photo shoot but she would have been content to run around in it for hours! Now, I'm all geared up to make lots more dresses!

She likes it!

This dress is clearly a size 3T and Lucy is barely a size 2T so it will fit a little differently on the right sized girl. But I also like that she has lots of room to wiggle around in it. As you can see from the pics, she does a lot of wiggling around!

She likes it so much, she starts to sing and dance!

I'm off to add a few of these pics to my etsy listing!

Lucy's loves her new dress!

Lucy's New Dress

You may recall that I was initially too terrified of my sewing machine to even think about actually trying to us it.  See my post, "8 Reasons I'm Terrified of My New Sewing Machine."  However, Saturday afternoon I decide it was utterly ridiculous for me to be afraid of a sewing machine.  I had a dress all cut out, pinned and ready to sew.  All I needed to do was turn that bad-boy on and stitch it up!  I was bound and determined I was going to do it! Tomorrow.  Sunday. Yep, that was going to be the day!  Unless I was too busy or there was a good football game on (the Pro Bowl could have been good!) or it was nice outside and I could go for a walk, or I had to clean the curtains, you know something important that couldn't wait.  Yay, I was probably going to get that dress put together on Sunday. Most likely.  Maybe . . . .
But I did it!  I finally got up the nerve on Sunday afternoon and sat down at The Beast, fingers trembling, knees knocking, pedal foot twitching.  At first I thought it would be a good idea to try some practice stitches on a spare piece of fabric.  So I put a scrap piece in and let it fly!  I was amazed that my fingers were still in tact until I realized that the thread had come out of the needle and not only were my fingers stitch free, so was the fabric.  Ah, but I would not let this minor setback deter me.  I re-threaded the needle and tried again!  This time, I was able to get some stitches into the fabric.  However, the thread got really tangled up in the bottom of the machine where the bobbin is.  Frustrated but bound to be successful, I got my husband--Mr. Fix-It--and he helped me clear the knots. Though it would have probably been a good idea to keep practicing on pieces of cloth I didn't need for the dress, I finally decided to just get it over already and try sewing the dress together.  So, I put the carefully pieced together garment under the rocker-pedal or whatever it's called, and hesitantly pushed down on the pedal.  To my amazement, the machine was actually doing what I was telling it to do!  I was actually able to sew the dress together--all of it!  And when I took it up and held it up, it actually looked like a dress! I was so proud of myself!  I couldn't believe I had taken some pieces of cloth and turned them into an actual wearable item. (Okay--so when I make a tutu I use hundreds of pieces of cloth and turn those into a wearable item but this was different--it utilized machinery we've only had since the Industrial Revolution and that was only a 150 years ago or so.  In a few more years, maybe I'll get one of those cordless phones!)

Lucy's new dress!

The only problem with my dress was that I could not figure out how to finish the edges.  I read in the booklet that came with the sewing machine that I should have been able to use some sort of finishing stitch to make this happen, but it was not cooperating.  I finally decided that I would hand-sew ribbon around the edges and I think it turned out okay but I'm going to have to put in hems next time or something because it took too long and I don't really like sewing ribbon.
I also decided I needed to do something to make my dress stand out from all of the other cute little frocks you can find on etsy these days.  There are a lot of people who can make much more complex designs with a sewing machine than I can.  So, I decided to add some rhinestones.  Lucy really likes ladybugs right now so I made a template for a ladybug and added that to the front of the dress.  Even though ladybugs are mostly red and her dress is pink, I think it turned out really cute.

And Lucy's little ladybug

After several hours of work (mostly on the ribbon and the untying of several knots in the sewing machine thread) I finally had a very cute little dress! I couldn't wait to put it on my little baby and see how cute she looked!  Unfortunately, she was taking a nap!  So, I waited and waited.  When she finally got up, she loved the dress!  She started carrying it around with her like it was one of the 3 blankets she can't leave the house without (and this includes her bedspread, which makes traveling as simple as, well, packing around a bedspread.) Eventually, I convinced her to let me try it on her.  Giddy with glee, I slipped the little pink frock over her head--uhm, just one problem. It wouldn't actually go over her head.  It was stuck.  It was stuck on my baby's enormous head!  Lucy is a teeny, tiny girl.  20% in weight, 30% in height, 98% in cranium. Yep, ginormous head.  (It's because her brain is sooo big!) After all of that work and anticipation, we were not getting that dress on for anything!  She didn't seem to care but Mommy was very disappointed, sniffle, sniffle.
I know that all I need to do is go back and put a button on the back of the dress and it won't take me that long to add said button.  So, that's the plan.  But I would have really liked to have seen her in the dress after all of that work. Ah, well, eventually she'll be wearing that ladybug dress, spinning around, falling down, tearing a big whole in it, and we'll be tossing it in the trash. . . . If I'm lucky, maybe I'll get a picture of her in it first!
I can't wait to make some more of these cute little dresses.  They are simple and comfy, perfect for spring.  I have purchased some really cute fabric to a make more.  I am going to have to perfect my technique a little bit but overall I'm pretty happy with how the first one turned out.
What projects have you decided to try even though you were scared of messing them up?  Sometimes our best work comes out of our biggest fears!

Busy Weekend Finishing Projects!

I usually try to write a post every day, or at least every other day, but the last few days I've been swamped!  I had three orders to get out by yesterday and I had a whole bunch of projects I've been working on.  I finally used my sewing machine (!) and made a dress for Lucy.  I think it turned out alright but not perfect. I will probably list it but I wouldn't sell this particular one to anybody.  I'd just use it to show the style and what  I can add to it (a.k.a. check out the rhinestone ladybug.)  Besides, Lucy really likes it.

Lucy  loves ladybugs!

Lucy's new dress

I also made several rhinestone t-shirts.  A few of them I used transfers for that I already had but I also made some of my own transfers which takes a lot more time but I'm really happy with how they turned out.

This is my design, rhinestones completely placed by me from my  own template

From a purchased transfer

I hand placed these rhinestones, too

This one is for Imma's teacher (don't tell her!) It's from a transfer but it would be very simple to make a similar template.

This one is also from a purchased transfer but would be easy to do something similar.

I finished the Princess Lolly tutu!

Princess Lolly tutu before the lollipops

And after the lollipops.  It took me 7 hours to make these felt lollipops and attach them to the dress.  Yipes!

I was also asked to make a felt owl mask for a huge project I'll be making soon for a birthday party in April. I'm super excited about this project! I wasn't sure if I could make a felt owl mask or not but I did and I really liked making it.  In fact, I liked it so much, I made a Valentine's Day one, too!

Original owl mask.  I think next time I will make the eye wholes bigger.

Valentine's Owl Mask.  The pink you see through the eye wholes is the elastic band.  I could't get either girl to hold still long enough to take a picture with it on!

I also made two tutus this week for a new customer in Pennsylvania and three tutu kits for a very nice woman in New York.  She's going to use them at a baby shower!  The guests are going to make tutus for the new baby.  What an awesome idea!  Wouldn't it be so sweet to give your little girl a tutu that your family and friends made for her at her baby shower?  I love that idea!
I also made this Rock 'n' Roll Teen Tutu for a giveaway winner and I love how it turned out.  She's just too cute! See, I told you you're never too old for a tutu!

Super chic Rock 'n' Roll tutu

If I looked this good in a tutu, I'd wear one everyday!

I'm also still working on an infinity scarf, a couple more t-shirt designs, and I think I'm going to make more felt masks.

What have y'all been up to this weekend??

New Line Launch!!

I'm so excited to launch my new line of Tween/Teen Tutus!  I think they turned out to be AWESOME!
My sister did such an amazing job of modeling them for me.  I'll be posting them on Etsy and ArtFire soon.  For advance orders, feel free to email me!

The Zombie Tutu

8 layers of tulle, 8 different colors

Fluffy, fun, something you can sink your teeth into!

In this tutu, you'll be ready to MEAT anyone.

The Rock 'n' Roll Tutu

Ready to rock on at a concert or party.

6 layers of tulle, in aqua, purple, and black

Shimmer tulle makes this tutu tons of fun!

The Fairy Tutu

Inspired by nature

Tinkerbell will be so jealous!

Perfect for a party or just hanging out with friends

6 layers of tulle, two shades of green and shimmery apple green accents

The Princess Tutu

Perfect Party Princess in Pink

Three shades of pink, including shimmery pink tulle

Great for dance class or gymnastics, too!

Flouncy and fun!

I can put your name in bling on anything!

I can totally customize all of these tutus--color, size, length--whatever you want! I can add ribbon, rhinestones, or embellishments. I can also make a matching rhinestone t-shirt saying anything you like!
What do you think?  Which one is your favorite? Isn't my little sister GORGEOUS??