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Closet Geek Update
Obviously as you probably know, I now own a small business called Closet Geek, where I make handmade jewellery, pencil cases, hair bows and clothes. I also take custom orders – which recently has led to a prom dress and a Cinderella cosplay. Because of this it means I struggle to find time to blog sometimes, but I thought I would write a quick post about what’s going on over at the store!
First thing to note is that my website itself (www.ClosetGeek.co.uk) isn’t having that many orders! I guess if I’d thought about it more in advance, I probably would have known this – but basically it feels like I opened up a little shop on a tiny off-the-beaten-track lane and the only customers I get are few and far between. However on a positive note, my Etsy store (which basically duplicates most of my store listings), has been really busy and it’s been so much fun sewing and making bows for orders. This last week I’ve had two “Little Miss Disgust” dresses to make (one even with a neck scarf), three hair bows and four necklaces. I even have an adult Little Miss Disgust dress on order.
I’ve pretty much completed the Back to the Future Prom Dress, which will hopefully be mailed off towards the end of this week. I’ve also properly started on the Cinderella dress (after a nightmare with fabrics). I’m hoping to make a batch of Villains hair bows, which will be a sort of “Halloween” launch, but permanently in the store once they’re launched. I’d also love to do a Superhero batch but I have no set period of time for that. Probably not quite in time for Halloween unfortunately, but in the not too distant future, I’d love to do a Disney Villains inspired batch of girls dresses too – which my girls are keen to model!
On top of all that, I’ve actually started working on ideas for Christmas. I’d love to make some geeky stockings and I’m currently in the process of working with some fellow bloggers on getting some designs made and reviewed. On the topic of reviews, I was also featured on Fashion Quirks YouTube channel this week. Carley, the girl who vlogs, featured my Golden Snitch necklace, a Cinderella carriage necklace (end of line), an Alice in Wonderland bow and also a Minnie and Mickey pencil case. The video is here if anyone would like a watch!
Week 37 – Monday Round-up
Yes, it’s Monday and I’m actually making my round up post on time, woohoo! So what has happened this week? Sadly it’s a little same old when the kids go back to school. Megan and Lily were at school every day and Chris was at work all but Wednesday (even the weekend too). Monday and Tuesday, Chris was at work from 2.30pm until 11pm which was weird to say the least (he hasn’t worked that late since Ladbrokes). I spent both days sewing, getting on with both a Briar Rose dress and Snow White rags dress. On Tuesday I also finished off Amy’s Wendy Cosplay, after a quick visit to the market for ribbon that morning. I also cleaned my oven Monday/Tuesday… that was fun. Though Tuesday I did get a new phone and that WAS fun.
On Wednesday Nat came over for the day. It was Chris’ day off too but he spent most of the day upstairs on his computer. Nat and I spent the day working on some of my Closet Geek project – she helps cut out material and even just bounce ideas with. I got Amy’s package ready, with the four dresses I had already made (Woody, Briar Rose, Snow White rags and Wendy) but I also made a surprise Minnie Mouse dress too. I then made a few bows and added it all to her parcel before picking up the kids from school and dropping it off at the parcel shop.
Thursday I worked on both of my current custom orders. I cut out the pattern for one and printed out the pattern for the next. It felt good knowing Amy’s dress was out of the way and I could get on with other things. Chris was working till 11pm again so in the evening I let myself relax, watch some TV, but also do some research on nearby fabric stores.
Friday I spent the day sorting out the pattern I’d printed out. It was 62 sheets that I had to lay together, stick down and then cut out, all to get the 6 pattern pieces I needed. After I’d done that I was able to work out how much fabric I would need and order that too.
In the evening I cut out the fabric for the prom dress I would be working on over the weekend. I think I mentioned it in another post, the Back to the Future prom dress from the first movie. Anyway I cut out the fabric and the organza, ready to work on the following day. I also finally got time to watch more Grimm, after 2-3 days of not doing so!
Saturday and Sunday were fairly similar. I worked on the school website on Saturday but then did some sewing in the afternoon and into the evening. Sunday I sewed on and off most of the day, though mum came around from lunchtime onwards. She helped the kids do their homework too so that was great and time saving for me too. By the end of the night I’d got the dress to a good point and I was happy to leave it there. And that, pretty much, sums up my week!
What I’ve been up to!
It’s been a quiet week on my blog and that’s basically because I’ve been busy! The girls were back at school this week which took up a lot of my attention, but I’ve also been working hard on my new site, Closet Geek. I’ve been making and sewing, sourcing and thinking, browsing the web and just constantly thinking!!
If you missed the memo, my new site is sort of One-Stop-Shop (or it will be, eventually), for geeky apparel. Right now it stocks jewellery, hair bows and pencil cases, along with Disney inspired dresses for children. In the near future I want to add adult clothes, but at the moment I just do them on a custom order basis. If you want to keep up with what I’m going, Instagram seems to be my main platform as its great for visuals.
So this week I’ve been finishing off a Wendy cosplay that I’ve been working on for a while. It’s almost finished but not quite so I won’t share it here yet. However I have completed a new Woody inspired dress for girls and started working on some other projects.
I have two custom orders in process at the moment, the first one of which I’ve ordered fabric and have a pattern for, the second being quite a big project! The first one is the Prom Dress from Back to the Future. Know which one? Marty’s mum, Lorraine wears it.
The second is a Cinderella cosplay which I’m still looking at fabrics for at the moment. I’m pretty excited, but also a little terrified too! As well as that, I’m making a Briar Rose inspired dress and hopefully a Snow White rags inspired dress, fingers crossed they’ll be done over the weekend. I have loads more planned but I really need to get on with my custom orders.
Finally on top of all that, I spent almost one whole day making hair bows. I had some in my store but I’ll be adding more, again you can see those on my instagram. My favourite by far is Eeyore though. It was quite fiddly but such a good outcome.
In the future I’ll be adding a range of Villains bows. I’ll also be adding some Superheroes too!
So this is what I’ve been up to. How about you? I love working from home but I tell you, its hard to separate being at work and not being at work – switching off your brain and actually getting “me” time seems a thing of the past!