Etsying

The other night I was good and went to bed on time. But somehow my mind got on the topic of my closets, and how they needed to be cleaned out, and what specifically needed to be got rid of where, and on and on. It took me forever to get to sleep. So when I got up the next morning I immediately began cleaning out my closets. Besides normal things that go in closets like clothes, I have a costume closet full of totally random things which I had already decided needed to go. Random vintage kimono? I have that. Korean War greatcoat? I have that. Victorian bustle skirt? I have that. They don't get enough use, so they need to be sold, but it's very time consuming to find buyers for home-made, used costumes. I've sold some to the local historical Fort, and some to the local Costume shop; some on Etsy, and a few to friends.

Bustle skirt. It's for sale.

So in the course of my cleaning out, I posted two used costume items in a Yahoo group. Within a half hour I had sold them both. Within six hours a dozen other people had responded. My blog and Etsy spiked. The internet wasn't working. I panicked. In the end the original buyer purchased four items, and I gained potential future customers.

Romantic dress. It's for sale.

This is my last week working at the Clothing Shed. My manager was giving away some of the display mannikins to a local church, so I asked if I could have one too. Dress forms are great, but expensive, so I've never bought one; mannikins aren't adjustable, but still work for lots of things. Yesterday my manager gave me two mannikins, for free!

 Meet Florence and Petunia. They're shaped like Barbies and they like historical costumes.
And they were freeeeeeeeee!