Wearable Art

This is a dress I finished  Thursday at quilt circle.  I had about 1/2 yard or so of three beautiful Parisian collage type fabrics purchase some time ago that were calling to me to make something of them. Actually I could hardly close the drawer that held the fabric, so needed to use some of it up.  I wasn't interested in making a quilt, so I cut them up and sewed them together to create enough yardage from which to cut  out a pattern for a simple shift dress. I really like it.

Front is above and Back below

Some months ago I received an email from a company called VIDA, saying they had seen some my hand dyed fabrics and thought they would be appropriate for apparel.  All I would have to do is submit high resolution digital images and they would print them fabric, which would be sewn into scarves, blouses, dresses, etc.  Every quarter I would receive 10% what was sold.  They sell a variety of apparel ranging from $40 scarves to $95 dresses. They advertise themselves as a collaboration between designers and makers around the world. It sounded like someone's great start up business. They provide literacy programs to the people who make the garments in Karachi. Clothes are made to order rather than making 100's of items that may or may not sell. Sounded good to me.  So I sent them some images.  At least 3 times a week I was receiving emails from them about how I could buy my items at discount and then sell to my friends and family.  That is not at all what I wanted to do, nor would be comfortable doing.  Finally I did buy one of my designed tops at a decent price just to see what they were like. See below.

I liked it a lot but it took about 6 weeks to get.  I just couldn't imagine people wanting to wait that long for an item.  They apologized for the wait and gave me a $40 credit to use in their ready-made collection.  So I ordered a very cool scarf, only having to pay a minimal amount for shipping.  That arrived in a week.  After receiving that, I asked them to remove my info from their site.  I was really hoping they would do the promoting, the selling part but it didn't turn out that way. I enjoy making the art, but I hate the self-promotion, business part of selling. Which of course makes it impossible to sell much and make my art self-sustaining.  This is something I will need to, or maybe not, come to terms with if I want my creations to pay for themselves.