Background
I’ve had a varied career path over the last 18 years, doing everything from working at a psychiatric facility, as a Behavior Specialist for a county school system, Business to Business sales, and working as an Information Assurance Consultant for about the last 10 years. I’ve been dreaming of starting my own business for longer than I can remember. I had my daughter in 2012 and there is nothing that makes you more keenly aware of the passage of time than having a child. After losing my long-term corporate job in March 2014 and turning 40 this May, I decided that I simply could not spend any more of my time following career paths that did not interest, excite, or inspire me. I took this job loss as a sign that it was time to really do something that makes me happy. I really want to show my daughter that there is no reason to stay miserable in a career just for money and it is sometimes better to follow your dreams. (Although my husband may disagree with the drastic income change haha) I spent a lot of time researching and analyzing and set up a legitimate business with the intent to eventually have this be a secondary income. I am not doing this as a hobby, but I do love it. I’m learning a lot about the business aspects, web presence, marketing, photographing products etc. and have much more to do.

Why custom tutus?
This is something I have been doing for quite awhile as a hobby - for gifts and for friends. I love making them and I love that at the end of the day, I can see actual progress, which hasn’t been the case with past careers! My focus is on tutus and party accessories that are intended for photo shoots, not play. I love photography and I love that I can be a part of creating special memories for your family. Time flies by and one day, all you really have are great photos to remind you of some special memories.

Process
My preference is custom creations and that is why each item is made to order, specifically to fit the child, pet, or adult that will wear it. I do not have a ton of samples sitting around ready to ship that may or may not fit or bulk supplies getting dusty so that I can keep making the same thing over and over. I carefully select materials specifically for your order. All of the items in my Etsy shop are created to give customers an idea of what type of work I have done in the past, but I welcome any color/style changes that someone would like.

I spend a ton of time choosing fabric and accents for your custom creation, which typically involves several stores, even hours choosing coordinating fabrics to create something I have envisioned. I do try to buy a majority of my supplies in person as a quality control, which does increase the time invested. I buy Nylon tulle and cotton fabrics by the yard and carefully cut measured strips, plan the design, carefully select and measure accents and hand tie to full elastic no-roll waistbands. I hand sew waistbands and some accents. I spend a lot of time selecting accent pieces and buy quality items specifically for your order. I do not use leftover scraps for your tutu accents or accessories. I am specifically selecting items for your order. I have made a quality decision to not use headband material, ribbon, or elastic cording for waistbands. This does impact the length of time it takes to make the tutu, but there is no comparison for the quality of the item. I typically use ¾ inch waistbands for tutus, 1 inch for high chair tutus, and ½ inch for newborn tutus. In addition to material selection, I typically spend about 3 -4 hours making most tulle tutus (depending on the size), 4-6 hours on high chair tutus (depending on size), and 6 hours on fabric tutus. I recently spent 24 hours making a custom order. I really take a lot of time making sure fabric is perfectly aligned, design consistent, and put as much multi-layered tulle or fabric on the waistband as I possibly can while maintaining the waist size, for the best finished product. I typically do not list the amount of fabric that I put in an order because I believe the amounts are not consistently represented to the buyer. For example, stating that an item has 100 yards of tulle, when 4 tulle rolls were used, is not the same as 100 yards of tulle by the yard. That makes it difficult for a buyer to compare items in an accurate way. My goal is that I’m making a tutu or party décor that will look amazing in the photos for your special event. If you would like something that looks exactly like the photo in one of my ads, that is great too! I will do my very best to do so, but the occasion may arise where I cannot find identical fabric and may need to substitute. I will of course notify the customer of this and offer suggestions. I’m happy to work with items/materials you do not see in an ad, with only one exception – I do not work with glitter tulle or fabrics.

Thank you so much for visiting my shop. I hope that I can create something special for you or your loved one soon!