Commissioning a costume can be overwhelming. I’m here to tell you what to expect when buying bespoke clothing. Uncommon Costuming is a commission-based business, meaning people come to me saying, “I’d like to have this costume/article of clothing/giant dice bag/etc. made. Could you make it for me?” and then, often, I do, and they pay me for it. Like most commissioners (possibly all), managing the client’s expectations is a big part of the job. No commissioner worth their pins wants to create shoddy work, waste their time, or not get paid, just like no client wants to wear shoddy work, waste their time, or overpay. In order for everyone to come out of the deal happy, it’s important to understand going into it what all is involved with a commissioned item. [Note: for the purposes of this post, let’s say we’re commissioning a costume, but it could be anything – …
Masks En Masse
With the outbreak of COVID-19, many states are implementing shelter in place orders, including wearing protective face masks when going out. Not only do most people not keep a stock of masks at the back of the closet (although we will now!), masks are getting hard to come by! Enter your friendly neighborhood sewist! Crafters all over the country, and even those with a sewing machine collecting dust in a corner, have banded together to help our neighbors by sewing masks. Here at Uncommon Costuming, we made over 50 in one weekend (with our staff of one!) To help get as many masks out there and keep as many people that much more protected as quickly as possible, we’ve created an illustrated set of instructions for making a reusable, pleated cloth masks with filter pocket, including additional notes on how to make them more efficiently if you’re sewing several! There …