For many of us, the new work-life means staying at home, or in a less "congested" workplace. It means rethinking how we are going to choose to engage with the public and how accessible we should be.
It means following health guidelines for the foreseeable future.
It's a paradigm shift for many of us who are accustomed to working behind a counter, window dressing, draping fabric around our customers, and keeping the shelves stocked.
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But for us at Exquisite Fabrics, it's just a continuum. We were adapting to online selling starting in 2006. WOW. That's 15 years ago!
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One community of sewing enthusiasts that remains optimistic and active, despite everything, is the costuming community. Normally there are "events" and conferences throughout the year that feed the community with new inspiration.
One of the last festivals to take place was at the beginning of the pandemic, surrounding Mardi Gras. The aftermath of "Carnevale" in Venice proved to be catastrophic, despite warnings from health specialists to cancel or stay away. The SARSCOV2 virus traveled back to the United States with some of the revelers, landing in New York. Things have never been the same, and most "Carnival" and Mardi Gras events for this year have been put on hold.
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However, innovation is what fuels creative people. Many people have taken this at-home time to learn. It is possible to add new skills and carry those to your own projects, looking forward to the future. That means online classes in creative arts are growing at an exponential rate!
One of these creatives is Kristen Darville Foggie, owner of Black Orchid Atelier, an online purveyor via Etsy and Facebook. Kristen offers Custom Historical Costumes, Accessories & Patterns, made to order or ready-made.
Kristen has gathered some of her industry contacts into a new online learning experience called Costume Skills Institute. With a low monthly fee, you can learn skills that may be new to you, but have been carefully preserved by this community of experts. If you join her Patreon project at the highest level,
Check it out!
In addition, Kristen runs a "de-stashing" page on Facebook, where other costumers get to join in the fun of de-acquiring/re-acquiring no-longer-needed fabric yardages, trims, and even spec costumes and antique textile goodies.
Kristen's "trunk show" page is filled with costumes that anyone can envy!
