FAMOUS Elastic & New Product Inspiration!

So the FAMOUS elastic I ordered arrived last Friday so was just short of arriving before the range was sent to production. I was really disappointed at first, but have since had a new wave of enthusiasm for the range as Clint has gotten creative and thought of all new products!

Let me present to you the Camelia Carlton Men's Dance shirt - thanks to Clint's amazing creative streak (that's him pictured above - say cheese!) he has designed a tuxedo shirt with built in underwear for male dancers who face the problem of tucked in shirts coming loose during performances. The FAMOUS elastic will be an amazing feature on the shirt. Clint is such a genius, I honestly couldn't have though of this by myself! This new product will be going to production very soon.

Until next time,
CC xo

Going to Production

As soon as the swing tags arrived, Clint bundled up the samples and prepared them to be sent to production. I didn't realise it was so involved! Everything - from care label, swing tag, spec sheet and pattern (a.k.a "block" in industry terms) is put into a bag, with a production sketch stapled to the outside. If there are any errors on the block or production sketch, the actual garments manufactured will also have errors, so Clint has been meticulously going over each and every piece to make sure it is spot on.

We are having 20 pieces made in each style in Small and Medium. This is based on the dancer's physique, but Large sizing is available on request as it's a simple matter of angling the block. We also decided to go with S M over 8-12 to keep costs down. Most of the garments in the range are elasticised, so simply pull on over the head, hence fitting a range of sizes.

A few garments we are having made are:

• Sequined Hoodie - my first & favourite design!
• Black Bodysuit - thick black boyleg body with exposed zip at back
• Pole Pants - knee-length tracksuit pants in grey marle
• Dance Pants - long tracksuit pants
• Dance Tube top & skirt in high quality spandex
• Make up mini & maxi dresses - a personal favourite - simple spandex tube-style dress with elastic and frill around bust for those competitors who are having their make up and fake tan done in front of 300+ other dancers. Will be in washable black so make up stains are no problem

I'm also having a scarf made up in my custom fabric. Looks stunning, and elaundry has already had interest from a local business to manufacture as an accessory to their uniform!

Another new addition is the sequined hobo bag pictured above. It's a gorgeous slouch bag that you can wear across your body with silver sequined outer and custom Camelia lining on the inside. The inside of the strap is lined so there's no snagging to delicate fabrics, and a magnet clasp allows easy access. We've put an iPhone pocket on the inside and pleated the seam on the inside of the bag so the contents don't roll around. It wraps beautifully around your hips when you wear it!

You may notice that the black robe spoken of earlier has been culled from the range. Although I had faith in this piece, it was just too complicated to go to production, and would have been a much more expensive item than we had originally opted for. And when you took off all the trimmings and embellishments, it was just too basic and that's totally not my style!

So in a month from now, I will have my range ripe and ready to sell to Dancesport! I hope you all have your fingers crossed for me!

Until next time,
CC xo

Look What Arrived!

The mailman has been busy delivering things this week! My order from VistaPrint, which included my swing tags, hats, t-shirts and stationery arrived! Although I love the look of the hot pink camelia flower on the simple white background, we had a bit of a hiccup with the final cost of postage as each individual item was manufactured in a different country. Hence the cost was considerably more - so consider this a word of warning if you're thinking of using VistaPrint.

What else arrived is the FAMOUS and Camelia Carlton blings in Swarovski crystal! If you look closely at the FAMOUS bling you can see there's different sized crystals in the "F", whereas the Camelia Carlton bling is all one size. I got a bit creative and stuck the bling on the white hat. I've already worn it out today and gotten heaps of compliments! Just gives me a big boost that this range is going to be a huge success!

Until next time,
CC xo

My Custom Fabric!

My custom fabric arrived! Look how fabulous it is! And trust me, it looks EVEN BETTER in real life (if that's possible!)

As soon as the fabric arrived Clint moved quickly to start putting the garments together. Here is the black robe at the moment - Short sleeved robe with front pockets and waist tie in absorbent & washable fabric (so you can throw it on after the shower). The new fabric looks amazing as a trim on the pockets and tie, and in the hood. Of course my logo is embroidered on the front. Love it!

We also played around with creating hangers to display the range when it's completed. It's all about ATTENTION TO DETAIL! We've made a few so far but aim for 50 or so. I'm also thinking of getting a gorgeous Swarovski crystal star to hang from it too. What do you think?

The range is slowly but surely coming together. Clint has to make up a sample of each garment to send to the manufacturer. He has a great industry contact who is local to elaundry. We made the decision to have our production line in Australia, rather than outsourcing. I want to support my community! Because Clint knows the manufacturer, we have a 3 week turnaround on production. So I will have my range in my hot little hands faster than I imagined!

The QLD Dancesport Championships are at Jupiter's Casino on the Gold Coast on the 23rd & 24th of April this year, so we're aiming to have the range completed by then.

Until next time, 

CC xo

Ordering, ordering, ordering

Ok, apart from being Valentine's Day today (Happy V day to all you lovebirds!), it's CRUNCH TIME! My fabric is days away from arriving, Clint has created patterns for my garments, so now it's time to order swing tags, care labels and trims.

I found out about VistaPrint through a friend, so decided to order my swing tag through them. I've ordered a postcard sized swing tag with the Camelia Carlton FAMOUS logo on one side and Toni-Maree's elaundry business on the other (because it's a joint venture and all!)

And while I was on VistaPrint I couldn't help but order a few things for work - like keyrings, notepads, mousepads, post it notes and mug - just to brighten up my office! I will give them out to my friends and such, I hope they love my camelia logo as much as I do! I also had to order a few more t-shirts with the giant pink camelia flower, just because I haven't got any of them yet. I got one slim fit t-shirt with a small flower, and one oversized fit t-shirt with a large flower.

Now that I've ordered my swing tags and got that expense out of the way, I thought about what trims and embellishments I needed to order.

First up, my Swarovski crystals! I ordered both "FAMOUS" and "Camelia Carlton", one in different sized large crystals, and one in same size small crystals. I hope they look fab! I'm thinking of sticking them on top of the camelia flower.. We'll see how it looks though!

I've also ordered elastic for the waistbands of my garments. I didn't want to go with basic black or white, so found a manufacturer and have ordered custom elastic with FAMOUS written on it. I am BEYOND excited to see what this looks like IRL! I could start designing underwear.. The opportunities are endless!

And in BIG, BIG NEWS... I've ordered the minimum required order (MOQ in industry terms) of my FINISHED & FABULOUS BOOT BAG! They will take a few weeks to arrive, but I can't wait to start selling them. I've told anyone and everyone who will listen (even strangers at the supermarket struggling by with their groceries) about the boot bag!

Until next time,
CC xo