Next round, coming up - this time with finesse!

Hi folks!

I know I've been very slow to post and report lately, but there's been movement on the Cabiria front, I promise.

As you saw before, dear readers, I hit a bit of a snag with my plans in Bangkok. When I came back to New York, the extraordinarily talented Michael David Bevins extended technical help my way through his company 4 Seasons Fashion. I'm diligently working away on patterns now, with a real class act providing the art of finesse. Such heartening news!

In the meantime, I leave you with this image from "Mad Men", returning to television in a few weeks. I am obsessed with border prints and the magic that they can do for any figure, slim or plus. Discuss.

Here's to new updates faster, sooner, and with more new dresses!

-Eden

Pattermakers, Accountants, and Other Fun Updates

Hey there folks!

It's been a few weeks, and there have been some new combinations afoot. One of the things I'd done was learn Adobe Illustrator, at least the basics, so I could make flats of my garments for the patternmaker. Since I seem to do everything from the ground up, I'll happily share my flat plus size template for drawing out clothing on a truly plus size figure:

There were many like this available in mainstream sizes, but of course, like with so much in the plus size world, I found none so I drew that one myself. You like?

I've also changed patternmakers - while Werkstatt is a wonderful resource and she is obviously a talented patternmaker, it wasn't the perfect fit. I did manage to track down the patternmaker and samplemaker I'd worked with over a decade ago, when we were at Lucy Barnes (now wholesale private sales only). When I designed the line and envisioned the quality, it was always with this woman's craftsmanship in mind, so it's pretty genius to get her on board.

Finally, I've been reworking the business plan. I'd always thought of starting up with crowdsource funding and using that collateral to gain business loans, but now I'm trying to research what options are available with business partners and shared equity. I'm a workhorse, but I don't know everything about business and accounting, so finding someone gifted in the arena would be amazing. If you, dear readers, know of anyone who would be interested in contributing knowledge, resources, or/ and funds to bring Cabiria to market for love and profit, please contact me. I'm very open minded!

Monday begins a new phase of development, and hopefully my next posts will be about finding wonderful size 18/20 models in the New York area soon!

-Eden

Cabiria Studio is up and running!

Hi all,

First of all, thank you so much for your patience in waiting for my blog updates. It's been a very hectic few months here with the move to New York and the new studio set up, but we're in and ready to start cranking out beautiful patterns now. Thank you for everyone who's helped and supported along the way!

For your enjoyment, the first shots of the new Cabiria Studio!

My next step is to start working with the wonderful patternmakers and samplemakers I've reconnected with here in New York, and hopefully knock out the first samples so I can photograph them on beautiful plus size women and show them to wonderful plus size boutiques! I'm keeping busy, for sure!

Thank you again to my generous and wonderful donors, who are collectively responsible for much of the items you see in the studio - bolts of fabric, labels, notions, and of some you don't see - licensing and bureaucratic paperwork fees, professional services, etc. Your help means the world to me, and I appreciate it greatly. Hope to show you what I can do with those gifts soon!

-Eden

Moving on up to the (very) East Side and GLORIA!

Hey folks!

So as you know, I'll be moving to New York soon. Now I know where - a beautiful apartment in Astoria, Queens! It's big enough to have my workroom not eat the living quarters, and there's lots of natural light. I'm really looking forward to it.

I've shown you some of the dresses in the line so far, and I want to give you another teaser. This one is a top instead of a dress - GLORIA.

No pockets, but features controlled gathers at the center front to drape beautifully over jeans or skirts. We plus size women shouldn't have to think about our tops binding when we sit down, and this solves the issue gracefully. With accent bars at the top of the breast, wide enough to hide bra straps but open enough to show off, it's a feminine top to add to our collection. Hope you like it!

-Eden

the next set for your enjoyment

Greetings from sunny Orlando, Florida!

I wouldn't let you guys go without new dresses just because I'm on the road. This week's dress composite is the AIMEE (last week's was the SOFIA, if I forgot to mention it). All of my dresses are currently named after actresses or character names in Fellini movies, however I have a special perk. One of my donation incentives, albeit at the $5,000 level, is that you get to name the dress styles. It could be your own name, it could be someone you'd like to honor, it could be your superhero name! If you look at lifetime costs of having a child or a pet, it's really a bargain...

So onto the new dresses! Again, please let me know your opinions, comments, and constructive criticisms. The Aimee has an elasticized waist, a flyaway wrap skirt, pockets, and adjustable 1/2" straps on metal sliders. It's made of silk knit jersey, which can be hand washed in cold water and laid flat to dry, or dry cleaned.

Again, please be constructive in your criticisms and opinions! You can dislike something, but not telling me why doesn't help me change it for the better!

-Eden

Big steps forward!

Hey everyone,

This week has been a huge leap forward for Cabiria coming to fruition! The bids came through for the patternmaker, and she's off and running. I met with my web development guys, and gave the go ahead, so soon I'll have the Phase I website up and running. I found some great fit models and photo shoot models, I borrowed a video camera so I can make a video to show you all what I'm up to, and I attributed style numbers and determined the first line. THE FIRST LINE!!! I know that's nothing to those who aren't fashiony and all, but for a fashion company, determining exactly what I'll be offering as a collection for the very first season of production is ENORMOUS!

I even got samples in of my swag for donors, and have a very sexy bistro mug about to go into production.

I'm insanely excited that this is moving forward - I know it seems like it's taking forever, and in some ways it is, but I'm Going Big here, so I'm trying to cover all the bases. In the meantime, I have a buying trip in New York scheduled this coming week, too. Fabrics are calling to me!

Happy Spring, everyone! I hope it's as productive and fruitful as mine is so far!

-Eden