Holiday Shipping Deadlines

Need an order by December 24th? Here are the deadlines:

Non-handmade items: order by December 18th and choose PRIORITY MAIL when you check out. (Orders made on the 19th and 20th may also be delivered in time, but I am trying to play it safe because USPS doesn't guarantee their shipping times!)

All handmade items: order by December 8th, choose PRIORITY MAIL when you check out, AND please let me know if this is an item that is needed before Christmas so that I can prioritize it over non-Christmas orders.

Custom orders (including items made in a custom size): Depending on the complexity of the item it will take between 2 and 4 weeks to sew and ship the item to you. Feel free to request a custom order but do not be surprised if it is too late for me to get it to you in time.

If you miss these dates, it may still be possible to get your order in time with or without a rush fee. Send an email to info@derangeddesigns.com and include the items you want to order, your shipping address, and the date you need the order by and I will figure out if I can finish the order in time.

If you live outside the US, send an email to info@derangeddesigns.com to get an estimate on when you will receive your item. The USPS cutoff for Express Mail International is December 8th so there might still be time to get an order to you. I cannot guarantee shipping times for international customers. 

That's all... have a great Christmas everybody! (Or just ignore it completely, I wouldn't blame you)

 

Holiday Sale

Sale time!

I just added half a dozen items to the sale section in the Deranged Designs website:

and I am in the process of adding items and lowering prices in the Sample Sale section in my Etsy shop:

All sale prices and sale items will be up by Friday morning. Soon I will post holiday shipping deadlines for people who need their orders by Christmas.

Halloween Ordering Deadlines

Need a handmade item by Halloween or earlier? Here are the ordering deadlines for US customers:

Non-handmade items: order 1 week before you need the item and choose PRIORITY MAIL when you check out.

All handmade items, except hoodies and Harley Quinn dresses: order at least 2 weeks before you need the item and choose PRIORITY MAIL when you check out.

Hoodies and Harley Quinn dresses: order at least 3 weeks before you need the item, and choose Priority Mail when you check out. These items have an extended sewing time compared to other items.

Custom orders (including items made in a custom size): Depending on the complexity of the item it will take between 2 and 4 weeks to sew and ship the item to you. Feel free to request a custom order but do not be surprised if it is too late for me to get it to you in time.

If you live outside the US, send an email to info@derangeddesigns.com to get an estimate on when you will receive your item. I cannot guarantee shipping times for international customers. 

If you miss your deadline, there is a possibility that I can bump your order ahead for a rush fee. However I may be too busy to accept rush orders this year.

Happy Halloween!

10 Years of Deranged Designs

Now that I have been in business for 10 years, I think it's time to write a post about some of my favorite and some of my most embarrassing clothing designs. This post will focus on designs from my first three years because that is where you can find my most "WTF IS THAT?!" creations.

A quick explanation of my sewing history and the way that I come up with new designs: I starting sewing daily when I was 13, and then started selling my designs on eBay three years later. I was lucky enough to start out when there were very few people selling DIY clothing on the internet, so I had few competitors and was able to make a small income from the business immediately.

My design process back then wasn't really a design process at all. I went straight from having an idea to sewing it without doing any sketching or planning. This led to some very erratic results. The finished garment would be too weird or ill-fitting to wear, and then I would alter it until I liked it. Or I would just slap it up on eBay and see what happened. To my amazement, nearly everything I made back then sold for at least the minimum bid. Those were the days!

Ok, here we go. Starting off with the WTF:

Ruining punk rock t-shirts, one child's soccer jersey at a time.

 

Faux Fur Disasters: If I had only used black faux fur instead of blue that jacket on the left would have been bearable. On the right is one of the first things that my friend Laura ever modeled for me. Red leopard, checkered fabric, and something weird over the checkered fabric, maybe lace? Laura said it reminded her of a pimp coat. Not what I was aiming for!

 

If something doesn't turn out right the first time, just add ruffles/studs/patches/lacing/fabric paint till it looks GREAT!

Ugly fleece and Ramones skirts...I don't know.

Pointless zippers and polyurethane. Who the fuck actually bought these shiny monstrosities? At least my hair was always awesome back then.

That's enough embarassment for now, so here are some of my favorite designs from 2005-2008:

  

Some of my better band shirt alterations (guess I ran out of soccer jerseys!) 

Zombie mini skirt! I love how the zombie's head is right at the edge of the hem. I'm also starting to realize just how much lime green fabric I used back then, which I cannot explain. 

Two different Rancid hoodies: when used in moderation, pointless zippers and orange polyurethane can turn out alright (at least by my weird aesthetic standards) 

Here are a few redeeming photos of myself and Laura, once we got a little better at modeling. The jacket and dress were from my first fashion show. The jacket was fully lined and it had actual functioning zipper pockets, which was pretty damn impressive for me back then. To be honest, I still hate sewing that type of pocket!

I hope you enjoyed my journey back into my teenage sewing years. If you have recently started sewing, I recommend practicing your skills on cheap fabric and thrift store clothing so it doesn't matter if you make mistakes. Don't forget to photograph all of your early creations and experiments so you can laugh at yourself in the future!

I'm Back!

I've decided to start blogging again. And I don't mean the blog updates where I just post photos of the new stuff on my website, I mean blogging about running a business and life and everything else I happen to be interested in. Every once in a while I still get emails from people who have enjoyed the words that I wrote years ago on this blog, and writing is somewhat therapeutic and a good way to record the past, so it's time to start again! (Sorry if my writing skills suck!)

Last month was the 10th anniversary of Deranged Designs. Isn't that fucking weird? I do not feel like I've been doing this for ten years. Here's a timeline of how I got to this point, followed by a description of what I hope is next:

2005 to 2007
I started selling one of a kind handmade clothing on eBay, back in the days when people actually bid on auctions. Most of it was band t-shirts that I reconstructed into new outfits. I was still in high school so I only had about 10 hours to work every week after I finished school, homework, and drinking and getting myself into trouble on the weekends. (Just FYI I have always referred to my business as "work" even though people didn't used to recognize it as a real job.)

          

Flyers from 2005-2007  
Did you know that Deranged Designs used to by called DIY Revolution? I changed the name in 2006. The top left flyer was copied and passed out to my friends when I was in high school. The other ones were left at local record stores.

This is what my sewing room looked like when I was a teenager living at my parent's house. My bed took up half the room so I had very little space! I still use all of this furniture because apparently I never throw anything away. 

2008 to 2011
Moving out of my parent's house! Fashion school! I went to the local community college full time from 2007 to 2011 to study fashion, sewing, patternmaking, business, and photography. Highlights from my time at American River College were visiting the New York Fashion District, interning at a couture bridal gown shop, and creating a collection for the college fashion show.

I also moved into a punk house and continued to act like a complete drunken idiot every weekend. Around this time I managed to work 10 to 20 hours a week and I started transitioning into making my own patterns and making my designs available in multiple sizes instead of making only one-of-a-kind clothing. 

 

   

In my first year at the punk house I had a tiny room with high ceilings. I bought a cheap loft bed because it was the only way I could fit my sewing machines, cutting table, and bed into the room. Luckily after the first year an awesome roommate let me trade rooms with him so I ended up with more than twice as much space. Photos of my new old sewing room are here. Goodbye loft bed, I will never miss you!

2012 to 2014
After finishing my AA degrees I decided to take a risk and see how far I could go with my business instead of continuing my education. (Actually I have continued my education by reading as many business and management books as possible, but nobody is giving me a degree for that!)

Sales took off in 2013 and since then I have been struggling to figure out how to run a business and have a life outside of that business. I've made some decent progress by raising prices and figuring out how to sew more efficiently, but there's still so much more to do. It's a constant balancing act of keeping customers happy and not falling behind on all the other work that needs to be done just to keep the business going. It's getting extremely complicated. It's stressful and sometimes I wonder whether it's all worth it! At this point, it is still definitely worth it.

2015/Present
At the beginning of this year I finally moved out of the cramped, smelly punk house into Warehouse Artist Lofts, a new mixed income building for artists. I now have twice as much space so it is easier to finish orders quickly and run my business smoothly. Ironically, my new apartment has turned out to be even noisier than the punk house (long story) so my situation is not ideal. I will post photos of my new workspace very soon!

Moving all of my fabric and sewing equipment was NOT FUN.

The Future
I like titling a paragraph THE FUTURE because it means I can pretend I have control over my future. HA! Anyways, I am still hoping to eventually move my business into a commercial space and hire somebody else to sew for me. In my spare time between sewing orders and keeping things running, I am trying to improve the way I run my business and educate myself as much as possible about manufacturing, marketing, and management (so exciting, right?). There is still SO MUCH that I need to learn!

Vacation time!

Deranged Designs will be on vacation from May 13th to June 2nd. If you need a handmade item before June, please order by May 7th. If you need a non-handmade item before June, please order by the 12th.

Customer service and order processing will still be available during vacation time but new orders will not be shipped between May 13th and June 2nd.

Coming soon: Website Overhaul

Info about upcoming website overhaul to be completed in March: 

I make several different styles of clothing and this makes for a rather chaotic website. Soon I plan to organize everything in it's own category. The first categories I will add are Goth/Punk, Animal Print, and Costume Collection. After that (this spring/summer) I will add a Futuristic collection and a Black & White/Mod collection.

I will continue to add new items to each category whenever inspiration strikes. I'm also hoping that by the end of the year I will have time to add a Pastel collection and Neon collection. Or maybe instead I'll focus on making a post-apocalyptic collection. I HAVE TOO MANY IDEAS, HELP!