Thanx.

So it's a fairly beautiful day despite being slightly overcast, and I'm waiting for the phone call that tells me whether or not my friend can help me get a shed to house the bicycles currently filling my tiny dining room. She's sick, and I'm sick, but I really want my dining room back, and so I wait. The dishes are done, the vacuuming is done, I'm up to date on outgoing orders, and there's no event scheduled for today save this. So I'm in a holding pattern, thinking about my business and by extension, my life. Quiet moments for me are rare like diamonds, and I cherish them.

Among the many pebbles in my stream of consciousness is the knowledge that many, many people are responsible for helping me get to where I am in this business, and like any grateful recipient, I should give them my thanks. So while I have this chance, I thought I'd share their names and deeds with you.



1.Grandma Kleisly. My maternal grandmother, as anyone who knows me will know, is a figure of paramount importance in my life. Besides being a gracious and unerring source of comfort through my youth, she was also the person responsible for the seed money to start Beqi Clothing. The 60 year old muted pink all-metal Singer I've sewn most of my merchandise on was hers once, too, a fact which pleases me greatly. I owe her no small debt of gratitude for her help, her encouragement, her grace, and her love. It is with her blessing that I do what I do, and I thank her.



2.Big Eddie. Let's be frank. I couldn't do this job without the love and support of my husband. Besides bearing the lion's share of the bills for the early part of the business, he's also been instrumental in keeping me going during the lean times of the latter years, both psychologically and financially. So here's to ya, sweetie. You've earned it.

3.Sylvie. Sylvie is a friend of mine who was running her own hatmaking business when I was deciding what I wanted to do with my life, and her advice went a long way towards demystifying small business ownership for me. Although she's since retired from millinery and we don't get to talk as much these days, doing what I do now would have been a lot harder without her help. For that, she will always have my gratitude.



4.Mom. My mother still has the first thing I ever sewed in my life on her dresser: a bubblegum pink, polyester double-knit heart pillow made out of scraps I found in her rag bag. A baby sitter taught me to hand sew using this durable (and flammable) stuff, and the seeds of a lifelong obsession were sewn. Over the years, mom has lent me her ear, her sewing machine, her house, and innumerable babysitting hours when I had to pack off and sell at events. So thank you, mom. You can keep the pillow.

5.Joy, my stepmom. I sewed by hand for a while in my preteens, but my stepmother got me my start on an actual sewing machine. Her ancient black Singer brought hundreds of doll clothes, patched jeans, and clumsy quilting projects to life during my teen years, and she was always helpful when I just couldn't figure something out. Because let's face it; hand sewing is fun, but it's not terribly efficient time-wise. I picked sewing back up in the early 90's when I was on my own, but without all those hours logged in my teen years, I don't think I would have had the impetus to keep going.



6. My awesome friends. Shelley, who has been with me on this thing from day one, always encouraging me to do what makes me happy, even in the times when it doesn't. Robins 1 and 2, who have introduced me to store owners and offered their houses in which to help me sew while my kid's in day out. Mia, who's responsible for arranging Craft Nights which allow me to work while still getting to socialize with others in small businesses. Jill and Mona, both of whom have watched my kid for me when I've had something business-wise I've had to attend to during Big Eddie's working hours. I love you all, but you already knew that.

7.The host of ladies who worked with me at the Kirkwood Hancock Fabrics. Linda, Wanda, Pat, Cathy, Carol, Jan, Sharon, and too many more to count. Besides being unbelievably funny and fun to work with, they were also a fount of practical information on sewing. They took me from my first year when I couldn't sew a zipper to being able to make a fully lined coat with cover buttons. Sometimes your elders do know a thing or two, and it does us whippersnappers a world of good to listen.



8.My hilarious friend Allison, who's shared so many booths with me at various events it's impossible to list them all. She makes the most wonderful quilts and hotpads at Squaresville, her etsy shop, and she helps save the earth by taking my leftover scraps and recycling them into usable, durable goods. She's a good one to have next to you when you're stuck in a tent for eight hours, because she's whip smart and milk-snortingly funny.

9.The store owners, magazine editors, festival planners, and everyone working for them who have helped me sell my goods and promote my business over the years. Handmade goods wouldn't have made near the progress they have as viable merchandise without the DIY culture that's spawned and nurtured them. There's too many people to list all of them, but I'll make a stab at it: Bust, Bitch, Venus, Rockabilly Monthly, Garage, and Varla magazines--thank you. Fifi's, Masulla, Cranky Yellow, Apop, Subterranean Books, Cooperella, Pistol Bazaar, Circa Boutique, Cheap Trx, Avalon, the Time Boutique, Jolie Handmade and more--thank you. Rock N Roll Craft Show, St. Louis Craft Mafia, Strangefolk, Gypsy Caravan, Tower Grove Farmers' Market, Gifts To Go, Crammed Organisms, Girls for Gender Equity, and Wintermarkt--thank you. To anyone or anything who's helped me and the hundreds of small businesses like me in the STL area over the years--thank you.

10. Everyone who's ever bought my clothing, my bags, or my jewelry over the years, whether online or in person, whether for themselves or as gifts, I thank you most of all. Because without you, I couldn't feed my fabric and bead addictions, and that's just not a pretty sight. I love you all, and I promise to keep doing this for you as long as my eyes can still see and my hands can still sew. I love what I do, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Give yourselves a hand.

Well, the phone's ringing. Off I go, chicas.

Nose to the grindstone and all that

Whew! I am SUPER busy right now! I recently finished a wholesale order for my friend Kelly's store Fifi's in the University City Loop, and trucked a boatload of jewelry off to Apop Records for consignment on Cherokee St.

In addition to this, I'll be at Cooperella Cafe for their first-ever Craft Night tonite from 5 to 9! Fun for all crafters in the STL region, plus beer. As if that wasn't enough, my band is going into the studio tomorrow to start recording for an upcoming CD. (The live versions of which you can currently hear on our Myspace page)

Of course during all this time, I'm getting ready for Crammed Organisms, finishing up the second of four stuffies that will be entered into the show in June. Of course, we're looking forward to Tower Grove Farmer's Market season opener on May 17th, and Gypsy Caravan on May 26th!

So you'll be hearing from me here intermittently, when I get a chance to catch my breath. :)

We've applied to be in Crammed Organisms, a worldwide plushie stuffie art show! Below are photos of our first ever stuffie, an as-yet unnamed punk-rawkabilly fairy girl.




She has black hair pulled back in a high ponytail, red lips, swept over bangs, arm tattoos, a striped tube top, removable denim miniskirt, grommeted strap hobo bag, flip flops, lucky seven necklace, tiny fairy wings, and an arch expression.

If we're lucky enough to be accepted, we'll be making her a tattooed mate, darling little boy, and family pet. aybe we'll even take you through the process of making one, so you can go along with us.

Beqi Interviewed!

Check out our interview at Cranky Yellow!!

Birth of a Skirt

Everything you see around you was made by someone. From the chair you might be sitting in to the computer keyboard I'm typing on to the empty smoothie glass next to me on the table. As esoteric as it seems, everything that has been wrought by human hands has started in human brains. Hardly rocket science, except when it is.

To that end, I thought I'd take you on a tour of a skirt, from the twinkle in my eye to the finished garment. Because it all comes from somewhere, right?

The idea comes from the world around me, either from movies, music videos (which I almost never watch anymore, because most new music sucks), magazines (Bust, Bitch, Venus, International Tattoo, Varla, etc.) or from stylish friends. Or maybe I wake up one day and decide I like a certain colour and need to have it represented in my closet. Wherever it comes from, it comes, and lodges in my head like a bad 70's easy listening song about Muskrat Love. From there, I have no choice; I have to create it.

So off to the fabric store I go. If I can't find it at the first one, I'll either keep the idea in the back of my head until I come across the perfect fabric, or I'll sketch it out on one of my million sketchpads. Some ideas do get lost in the process, but I like to think that the best of them get made.

Once the fabric is bought I'll cut it into a sample size and put it in my regular rotation. Next to my machines are cut pieces, pinned together and stacked by thread colour, and when I'm using that colour thread I'll grab whichever batch I feel like doing the most. Some items end up not getting made, but since I have a large group of crafty friends to whom I donate my scraps, not much is really wasted.

From there the cut fabric is sewn, seams are serged (take the shirt you're wearing and turn it inside out--see where the fabric ends? Those multiple interlocking threads keep the material from fraying, and make the garment look more professional. This is done with a serger, which is a separate machine from a regular sewing machine. It's also, at times, a giant pain in the ass.) zippers are pinned, and voila! An--almost--finished skirt.

The skirt will then need to have the loose threads cut off, be ironed if it's not a knit, and have any ncessary hand sewing done. (buttons, snaps, appliques, etc. Anything that can't be sewn by machine will be done now. Also, I'll stab my fingers with the needle approximately 253.7 times.)

So now the sewing portion of the process is done, but there's still a ways to go before the skirt is done. After all, now I have a skirt, but if I want anyone else to know about it, I have to put it on the site. Otherwise I don't have a business; I have a hobby.

The skirt is then put on one of my handy dandy dress forms, Sophie or Ava, and photographed. On the computer, the colour is adjusted to reflect as close to real life as possible, and the background is cut away. The skirt is named, fixed into a web graphic template I've made up for the season, and uploaded onto the Beqi Clothing website. A few lines of HTML later, the skirt is officially for sale!

This entire process can take anywhere from a few weeks (in the busier season) to a few hours (when I'm really motivated), and is pretty much the same for every part of the business: clothing, baby clothing, jewelry, purses, what have you. So just know when your purchase arrives at your door, that it was crafted lovingly from concept to garment by yours truly, and that the money you spent on it will go directly to insuring I'll be able to keep making more for years to come. That, and well, beer.

How to Waste Your Free Time

This is my little Meez. It's a little animated me whose clothes I can change like a doll. Sure, I'm almost 38, but who doesn't like seeing a virtual effigy of themselves jumping around like a maniac? I know I do.

Plus, this is about the only way I can crunk.

Mythbusters: Self-employment segment

"It's so nice that you can set your own hours."

If I had a nickel for every time I've heard that since starting this business in June of 2000, I'd have--well, a large pile of nickels, for one. A lot of well-meaning people in my life have been under the impression that since I'm my own boss, I'm able to take time off whenever I like. While this may be true during the slow season, it certainly isn't the case a majority of the time. So in the interest of full disclosure, I thought I'd make a short list of some of the tasks involved with running a business by yourself. In any given week, these are the tasks that fall on my solo shoulders.

1. Supply buying. I would say I spend as much time shopping for and buying supplies as I do sewing. A lot of people are suprised when they find that I don't go to some super-secret textile batcave to make my clothing. The difference between me wandering through Joann's or Michael's and the average person? After over 10,000 garments and 4,000 pieces of jewelry, I can spot a good print from across the store. It saves a lot of trouble when you can train yourself not to see stuff you don't want.

2. Manufacturing. This includes: making or altering patterns, cutting fabric, pinning zippers/darts/pleats/sleeves/collars/facings/appliques and/or patches, the actual sewing, serging seams, cutting threads, any necessary handsewing after the garment is taken off the machine, and ironing.

3. Mailing. Pretty self-explanatory, right? Except the difference for me is that every piece of paper involved in finishing your order has to be designed by me. The label you get on your order has been drawn and designed by me, as have most of the graphics involved on my website and in my ads. I started drawing when I was little, and when I still worked for someone else, I did graphic design. Luckily for me, I still get to use those skills in this job.

4. Website/Advertising. This can either be on the fun side, like when I get to design the look of the site or draw illustrations to use in my ads; or it can be more workaday type stuff, like changing the price codes during sale times or sending out sale notices. Sometimes it means loading the dress forms into the car and photographing product in the park for use in advertisements. (I get some funny looks with that one, let me tell you) And everything--everything--you see on my website is coded and designed by one person--me.

5. Fashion Design. I'm constantly designing, looking at what I see in the world around me or in decades past, and changing it to suit my own tastes. There's a lot of stuff I like that I don't see in the world around me, and sometimes I think fashion can get a little foolish or be out of touch with what actually flatters a woman's body. Women have hips and breasts and thighs; you can't design clothing more suited for teenage boys and expect it to fit them properly. If you sell to women, sell to women.

6. Paperwork. Ugh. The less said the better. Let's just say that if there was one part of my job I wish I could fob off on someone else, this is it.

7. Festival work. As if the website work and the select group of stores I sell my goods to aren't enough, I also participate in a half dozen DIY/indie craft markets a year, with more added all the time. These are always fun, but with wakeup times that can run as early as 4:30 in the morning, they're also a lot of work.

So as you can definitely see, there are weeks I don't have a lick of free time; every waking moment is spent eating, sleeping, breathing, and living for the business. It's not uncommon for me to dream I'm sewing, and 14 hour days are routine in the busy months. The upside of that is that I really do dearly love my job. Since 2000, I have made over 14,000 wearable items. That means that instead of spending my day taking orders from someone else, I spent it putting something in the world that I made with my own hands.

And if that isn't enough, taking the occasional break to dance like a maniac around my studio to "Rock you like a Hurricane" is pretty sweet, too.