Monday, November 18, 2013

Fort Firefly Shift Dress Free Pattern and Tutorial

Boatneck Shift Dress Free Sewing Pattern


I am having a real bad case of writer's block. I never thought it was even possible to have this happen to me. I'm a crafter/seamstress after all, writing is just a necessary evil to reach out to my readers. Was I ever wrong? I got the nasty block. Would you believe, that I have posts sitting all written in my composer just waiting for me to press 'publish' but I'm avoiding doing that...and I have no idea why.


I made this Fort Firefly Shift Dress Pattern and Tutorial for Birch Fabrics blog a while ago, but never got a chance to share it on my blog. So here it is - Fort Firefly Dress made with Fort Firefly Fabric Collection by Tegan White for Birch Fabrics.


The dress is full of cute details like this butterfly at the back, exposed decorative zipper and square pockets that go from front to back. It also has a yoke accentuating the boat neck. I'm sure you will like at least some of these details and I hope you will be inspired to try them in your own sewing.



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Thursday, November 14, 2013

Product Review: Pop Up Soft Light Portable Photo Tent and Kit

Product Review: Pop Up Soft Light Portable Photo Tent and Kit by YesComUSA
portable photo tent by yescom usa


You know how it happens sometimes that you are scratching your head over a problem, not knowing how to solve it and just then, the right solution appears, served on a platter. It doesn't happen as often as I would like, but when it does - its an awesome feeling. Like the universe is listening to you and nodding along and trying to make things happen for you.

The product review email from YescomUSA was one of these awesome events. See, I have this etsy store that I sell tutu dresses and accessories in. I have been trying a lot of different things to make my pics better for the store. With a lot of trial and error I figured out that my dresses are best shot on a mannequin with our backyard fence as a background.  However, I was still not sure how to properly take pics of my accessories. For one thing they come in many different shapes and sizes compared to dresses, which follow roughly same structure.

rainbow dash pony ears

I tried taking pics with a head-only mannequin, but the backdrop proved very distracting. In fact, I had to use less than perfect pics during Halloween, because I just couldn't figure out how to take better pics of my pony headband and I was in a rush to list items before Halloween.

Another problem I faced was the daylight. Since I go to work during the day, I had a very small window where I could take pictures in sunlight, and the pictures taken indoors in artificial light just didn't work.

However the  24" Pop Up Photography Soft Light Studio Tent Kit sent by YesComUSA changed all that. They shipped it super-fast. When I opened the package, I happened to have a relative who is very interested in photography. In his words - "This is not a portable studio, its a photographer's jackpot". Indeed, with all the items that were included, the pop-up studio tent kit seemed like a bonanza.


soft light adjustable lamps
It has two of these sturdy lamps which can be adjusted in height and angle to get the light at just the right place.


adjustable lamps
These lamps come with natural soft-light, height adjustments they even have a switch right on the wire so you don't have to worry about plugging and unplugging them.


pop up tent

It has this very easy to use portable tent, which folds flat when not in use. It also has a slit in the front cover so you can have complete control over the lighting inside the tent. The tent folds flat when not in use.



Then there are these backdrops in 4 colors which have velcro to attach them to the tent. 
In short, this kit has everything to make photographing small items ( upto 24" ) a cinch. I'm really impressed with the value it provides for $69.99. It took about 15 mins to get everything out of packaging and ready for the shoot.



Want to see how much difference it made? Here is one picture to show you. They say one picture is equal to thousand words. I think I will just leave it at that.

Disclaimer: YesComUSA sent me the 24" Pop Up Soft Light Portable Photo Tent and Kit for poduct review. The opinion in the review is 100% mine.



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