the pretty pink door

Several years ago my sister bought a dress for my niece at a consignment sale. She said it was great quality, but was a brand she wasn't familiar with. So she did what anyone of today's age does: she googled it.

Chez Ami is a brand by Patsy Aiken, who sales online/by catalogue, and has a warehouse/outlet in Raleigh. The outlet is open twice a year only. I've only been there twice. The first time I was very surprised to discover that it literally is in a warehouse-style building. But what totally cracked me up was the pink door. Every other door in the building (they're just one of many businessess there) have the traditional steel gray door or dark green, but the pink...yes, it totally fits the company.  The other thing I think is totally cool is that this is the place where they actually make the outfits. One Mom years ago got very tired of all the poor quality children's clothes on the market, so she started sewing. It's much bigger than a one person company now, but it's nice to know that there are people who found a niche and built a job/company.

We went this past Saturday (their current sale opening runs through the 28th of this month), and Bobby went with me. The last time I went I bought material (they sale the yardage remnants of what they won't be using in the next season, and it's high quality stuff!) and some tights, but this time I actually found a few things on the clearance/reject rack.

One of the things they do is embroidery work. Orders that mess up (the needle breaks mid-initial, customer sends it back because they spelled the kids name wrong or used the wrong color thread, or it's the wrong size, etc) are marked at $6 and $9. I found a summer dress in my niece's size for $6. It does have someone's initials on it, but I think I can easily cover that with some flowers out of complimentary material. My first flower attempt failed miserably, but I'm hoping to finish up a quilting project today, and then I can work on a label to cover it either this afternoon or tomorrow. If I can salvage a $65 dress for $6 and an hour of my time, I will be one happy aunt.