Monthly Archives

October 2018

Halloween Sale and Some Recent Custom Makes

Lingerie, New Items, Personal October 28, 2018

October is just the best month! We celebrate Thanksgiving here in Canada, which is my favourite meal of the year, it’s my beautiful daughter’s birthday which always means lots of fun crafting, celebrating and cake, and it’s Halloween!

I just love this time of year. I love the shorter days and cooler weather… and I love all of the spooky stories and folklore that go along with the season. I get to indulge a little extra in my love for all things creepy and paranormal. It’s just a time of year where I feel like celebrating. But low-key celebrating.

I always run a bit of a sale around Halloween. If you’re like me, I like to do lots of sewing this time of year so it’s a good time to stock up on patterns. So, in my pattern shop, everything is marked down by 15%. No coupon needed in my Etsy shop, but if you’re shopping here, use coupon code TrickOrTreat at checkout.

In my lingerie shop, I’m doing free shipping on sleep masks and hair accessories!

Over the past few months I’ve worked on a few fun custom orders as well as a little sewing for myself. I just finished up Halloween Costumes as well as a few halloween dresses for Isabel which I’ll show you a little later. Isabel initially wanted to be a witch this year, which I was pretty excited about, but she changed her mind a couple of weeks ago and decided to be Raven from Teen Titans Go. I just finished up the cloak today and it turned out pretty good despite a little bit of my disappointment… At the same time I’m excited that she is beginning to develop her own interests and assert her own personality! And she was absolutely adorable when she tried her costume on.

I made this swimsuit for myself at the end of August. My cousin just put in a pool at her house and Isabel and I were down there pretty much every weekend. I used my Jasmine Bra pattern to create the top. It’s made with sew in foam padding and criss-cross straps at the back. The bottoms are my Ava Pattern, with ties instead of adjustable straps. This look was pretty easy to create. If you check out my tutorials on sewing swimwear finishes as well as how to add padding to the Jasmine Bra, you’ll be able to recreate a similar effect.

I’ve been using up all of my bits of too precious to get rid of lace to create this little pouches for my silk scrunchies. I seriously love these bags. I’ve used everything from wide venice lace to embroidered mesh.

I sent out this pretty peach bralette for a customer last month. I’m really into neutral bras and I love how this came together.

The same customer also requested a lace choker. I added a small silver o-ring to the front and a silver clasp at the back.

And… Just last week I sent out this adorable pair! I used up every last bit of this pretty autumn-inspired fabric. I just love the little mushrooms. I hope the recipient loves them as much as I do!

Now that the weather has really started getting cooler (we woke up to snow on the ground this morning), I’ve got my heart set on making a couple french terry sweatshirts, thermal Hunter Panties with matching Jasmine Bras, some silk lounge pants, and silk pillow cases for myself.

Easier Free Downloads & New Lingerie

Lingerie, New Items, updates October 25, 2018

One of the hardest parts of running a business for me is trying to figure out all of the behind the scenes stuff. Making lingerie is the easy part! Figuring out how to get it out to the world is hard.

I’m also terrible at outsourcing jobs that are really above my pay grade… So, I end up DIY-ing almost everything… To be honest, I like a lot of the odds and ends I get to do! The only downside is that sometimes it takes me a while to really figure it out, like the currency change I made yesterday.

This morning I worked a bit behind the scenes to streamline the download process for my free patterns. Previously, you had to go through a checkout process even for my free items which I know was super annoying. You no longer have to do this. On each free product page there are download links provided so you can simply download my free patterns and templates without checking out or creating an account. I hope this makes it easier for you to access!

I’m really trying to streamline my websites a little better. Right now everything is kind of disjointed. So that is one of my projects over the coming weeks.

Last week I finally got around to checking this off my to do list:

I’ve finally listed my floral honeybee set! I was feeling in a bit of a slump a while back and started writing back and forth to Nichola from Knickerocker.  Both of us were feeling the pinch on Etsy and feeling like we were having a hard time standing out. We decided to take on a bit of a creative challenge. We picked a theme (bees) and each designed a lingerie set around it. It was a super fun project! I decided to create a custom fabric using antique floral images and little honey bees on a polkadot background. It seemed natural to pair it with black lace. I absolutely love how this print turned out.

This shade of yellow is one that I love but never felt I could wear well. But, I felt great in this set!

You can shop all of the ‘Honey‘ pieces on Etsy (and remember, my prices are now in Canadian, not USD, so they may look a little different than what you are used to!).

Important Currency Changes

Uncategorized, updates October 24, 2018
I’ve been mulling this over for a while and I have decided to switch currencies in my Etsy shops, as well as my standalone shops, from US dollar to Canadian. This won’t be a big change for most of you. It may look like my prices have increased, but they’re roughly the same. They are just in CAD instead of USD. In a few instances, prices have lowered, but for the most part  I’ve tried to keep them within $0.25, mostly due to rounding.  If you are a shopper on Etsy, you may not even notice much of a difference since Etsy is set up to automatically show you prices in your currency. If you are a US customer, this will likely work in your benefit as the Canadian dollar fluctuates. For my Canadian customers, the total price you are paying will stay the same, you just won’t have to worry about any exchange rate. I understand this can be confusing at first and I apologize for any potential sticker shock if it looks like my prices have jumped by a few dollars! They haven’t… it is just the currency difference. I promise! I’m hoping this will make life easier as far as bookkeeping goes for me!

Something Spooky and New

Design Diary, Lingerie, New Items, updates October 13, 2018

You know me, I can never sit still so I’ve gone and created something brand new!

Actually, this has been a long time coming and just the start of a new platform for Ohhh Lulu Lingerie.

I’ve been working behind the scenes on a standalone (non-Etsy) shop for my Lingerie for months now, but wasn’t sure in what direction I wanted to take it.

For a few years now, I’ve had the goal of having a ready made line of lingerie that was at a slightly lower price point. I originally had the goal of creating a factory produced line that I could sell to retailers, but I still am struggling to find a Canada-based producer that will work with my relatively low quantities… not to mention I still haven’t actually wrapped my head around how I’d do it.

So, I’m still not there yet…

But, over the last several weeks I’ve worked on creating a selection of pieces that are ready to ship, but in limited sizes. The bralettes I’ve created are light support and great for lounging, but they aren’t the made to measure bras you’ll currently find in my Etsy shop. The bras in my Etsy shop are customized for your cup size and shape, whereas the ones in my ready made collection are a few sizes fit most.  This, and my fabric choices (which are mostly solids), are how I am creating my lower price points. That being said, they are still super cute and comfortable pieces. They are all styles that I love wearing myself!

Currently, I’ve got my Etsy shop and Ready Made collection separated, but I think I will eventually work on migrating the items from my Etsy shop over to this new storefront. The truth is, I’m having a hard time standing behind Etsy ever since they broadened their definition of “handmade” to include factory made items (yes, even items in factories are made “by hand”, but I don’t think when customers buy something that is marketed on a “handmade platform” as “handmade”, that they will assume it comes from a factory. It’s just sketchy marketing if you ask me).  Recently, they’ve changed search ranks to favour sellers with free shipping and short turn around times… which for me is hard since shipping (with tracking) in Canada is expensive! Seriously, I spend an arm and a leg on shipping Free shipping on every order is not something I can’t afford to do… Secondly, because I customize the fit on all of my bras and panties, offer custom designed items, and because of the amount of orders in queue, I can’t ship made to order items out in a day or two. Not to mention they’ve just upped their fees. I just can’t compete on that platform anymore, and I have some moral objections to the way the company is running now… So I’ve been looking for my escape for a while.

I’ve dabbled with ready-made items in the past but have never stuck with it. So, I’m going to see how these items do and if they do well, I’ll keep it up…! I still have more pieces to add but was excited to get these few things off the ground… especially my limited Halloween items!

I’ll be working on migrating over scrunchies and sleep masks this weekend and into next week, and maybe a few made to order items as well.  I really like the navigation of my new shop, as well as the the order processing and fulfilment methods.

You can shop my Ready Made items HERE!

Test Driving the new Spoonflower Quick-Sew Project Book!

Reviews, Sales October 9, 2018

I was provided with a copy off the Spoonflower Quick-Sew Project Book in exchange for my honest review.

I don’t often do reviews on my blog, but when Spoonflower let me know that they were publishing a book of DIY projects, I knew I wanted to get involved (and that it would be amazing).

I discovered Spoonflower fairly late in the game, but quickly became totally addicted to their fabrics. I’ve lost countless hours browsing through all of the designs and dreaming up my own prints. Aside from the fact that you can find basically any print of your dreams, I love the fact that I can work one-on-one with and support other indie designers through Spoonflower!

The Spoonflower Quick-Sew Project Book couldn’t have been released at a better time. With the holidays coming up, I’m always trying to think of creative gifts to make and this book is absolutely full of them. My absolute favourite thing about this book is that they include projects that require very little fabric…

In fact, I was able to test out one of the projects that required only 2 8×8″ swatches, a scrap of quilt batting and a zipper!

I used the instructions provided in the book to create a 2-swatch sunglass case. I selected two prints from one of my favourite designers, Holly Zollinger. Here’s a little tip, if you find a print you love but find the scale too big for your project, send the artist a message. I’ve had prints re-sized a few times for different projects (like my dollhouse!).  I used Holly’s Cyprus Floral for the exterior and the Bebe Mudcloth for the lining. For both, I went with the Cotton Sateen fabric. I like this fabric because it’s easy to work with and has a nice smooth finish.

Make it your own

To add a little detail to my sunglass case, I cut a strip of scalloped lace the same length as my exterior piece of fabric. I then used a zig-zag stitch to attach the lace directly to the right side of the fabric. Lace overlays and appliques are an easy way to add a bit of interest. Just stitch them on prior to putting together your bag. I ended up doing an asymmetrical lace overlay, but there are lots of ways you could do it. Just play around by placing the lace over the fabric!

The instructions included in the book were easy to follow and came with easy to understand photos. In no time I had a finished, one of a kind sunglass case.

For more inspiration, you can see how others have whipped up this easy to sew sunglass case over on the Spoonflower Blog .

A Gift for you!

Spoonflower has generously offered my readers 10% off using coupon code QuickSewOhhhLulu10.  The offer expires December 31, 2018 and is valid on one order of fabric, wallpaper and gift wrap.

I’m definitely going to be making more of these for Christmas gifts this year. I’ve also got my eye on the Fleece Mittens and the Travel Case patterns provided in the book!

You can get your hands on a copy of the Spoonflower Quick-Sew Project Book HERE!