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sarah norwood

Ohhh Lulu Pattern Hack: Advanced Techniques for the Emma Romper

Tutorial June 27, 2015
Hey guys! I finally released my romper pattern… I LOVE this pattern. It’s so versatile and comfy.
In my instructions for the Emma Romper, I give the basic assembly method…  I thought it might be fun to show you how you can take this pattern to the next level with some more advanced techniques! The basic assembly remains the same, but the finishing will be finer. Instead of doing serged seams, I’ll show you how to sew french seams. We’ll finish the crotch with bias tape and snaps (hand sewn or hammered), and add some gentle shirring to the waist.

What You’ll Need:
1. The Emma Romper Pattern
2. A fabric with a good drape. I’m using a Liberty of London silk.
3. Lace trim for the neck and legs.
4. Sew in or Hammer in Snaps
5. Small Scrap of Interfacing
6. 1/2″ Strapping and bra strap rings & sliders
7. Needles and Thread

Instructions:
1. Begin by applying lace along Front Neckline, as indicated in the Pattern Instructions.

2. With the wrong sides together, pin your center front seam. Stitch together using only a 1/4″ Seam allowance.

3. Trim back seam allowance to approximately 1/8″.
4. Using a warm iron, press seam allowance to one side. Then fold your garment along the center front seam, and press flat.

5. Stitch seam closed using a narrow, 1/4″ seam allowance.

6. Repeat the same process on the Center Back and Side Seams. 

 7. Sew lace onto the right side of the garment. Turn seam allowance under and press. Top stitch in place. An extra pretty way to finish the leg openings would be with appliqued lace. Check out my hero, Carine Gilson for some dreamy inspration.

 8. In this intance, I’ve finished the raw edge of the crotch seam with self fabric. I measured the width of the crotch seam (including the lace portion) and added 1/2″ to either side. I wound up with a measurement of 5″. I cut 2 pieces of fabric and 2 pieces of light weight interfacing that were 5×2″

 9. Iron interfacing onto the wrong side of your fabric strips. Fold in half lengthwise and press.

10. Pin and stitch on to the right side of the Front of the Romper.

11.Turn under the raw ends of your fabric strip.

12 Turn strip towards the inside of the garment, and top stitch all the way around the exterior of the strip. Repeat this process on the opposite side.

13. You can either hand sew on snaps or try your hand at hammered in snaps. I ended up putting hammer-in snaps in mine, but they aren’t quite as perfectly set as I would have liked!

14. Finish the upper edge and straps as indicated in the pattern.
15. To add some quick contouring around the waist, Try on the romper while it’s inside out. Find your natural waist, which is the narrowest part of your torso (you can also use the waist line guide on the pattern pieces) and mark that part at each seam with a pin (or use dressmakers chalk). I suggest trying on the garment to find your natural waist because waist height varies greatly. My waist is super high. My friend’s waist is perfectly in the middle of her torso… everyone is different.

16. I used some soft, 1/2″ elastic to cinch in the waist of my romper. To do this I used my pins as a guide and zig-zag stitched the elastic onto the inside of the garment. Pull on the elastic as you stitch. This creates soft gathers and will pull in your waistline. Alternatively, you could also sew a casing onto the inside of your garment, and draw elastic through the casing. Adding button holes and a drawstring would be fun too! I have also finished these with long satin sashes tied at the waist.

Now you’re ready for some seriously luxurious lounging.

Sarah & Ava Retro Swimsuit Tutorial Part 2

Tutorial May 24, 2015
It’s time for Part Two of my Retro Bikini Tutorial. I’ve done a tutorial on how to sew the Ava Panties as Bikini Bottoms before. I did this version just a little differently. I wanted to add a contrasting band around the waist and omit the elastic around the legs. I have full hips and thighs, so these bottoms fit snug as they are. If you’re on the thinner side, you might want to add elastic or bind your leg openings like we did on the Bikini Top.
Instructions:
1. To make the waistband, I roughly measured the waist of the panties front and back. I cut a size medium, which had the same measurement for front and back. I then drew a straight waistband, which was 2″ wide with 1/2″ seam allowance on either side. I indicated cut 2 on my new pattern piece, as my front and back measurement was the same.

 2. Cut your fabric – I’m lining the entire thing.

3. Baste your front lining to the swimsuit front.

4. Like we did with the swimsuit, we’re going to sew the lining and swim fabric all in one motion. Begin by layering: Back Self (rightside up), Front Basted Self (rightside down), then Lining. Pin together if needed and sew your seam. Now your crotch seam allowance in encased between your layers.

5. Sew your side Seams and try them on. They should fit snug all over.

 6. Sew the waistband into a continuous loop. Fold in half and press with a light iron. Attach to the waist of the panties, lining up your side seams.

7. I top stitched down my waistband seam allowance using a twin needle.

8. To finish the legs I simply finished the raw edges with my serger, then turned the edges and top stitched them with a twin needle. You can also finish with a zig-zag stitched hem, bind the legs, or use elastic.

That’s it! I’ve found it takes some getting used to sewing swim fabrics. They are slippery and can be hard to manage. But, the more bathingsuits I make, the better they get!

Here I am in mine. Neverind the pug butt and falling down fence. I made Izzy a matching suit too! Now hopefully the weather gets a little warmer so I can test mine out at the beach.

Sarah & Ava Retro Swimsuit Tutorial Part 1

Tutorial May 22, 2015

We had frost here last night…
BUT! I’m not going to let that get me down!  Last weekend I made this swimsuit. I was inspired by Alexia (from Whimsy Tails ) who made an amazing 2-piece version of my Abigail Swimsuit. You can see it on her Instagram. I really loved the way she place the stripes on the top. I decided I’d give it a go using my Sarah & Ava Pattern to do something kind of similar. I really loved how it turned out and I get lots of emails about using my patterns for swimwear so I thought I’d offer an indepth tutorial.

What you’ll need:
1. The Sarah Bralette Pattern and Ava Panties Pattern
2. Coordinating Swimsuit (Spandex) fabric.
3. Swimsuit Lining
4. Thread
5. Twin Needle
6. Rotary Cutter (optional, but handy)

Instructions:
1. Print out your patterns.

2. Trim away margins where indicated.

3. Tape pattern together.

4. Optional: I wanted to have a diamond motif pattern layout on the back, so I added seam allowance to both my back pieces, instead of cutting them on the fold.

5. Make adjustments. I have a slightly larger cup size than what I’ve drafted this pattern for. All I have done is cut between a size small and medium. If you need a significant change to the bust area, you can slash and spread the cups to increase the size. You can also wing it, like I sometimes do, by just exaggerating the curve of the cup and adding some height. If you are more petite, just straighten that sucker out. Check out my tutorial on adjusting the cup size of my Jasmine Bra for some further instruction.

Cutting between a small and medium

5. Optional Pattern Placement: I have drawn a line on my pattern pieces so I know where to place my stripes. I wanted to create a chevron motif over the bust so I took a little bit of time before cutting my fabric to make pattern placement indicators on my pattern pieces.

7. Cut your fabric! For a swimsuit, you’ll need to cut Lining & Swim Fabric. You don’t have to line the back, but I think it makes for a nicer suit.

8. Cut your binding. Using a contrasting fabric, cut several long strips of binding (stretch should be going lengthwise). I cut mine in 1 inch strips, as I wanted narrow, quarter inch straps and binding. Cut accordingly! Using a rotary cutter makes life a lot easier.
9. Baste lining to Front Cup.
10. We’re going to line and sew our cup seams in one motion so that our seam is encased between the lining and swim fabric. Layer your pieces like so: Side Cup Lining, Basted together Front Cup (lining side down), finished with Side Cup (right side down). Sew your seam (1/2″ Seam Allowance). Why do it like this? This way your lining and exterior fabric won’t shift and you’ll have less seam allowance to worry about between your layers. I’m serging my seams, but you can also just use a zig-zag stitch.
11. Prepare your binding by turning under the raw edges by  1/4″ and pressing with a warm iron. Careful not to melt your farbric!

 12. Baste Binding along front edge of cup using a narrow zig-zag stitch. Gently pull on the binding as you stitch. You wan the suit to contour along your bustline. When you’re done, turn the binding under and top stitch with a twin needle. If you don’t have a twin needle, you can also zig-zag stitch. The binding gets applied exactly the way you’d apply any binding (though I apply mine to the right-side first). I made a Video! Watch!

Raw edge trimmed back, binding is ready to be turned under and top stitched.

Twin-stitched binding.

 13. Baste Lining to Center Front Band.

14. Just like we did with the cups, we’re going to sew our lining and exterior fabric in one motion. Layer your fabric like so: Side Front Band Swim fabric, Center Front Band Basted Piece (Swim Fabric Down), finished with the Side Front Lining. Sew your seam, and now your seam allowance is encased.

15. Stitch cups to Front Band

16. Prepare your back pieces. If you’re doing it like me, you’ll have to sew your Center Back Seams. Then, go ahead and baste your lining to your swim pieces. Stitch your Upper Back to your Lower Back.

17. Sew your side seams then try this baby on! If you’re happy with the fit, finish your seams by serging or zig-zag.

18. Apply Band Elastic on the inside of the garment using a wide Zig Zag stitch, as indicated in the pattern instructions. I have also made a video to show you exactly how to do it. 

 19. Now it’s time to bind the upper edge of our tops. I used a length of binding approximately 80″ long (I had to attach two pieces in order to get this length). I started basting on my binding approximately 31″ down the length of the binding – this extension forms your strap. You will be left with a long extension on the opposite end as well.

20. Folding your binding in half, and making sure all of the raw edges are turned towards the inside, top stitch with a twin needle.

21. Cut your straps so that they are both an even length and tie the ends into knots.

22. Cut a strip of elastic approximately the same lenth as the bottom of your top. Stitch it into a loop.

23. Pin the binding evenly around the bottom of your swimsuit top and baste on. Finish just like we did all of the other bindings by top stitching with a twin needle.

I’ll post the tutorial for the coordinating bottoms in a separate post!

My current favourite baby sewing pattern

Baby, Uncategorized May 11, 2015
Before I had Isabel, I looked high and low for a cotton bubble romper sewing pattern. I found one from one of the Big Pattern Manufacturers but it had a zipper down the back. I hate sewing zippers! The other day, I came across the perfect pattern from Puperita on Etsy. 
I sewed version A with the buttons on the shoulders though I made a few adjustments. I lined the top instead of bias binding the edges. It was just a little quicker and easier for me than doing the binding. I also used KAM snap instead of buttons because I don’t like sewing button holes! Instead of binding the leg openings, I shirred them with some soft elastic. This is a really great pattern with and is easy to customize to your liking. It’s hot here already so I think I’ll be making quite a few of these this summer!

Here’s the photo from Puperita so you can see the changes I made.

I made the one Izzy is wearing in chambray but also bought some gingham and some pastel, summery checker fabric. I’d like to get some nice eyelet too… I am totally addicted to sewing baby clothes.

So much to do, so little time to blog..

Uncategorized May 9, 2015
Every day I get up and think “I should blog today.” Then life happens and I realize that a month has gone by since I even looked at my blog!
Things are good though. Busy but good. Isabel is all settled in with her new babysitter who she sees three days a week for just a few hours. I’ve just exited income tax hell. Every year I say I’ll stay more on top of my finances, but never end up doing anything until March. Now that all of my icky year end paper work is done, I’m rewarding myself with sewing some new items for the shop and hopefully finished up a whole new batch of patterns for my sewing pattern shop.
Actually, a few weeks ago my friend Abbey came up and sorted through all of my fabric, so I also plan on having a de-stash fabric sale… as soon as a I get a few minutes to photograph everything!
I’m finding as Isabel gets older (and more mischievous) it gets harder to concentrate on anything for any significant period of time. She is such a good baby. Though maybe she is just an average baby and I had a particularly negative view of babies prior to having my own… in any case, she is so good that I can’t help but just play with her all day. We go for hours long walks, we sing songs and giggle. She has this hilarious, uncontrolled laugh that just cracks me up. I find myself feeling very torn at times. I love my work. It makes me feel so good and I get so deeply drawn into it. But I love Isabel. She is the best thing in the world! I have a hard time achieving the balance I’d like, but I suppose I am only 6 months into motherhood. It gets more challenging by the week, but also more rewarding.  I can’t say I really miss the newborn stage as I love seeing her develop and react to the world around her.

Sample Sale Time!

Uncategorized April 18, 2015
My sample bags overfloweth.
I make a lot of stuff over the year… when I’m desigining for a new collection I get so many ideas, and not all of them make it into my collection. I’ve added quite a few one of a kind items to this year’s sample sale! I also have old ready-made stock that I’m trying to clear out…

Photography : Mlle Chèvre (https://www.facebook.com/mllechevre)
Model : Ms White Willard (https://www.facebook.com/mswhitewillard)
Make Up : Audrey Lavigne Makeup Artist (https://www.facebook.com/audreylamua)

I’m seeking a seamstress!

Uncategorized March 21, 2015
Over the last year I’ve had many opportunities come up that I just haven’t been able to take on because I am a one woman show. I’d really like to be able to expand into smaller boutiques, but it is just so hard when I’m the only one sewing. So, I’ve decided it’s time to take on some sewing help… This is a really big / scary step for me and my business! 

I’m looking for someone in the Orillia, ON area who already has sewing experience.  I’ll provide training on how to sew each of my garments, so while lingerie making experience would be an asset, it is not 100% necessary. I’m looking for someone who has excellent sewing skills and experience sewing knit and bias-cut  fabrics, an attention to detail, has a flexible schedule, and most importantly, someone who loves sewing as much as I do! The position would pay by the piece, and you could either make use of my machines, or once you have all of my techniques down pat, work could be done from home (as long as you have a good quality serger & sewing machine that does both straight, standard zig-zag and multi-stitch zig-zags).  I would love it if this person could also offer occasional help around the studio – organizing, light book keeping, social media assistance, etc.

If you are interested in discussing this opportunity with me, please drop me an email at sarah{at}ohhhlulu {dot}com. Please send a current resume along with some photos of completed garments you have sewn.

Life Update

Uncategorized March 15, 2015
Big Sigh of Relief! My dad is home recovering. He was released last Saturday, in fact. It’s amazing to see how well he looks now, and am glad to hear that despite the pain of recovering from surgery, he is feeling better than before the whole thing happened! It sounds like it was causing him a lot of undiagnosed pain for quite some time. 
The whole time, I just kept thinking how young I was when I lost my grandfathers… and that I never even got a chance to meet my Mom’s father. It really feels like we all got a second chance. My dad is truly lucky, and we are so grateful for the doctors, nurses and surgeon. I am so glad that Isabel will have a chance to get to know her Grandpa.
The other ray of sunshine is the extra time I’ve spent with my brother. I’m sad to admit it, but my brother and I really grew apart over the years. I moved away from home to another town, and “life” happened. Sometimes we need to be reminded of how fleeting life is so that we don’t continue to take it for granted.  Family has always been important to me, but it is even more so now that I have Isabel.
Speaking of Isabel, she started going to daycare last week. She goes just two days a week, which lets me get some work done (business is booming!). I love the babysitter we found. We were so lucky to have a friend recommend someone to us. The best part is, she has a baby girl who is just a few months older than Isabel. They are absolutely adorable together and I am so thrilled that Isabel has another baby to socialize with. 
So, I’m feel like I have a lot to be thankful for right now. 

Stressful Times + More Baby Clothes

Uncategorized March 2, 2015
It’s been a really stressful 24 hours. My dad is in the hospital, recovering from emergency surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm. It’s pretty serious, but he seems to be remaining stable… I was back and forth from the hospital a couple times yesterday and will be heading back there again in a couple of hours. Hopefully he will come out of sedation today… It’s one of those situations where it’s hard to know what to do with myself. It’s serious. I’m trying to keep myself occupied. I put my shop on hold for a bit, so I can work on what’s in my queue and spend more time with my family… He is not in our local hospital, so I am having to travel to the next town over to see him which makes things a little more tricky. 
Coming home to my happy little baby has been a nice ray of sunshine (Oliver too. My husband is also alright). At the same time, being away from her is really hard… I’m grateful to have friends and family volunteer to help with taking care of her while I spend time with my dad…
Before I head into the hospital today I’ve been trying to distract myself, so I decided I’d blog… Over the weekend, I did a bit of sewing for Izzy. I used See Kate Sew’s Pippa Peplum Top Pattern, Brindille & Twig’s Bloomer Pattern, and a Free Headband Pattern from Megan Nielsen. 

The finished outfit kind of reminds me of these turn of the century swimmers! 
Image Credit: Lost in Drawers
We’ve moved Izzy into her own room last week. She is such a great baby, so independent and happy.  It’s hard to believe that only three months ago she couldn’t even lift her own head; she does so much now! She bounces around in her little bouncy activity center thing, she makes all sorts of noises, laughs, smiles, plays with toys. She’s really a whole little person now! It’s crazy how fast they change… I am finding that I enjoy it more and more as she grows.

Sewing for Baby… Bonnets!

Uncategorized February 17, 2015
I don’t know what it is about me, but when I have to do something, it feel so hard to motivate myself to do it… but finding the motivation to make several bonnets? I’ve got that… Getting myself to sew an order sometimes feels excruciating, but I can whip out three bonnets at 4am no problem.
I saw some baby bonnets come across my Instagram feed recently. They were simple, not frilly… just the perfect thing for Isabel! 
So, I went on the hunt for a pattern, since I have no idea how to make a hat for a baby… 
I ended up using the Rabbit Hat Pattern from ithinksew.com. 
I cut the smallest size, which is still a little large for Izzy, but she will grow into it!  Instaed of simply lining the bonnet, I bound the edges with bias binding. I did two plain versions and one with ears. On both, I omitted the dart at the back because I didn’t read the instructions! Typical me… 
The bonnet I made with the bunny ears is made of a single layer of fleece. I used some vintage floral cotton that my best friend, Abbey gave me. It came from her grandmother!

I’m pretty obsessed with these now and have a couple more cut out and ready to be sewn… I’ve spent way too much time now looking at pictures of baby bonnets. Now I want to get some striped and polka dot linen for my next batch….
I also bought the Storybook Woods Bonnet pattern from Alicia Paulson, which also looks very nice.  The weather has been so cold here lately, so these light bonnets are perfect for Isabel.