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Lingerie

Free Pattern Alert!

Lingerie, New Items, Sewing Patterns September 29, 2023

I shared my ultimate cottagecore lingerie set on my YouTube channel back in August and really enjoyed getting back to sewing lingerie with woven fabric. That’s kind of where I got my start!

I love historical clothing. I used to make all kinds of Victorian costumes and corsets in fashion school. All of the details and the drama are just so fun… and I’ve always been particularly drawn to what people used to wear under their clothes. I’m not sure it’s something most people think about!

When we think of underwear and lingerie we usually think of light, stretchy fabrics. But elastic is a pretty new technology! At one time, not that long ago, most lingerie and even a lot of swimwear was made out of woven fabrics. If you’re a collector of vintage or antique clothes or sewing patterns, you’ll be well aware of this!

A lovely lady in 1940s beach wear courtesy of Vintage Everyday

One of the sewing patterns in my personal collection is for an original 1940’s bra top. I believe it was originally meant for beachwear, but I thought it lent itself well to lingerie. I used the basic style line as my inspiration for the August Bra, but added elasticized edges, ruffles, and tie on straps.

I decided to release this pattern in two formats. You can get the pattern for FREE. Yep, free! The free version doesn’t have a full set of written instructions, but I do have an indepth video on YouTube walking you through the steps. If you prefer a more traditional format, you can purchase an ad-free version that includes the pattern and written instructions with full colour photos in my traditional PDF format.

Fabric selection is important for this bra. Look for fabrics that are lightweight and with a good drape. If you are online shopping, search for fabrics that include rayon, viscose or bamboo, as they are all really drapable fibres. Weaves like challis, charmeuse, and gauze all have a looser weave that are perfectly suited for this pattern! Really tightly woven fabric like poplin could result in a slightly smaller fit. So, if you have a really tightly woven fabric, I’d suggest sizing up.

I’m excited to see what you come up with using my pattern. Tag me on the socials, @ohhhlulu everywhere. I’ll also be releasing a bottom to go with it in the next few days!

Ohhh Lulu x Jasmine Amani

Design Diary, Lingerie December 7, 2018

I’ve been following Jasmine’s Instagram for a while now. I absolutely love her style. It’s a perfect mix of edgy nostalgia… Really the way I like to dress!

I was really excited to send her a couple of my pieces to see how she would style them in photos and the results were amazing. I’ve been dropping some photos on my own Instagram account, but I’ll add a gallery here! Unfortunately the velvet, Cassia lingerie set is now sold out… and I think you can see why it was so popular! It was one of my all time favourites. 

Thank you so much to Jasmine for sharing these photos with me. You look amazing! And a big shout out to Knox Life Photography for capturing these beautiful images.

I really love working on little projects like these. Whenever I design a piece I get a whole vision in my head of how it would be worn, what the room is like, what the atmosphere is like surrounding it. So, it’s really interesting to see other people’s vision behind a garment. And I have to say, Jasmine & I are absolutely on the same wavelength! 

You can follow Jasmine on Instagram, @dreamhoneybee.

Bridal Boudoir Collab x Afterglow Images

Design Diary, Lingerie November 6, 2018

I’m so behind on so many things!

Over the summer, I had the opportunity to collaborate with Afterglow Images from of Niagara Falls, ON. Honestly, browsing through their wedding portfolio made me want to say “I do” all over again!

I always say I want to do more of the collaborations, but I often find it hard to set aside the time to prepare garments for specific shoots, especially if they are short notice… but it is really worth the effort.  Afterglow did an amazing job styling, and the venue was absolutely gorgeous!

The pieces featured in the shoot are the pink floral Midsummer Lingerie Set (made with fabric I designed!), the ivory satin & lace Lily Set, and grey & burgundy floral Belladonna Set.

 

Photography, Decor, Styling: Afterglow (https://afterglowimages.ca  IG: @afterglowimages)
Lingerie: Ohhh LuLu (https://ohhhlululingerie.com  IG: @ohhhlulu)
Robes: La Vie en Rose (https://lavieenrose.com IG: @lavieenrose)
Hair: Beyoutiful Brides (https://www.beyoutifulbrides.com  IG: beyoutifulbrides)
Makeup: Victoria Jaski (IG: @victoriajaskimakeupartist)
Florals & Flower Crown: Roses & Twine Floral (www.rosesandtwinefloral.com  IG: @rosesandtwinefloral
Sweets: Sweet Avenue Cakery (www.sweetavenuecakery.ca IG: @sweetavenuecakery)
Models:  @elizabethschonmodel @maddyover @kristen_elliott
Venue: Grand Victorian (http://grandvictorian.ca)

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!).

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!

Introducing Tundra

Design Diary, Lingerie, New Items, Sewing Patterns September 14, 2018

Warning… sultriness ahead! This pattern is not for the faint of heart.

I’ve had a few requests for a few “sexier” pieces, and I think this is the jackpot.  They are layerable, adjustable, and just plain fun to wear and experiment with.

Shown here layered under my Lilith Shrug, pattern is coming soon!

Continue Reading

Introducing Hunter

Lingerie, New Items, Sewing Patterns September 7, 2018

Ok, every time I make a new underwear pattern I proclaim that this pattern is my favourite. Seriously though, these undies are my honest to goodness favourite as far as comfort goes! I’m wearing a pair in bamboo jersey right now. They are just perfect for my shape!

The Hunter Underwear Pattern is a pretty easy sew as far as lingerie goes. They have a simple FOE waistband and an elastic stabilized hem. The trickiest part of these is sewing the triangular insert, but I’ve got a video on how to do just that! This technique is a good one to know whether you’re sewing this pattern, my Clara Sleep Mask Pattern, or any other project that has sharp, inset corners.

I’ve been liking these for wearing under leggings when I go running. The elasticized hem stays put on my body shape and the mid-rise is really comfortable on my non-apologetically soft 35 year old mom stomach.

I really like this pattern. It’s basically what I’m all about… simplicity! To me, simple = sexy, or at least that’s how it makes me feel which is the important part, right? I’ve been stocking up my underwear drawer in these sewn in bamboo because it’s silky, soft, and lightweight, but I’ve recently ordered some thermal knits that I’m excited to experiment with for winter!

For a limited time, you can get the pattern for 25% off here and through Etsy.

Happy Sewing!

Bambi + Grace Update!

Lingerie, New Items, Sewing Patterns September 3, 2018

The very first pattern I released was the Betty High Waist Panties Pattern. My next two were these; the Bambi and Grace. I released these as patterns in 2013 and they have been a staple in both my pattern and made to order lingerie collections ever since.

When I first started making lingerie, sourcing good knits and lingerie fabrics was much tricker than it is now. Lots has changed in the last 10 years when it comes to indie sewing! I had a very clear vision in my head of the prints and colours I wanted to use, but was limited by my fabric selection… so I developed patterns that were suitable for wovens, which were easier to find at the time.

These days, finding cute knits is easy, with websites like Spoonflower, Girl Charlee, and lots of the big textile designers releasing their prints on knit bases, but there is still a nice space for some patterns that use wovens as a base.

The Bambi Bra & Grace panties were originally developed for use with a combination of bias cut woven fabric and stretch knits to create fitted lingerie pieces with a vintage-vibe. In particular, these patterns are perfect for creating luxurious silk lingerie!

When I first developed the Grace pattern, I suggested using a bias cut woven fabric for the front and back of the Grace Panties and a stretch knit for the hips, but you can easily swap these out and use knits for the front and back and non-stretch lace on the hips, like you can see in the sets above! I used a dramatic venice lace with a stretch mesh front and back. I absolutely love the effect this created! You can even sew this pattern entirely in knits. I normally sew it in the same size as I would a woven.

The updated version of the Bambi Bra pattern comes with two cup variations. Cup Size 1 and Cup Size 2, which will roughly fit a range of A-D cups. Like the Grace, I originally developed this pattern for a combination of woven and knit fabrics, but have been sewing this also entirely in knits! When you do this, you get a much more generous fit, so if you are a little out of the approximate cup size range, give this a go in a nice jersey or stretch mesh.

The new Bambi Pattern also shows you how to sew the upper cup with a scalloped edge, or with a centre front cut out. I’ve added strap tabs over the front cups which to me had a more retro-aesthetic and cleaner finish.

I’ve had fun sewing a few Grace & Bambi sets in pretty silks. I had a few pieces of some Liberty print charmeuse, as well as a small piece of marbled silk that were perfect for these projects! I even used a silk scarf for one set! That’s one of the great things about this pattern. Because of the style lines, the pattern pieces themselves are relatively small so you can get away with using small pieces of luxurious fabrics without totally breaking the bank.

Pretty soon, I’ll be releasing an add-on to the Bambi Bra pattern that will teach you how to sew it as a strappy demi-bra. Here’s a little teaser for you!

For a limited time I have a special price on my Bambi and Grace patterns!

If you have already purchased and would like to receive the updated copy of the pattern, please feel free to send me an email with your order number and I’ll get it over to you as soon as I can!

 

It’s the Little Things

Lingerie, New Items July 24, 2018

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen my new obsession with resin. I’ve been making faux-crystal pattern weights for myself, and once I have them just perfect, I’ll pop a few in my shop. I got kind of addicted to resin crafting and have made all sorts of bits and bobs. I had this idea of somehow combining jewelry and lingerie together, and came up with these little lingerie elastic chokers with faux crystal ball charms.

I’ve added three colours to my shop, pink, black and lavender.  They’re pretty cute if I do say so myself!

I filled the little resin baubles with iridescent glitter flakes and stars, so depending on how the light hits it, they pick up a spectrum of colours.

I also have added a few silk scrunchies to my shop. I’ve been wearing these 24/7 for the last few weeks. I absolutely love them. I wear my hair in a bun most nights, and these don’t tangle or cause my hair to get frizzy.  I love how it’s like my favourite parts of 90’s fashion, but made luxurious.

…and of course I’ve got a little matchy matchy!

 

Way back in the day when I worked at a textile design studio with my bff, Abbey, we had this crazy idea of starting a scrunchie company, so these are a bit of an homage to her and the fickleness of my youth.

I’ve been trying to make things that are just fun to make. After 8 years of lingerie making, sewing the same pair of undies over and over and over again can get really tedious. Don’t get me wrong, I love it… but what I really love is the thrill of making something new. Making it for the 10th time loses all excitement.

I’m going through one of those deeply creative periods right now. I love these times, but I always feel like I’m terribly non productive. The process of creating takes so much more time than just the time in front of the sewing machine. It’s time with a pencil and paper and numbers, in front of the computer, with the camera… and more time in front of the computer. I get so impatient trying to finish all of my projects!

I’m just getting back to work this week after an unexpected 5 day internet outage, as well as being home with my daughter. I’m feeling rested and renewed and excited to bring some more new things to the blog soon!