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Lingerie Care…

Uncategorized December 6, 2012
Do you follow the wash instructions on all of your clothes?
I have to admit, I don’t… I machine was as many things as possible!
When you order from me, you will find, attached to your package, a small label with wash instructions.  Previously, I had been advising that you hand wash your lingerie.  I still stand by the fact that to prolong the life, colour, and structure of these delicate pieces, they should be hand washed and hanged to dry.  However, I have to admit I machine wash most of my lingerie.

I wear a lot of my own designs on a regular basis (but not exclusively! I do love a La Senza Cotton knicker to be honest), and am lazy when it comes to laundry.  Most of my satin & lace panties & jersey panties can be machine washed in cold on a delicate cycle.  Here’s a quick rundown of some Do’s and Don’ts for washing your lingerie
DO wash in cold water only.  This preserves the colour and prevents running.  It’s also easier on your energy bill.  You’re welcome!
DO tumble dry your flannel panties.  They will get softer with each wash.
DON’T machine dry stretch lace.  The small elastics woven into the lace will heat and break, causing sadness all around.
DO use common sense! Delicate fabrics, like the sequins pictured below can only be hand washed.
DON’T use bleach.  Do use a gentle detergent.  Bleach breaks down delicate elastics and fibers.
DO be careful what you wash with your delicates   Avoid washing your lingerie with garments that could cause snags, like jeans with zippers, garments with velcro, etc.  I wash my delicates with towels to prevent snags. 
DON’T put garments with raw edges, like Ruffle Bloomers, in the washer or dryer.  You’ll end up with a thready mess. Handwash only, and hang to dry.
DO iron your cotton or satin lingerie on a ‘silk’ or ‘medium’ setting.  You might find they look wrinkly when they are washed.  Avoid pressing any bows, lace, or trims, and always test your setting on an inconspicuous place. 
Happy Washing!

Ruffle Thongs…

Uncategorized December 5, 2012
Last night I finished up a few custom request ruffle thongs for a customer.  She wanted them in a selection of my fall/winter fabrics.  The ruffle thong uses quite a bit of fabric – anyone who has used my pattern will know that they look huge before you ruche them with the elastic – but they are snuggly and comfy for a thong!  
I use a pearl edge on my thongs, which I do with my serger. If you don’t have a serger, you can easily fold over your edge and zig-zag with a narrow stitch.  It finishes it off just as nicely!  I’ve also added narrow stretch elastic to the raw edges before ruching, which creates a nice, lacey ruffled edge.

Doors, doors, doors!

Uncategorized December 2, 2012
I feel like we have done nothing but installed doors over the last few months… We replaced our front and back door at the end of the summer and just finished our french doors yesterday (and got our little christmas tree up too!). 

As the weather started getting cooler, and our furnace started running what seemed like every few minutes, we figured out that the front entry way of our house, and the stairway, are probably the coldest parts of our house.  So, we thew some curtains up in the door way to see if that would help make our main living area a little warmer… and it made a big difference.  So, we decided to invest in some french doors to block off the entry way.
I am incredibly fortunate that my dad is able to get me a good deal on things like this, and helps us install everything, otherwise there would be no way we could afford to have all of the beautiful home improvements we have done!  The doors ended up being a little more complicated than we had thought, due to the fact that absolutely nothing in this house is level.  At least I know, at this point, it’s done all of the shifting it’s going to do 🙂

We have a few more projects that need to be done around the house.  Our chimney needs to be repaired, our garage is literally falling down and needs to be rebuilt, and I’d really like to drywall and insulate our entry way.  I’m getting a little tired of the paneling… though it does have it’s charm 🙂

My little sewing area is just on the other side of this door. Now I’ll be able to stay toasty warm while I sew, with out getting chilly blasts of air from this room.

Obsessed…

Uncategorized December 1, 2012
Yesterday our internet went down and was out for the whole day… I sat and sewed and listened to Christmas music on the radio, and thought… about the internet and my place on it. I do a lot of pondering while I sew.  
I struggle sometimes with the idea of Perfection.  I think creative people especially have this problem.  Creating, at the core, should be something we do for ourselves, some kind of expression of  your inner self, yadda yadda yadda… but really, a lot of ‘creating’ is about the reaction you get from others.  I don’t think many designers would keep designing if they kept getting negative reviews, or writers would keep writing if everyone told them their work was shit… Part of what drives the creative process is seeing people’s (hopefully positive) reaction to it.  I think that statement is fair and true. I think creative people love to create, and also love to please people. This is both a great driving force and a potentially dangerous thing.
Pleasing people is a funny thing.  It can be so easy… opening a door for a stranger, a smile, a thoughtful gift, a beautiful image. At times, it can be exceptionally & unexpectedly hard.  And it can be devastating when you try, but fail to please. 
I’ve always been a bit of an ‘individual,’ never really following along with the crowd, but that hasn’t stopped me from being a people pleaser.  We all like to make people happy.  I am finding that this is something I struggle with, in my professional life.  Saying ‘Yes’ to everyone and feeling horrible when I disappoint. That, and just the simple fear of screwing up.
I’ve worked a lot in retail, and I know that customers can sometimes be hard to please (I’ve even been one of those customers).  I’ve been extremely fortunate with Ohhh Lulu to have wonderful customers who are patient, kind, understanding… I kind of feel like I’ve hit the client-lottery.  But, that doesn’t stop me from losing a few winks at night, worrying about a horrible review or a customer who absolutely hates what you’ve done…   
The internet can be the perfect place for a people pleaser.  Its pretty easy now a days to follow a cookie cutter template and be a Pinterest Star, Super Blogger, Tumbler Aficionado…  It’s nice to be liked and followed, retweeted, have people say nice things about you.  But, when you put yourself, and your work on a public forum, you are also completely open to criticism, which we’ve all heard the stories, can sometimes be really unkind.
To be honest, it’s probably just a matter of time, or maybe it’s already out there and I just don’t know about it because I don’t look.  It is hard, as someone who creates, to separate what you do from people’s reaction to it.  They are so intrinsically connected, but at the same time, unimportant.  Public reaction is so ‘in your face’ on the internet.
I have found, through my short experience as one who creates, that the pieces I create to please myself, are the ones that get the best reaction.  The pieces I try my hardest on, are the ones that flop.  I guess I’m flip-flopping on my opening statement… pleasing people is a driving force, but should not be the inspiration.
One of the driving factors of leaving my job was to pursue something that I enjoy.  Now that I am doing it, I can see that there are lots of ways one could steer a business, especially a creative one, to make it a living nightmare… We will always have critics, and I can completely see how a handful of critics could really ruin that creative force…   I can see how, aside from the workload, it could be very stressful.  I’m taking the approach that it’s important to embrace the positive, not focus on the negative, and learn from my mistakes… And I expect to make many!
Something I try to do in my everyday life, and on my blog, is share my mistakes and how I feel about them.  I don’t do it to be down on myself… I just feel that the internet is so full of perfect people… perfect, unrealistic, people, that it is important to share that sometimes, no matter how hard you try, things don’t go perfectly.  I make mistakes all the time.  Sometimes they are chaotic, unforeseeable mistakes, sometimes as a result of carelessness.  I think we’d all feel a lot better about ourselves if we shared these things more often.  When I was training my replacement at my job, it really felt great when I asked her how she was doing and how she felt she was learning and she said, “You know, I’m really glad you’ve shared some things you’ve found difficult and made mistakes with, because it’s made me less afraid to make mistakes in the future…”  That was a nice foot to leave off on.
To sum up my little Saturday Morning blog post, here are some photos of my pets taken with my new DSLR camera!! I love it so much, I don’t know how I lived without it!

Almost December

Uncategorized November 27, 2012
I feel like I just gave notice to my job yesterday…though I’m on week three, or maybe it’s four (?) of self-employment.  So far, so good, the world hasn’t spontaneously collapsed around me or anything! *knock on wood*
I am still finding myself very busy, but much less stressed when I take a day or two completely off.  Last Saturday my dad came into put up some French Doors with Dan, then afterwards Dan and I took a snowy walk around downtown, window shopped in the antique stores, and drank fancy, expensive coffees from my favourite little coffee shop.  It was so nice.  Afterwards, we came home, and I knitted and watched movies.  I really love the winter.
This weekend, I hope to get my second french door up.  This house is so out of level, putting up a door turned out to be a whole day event. Most of the trim had to come off, and now needs repainting, and because our floors are so warped, the door required some creative cutting… But the one door is in and looks awesome, and will keep our living area much warmer (our front entry way stays at about 13 Celcius)! I know that open concept is the ‘modern look’, and I’m essentially blocking off my rooms the way the house originally was, but I really like the coziness of having separate rooms.  We are actually planning on dividing our living room/dining room with bookshelves and columns this winter.  My poor old house has been so neglected… it feels so good to give it a second life!

Aside from home improvements, which truly are never ending, I went with my mom, aunt & cousin to the One of a Kind show in Toronto.  It was slightly disappointing, and everything was pretty much out of my Christmas spending budget.  I went two years ago and got a ton of stuff… this year wasn’t as good, I found many of the vendors were very, very similar, especially the clothing vendors.  I would have loved to have seen more variety  and Variety in pricing too…  On top of that, my mom tried on an ‘all natural, organic’ hand cream that she developed an allergic reaction to and was sneezing, and eyes watering the whole way through!  I made only a very small dent in my Christmas Shopping, and am very tired today… I had been considering selling at the Spring One of a Kind show, through Etsy (they have table deals for vendors), but am now thinking it’s not such a great idea…

Later this morning my little ‘nephew’ is coming over for the day.  We were just at his 3rd Birthday Party on Sunday, which was a total riot.  His parents organized an Amazing Race all over their property, which is out in the woods just north of town.  It was so much fun, and the kids had a blast… however, that too was exhausting! So, I feel like the last two days have been very tiring, and I haven’t even touched my sewing machine since Friday!

Lydia

Uncategorized November 23, 2012
I thought I’d give a quick update on the kitty (Lydia) that we adopted.  As you might remember, we found out, after adopting her, that she had a pretty serious heart condition, along with a few other health problems. The heart condition is still there, of course, but you’d never know it for how active this cat is!   I had forgotten just how wacky cats are.
After we got Lydia on antibiotics for her infection, she really perked up.  We fattened her up quite a bit (accidentally… she’s been getting into the bacon grease I had in a can by the sink!), and she is really at home.  I don’t know if I’d say she’s a ‘nice’ kitty, but she’s full of personality and really holds her own against the dog.  Between Oliver & Lydia, it’s seriously a laugh a minute around here.  Gosh… I do love animals, they are just the best!
Anyway, she is doing great! And I am glad to see her healthy and happy, I feel like I gave her a second chance, which is quite an awesome feeling.

Also, I finally got around to buying a DSLR camera, see how nice Lydia’s portrait turned out? 🙂

Sale!

Uncategorized November 22, 2012
Heads up! I’m having a sale this weekend.  Receive 15% off your entire order, starting Friday, November 23, with Coupon Code Cyber12.  Be sure the enter the Coupon Code in the Coupon Field at checkout! Sale Ends Monday, and excludes Gift Certificates & Sewing Patterns. Click HERE to start shopping!

Peekaboo

Uncategorized November 19, 2012
Yesterday was such a great day! My best friend  Abbey and her Boyfriend came up from the city… We ate lunch at a local greasy spoon, took a walk along the lake, watched a bit of the Santa Claus Parade downtown, then had coffee & conversation at my house.  Afterwards, I found these stunning photos in my inbox. 
Ruffles Set
Graciela from IndigoLOVE Photography contacted me about a month ago.  I really loved her natural yet quirky styling, so I was excited to send her a few pieces a few weeks ago. This is the thing I love the most about the internet, being able to meet and connect with so many amazing, talented people!
I really love the setting for these photos.

Ruffles

Ruffles Bralette

 

Starlette Set & my favourite photo!