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Boxes of pattern pieces, half finished things I had started for myself (nightgown, bra…), boxes of fabric, boxes of knotted elastic, I kept losing things under the pile of nightmare. Finally on Saturday I said enough is enough and I got down to organizing my “studio.”

I got all of my patterns assembled in sleeves into a binder, so now I can actually easily find all of my pattern pieces! No more spending an hour looking for the back pieces to a pair of panties, or a missing bra band.

This is what my elastic supply looked like pre-clean:

And this is how it looks now:

I put all of my sample garments in one drawer, all of my packing supplies in another.  All of current collection’s fabrics live in these bins, so I no longer have to run around like crazy looking for “That piece of pink satin that I’m SURE I bought last week…”

And now that my sewing supplies actually have a home, it is so much easier to tidy up after a 3 day long marathon of sewing…

It’s hard when you are juggling a pay-the-bills job + life + a small business.  It’s hard to prioritize around birthday parties, bbq’s, and gardening…  I sewed until 10:30pm for the last few nights, and have been starting my days at 6:30am, but I’m loving it and I feel so much better having an organized space to work it!

It was totally worth it though to spend most of Saturday morning cleaning through my sewing stuff.  Have you ever let your space get this bad?  I have to admit, I’m a bit of a free-spirit, live-in-the-moment, carpe-diem sort of person, and when I get going I hate to have to stop to put things away, so I often find my space is filled with half finished projects… I am going to really try from here on out to keep it organized!

Phew! I’ve had a busy week and have finally gotten this months Blog & Etsy roll posted.  I have some really lovely participants – new & old favourites!

When I looked over Amy’s blog, Really Handmade, it was almost like looking into a mirror – from strawberry rhubarb custard  meringue pie, to the sweetest little dog, I immediately felt like we had a lot in common!  Amy offers classes in alterations, sewing, and pattern drafting, and has lots of great How To’s on her blog – like How to Alter a Man’s Shirt.  I’m totally in awe of her skills as a seamstress.

Anastasia runs a lovely, little jewellery shop on Etsy. I particularly love the Deer Ring offered here, and a little rose in a bottle here. Anastasia runs a sale in her shop every Wednesday, which makes easy to stock up on jewellery for yourself or to do some early Christmas Shopping (something I always mean to do, but never seem to get around to…)

It’s pretty neat how the internet brings a world of people so close together.  Bamboo Blossom is an Etsy shop run by Natasha out of South Africa.  Natasha makes the sweetest little bags and felt accessories.  This pink purse is my favourite.

Peanut butter Macramé is a blog that I’ve been familiar with for a while now, and I love getting comments from Lady Katza! There are a couple posts that I want to point out from her blog.  Post #1: I love the cotton-candy pink hair and the blue gingham dress.  To die for!  Post #2: Look at the ends of the ties on this little girls dress.  Is that not the best thing you’ve ever seen?

Last but not least is one of my favourite ladies, Anna from Mrs. Depew Vintage.  I am so glad that Anna approached me about doing the sew along earlier this year.  I learned so much from the whole experience, and got to get to know a lot of new readers! AND, she totally inspired me to work on a pattern collection of my own.  Anna is one of my favourite people and I am so glad I have gotten to know her.  If you’re not familiar with A Few Threads Loose or Mrs. Depew Vintage on Etsy, Anna offers vintage reproduction patterns in PDF form, as well as some reproduction findings, and vintage patterns.

It’s been fun getting to know everyone!

I am quickly approaching my 300th sale in my shop.  Pretty hard to believe!

Ohhh Lulu has been more popular than I ever had hoped when I first opened my little Etsy shop, and my blog, which I used to whine only got one or two views a day (likely from myself), is approaching 10,000 hits each month.  I’m pretty darn proud, it’s been a lot of hard work, and I haven’t always been perfect, but it’s been a lot of fun.

Its funny… I always wanted to be a designer (a designer or an archaeologist).  When I visited the guidance counsellor in high school to help me decide what I wanted to do with my life, they would tell me, “oh no, you don’t want to do that, you won’t make much money and it will be very difficult.  You should become a teacher.”

Hmm… Well, I figured Guidance Counsellors must know something teenage-me didn’t know about the world.  My parents always told me to do what makes me happy, and always nurtured the weird, free-spirit in me.  But I listened to them.  I went off to university and wasted a whole whack load of money, that is still being paid off to this day.

So, I followed my heart and went to design school, where our teachers told us, “Don’t think you’re going to graduate and be a designer! Designers don’t make much money and it’s a lot of hard work.”

I listened to them too and when I graduated I got a creative-ish, 9-5 type gig, a responsible, regular, run of the mill job.  I jumped around here and there… textile design, interior decorating, alterations… and I was miserable and I never lasted more than a year in a position. That is, until I started doing what I love to do.

Yeah, we don’t have much money and I work a 30-hour a week job outside of Ohhh Lulu, and it is a lot of work, but I love it, but it’s totally worth it, and I wish I hadn’t listened to my teachers and guidance counsellors.  Every sale makes me so happy; I am so thrilled that people out there enjoy what I do as much as I do!

Nothing that’s worthwhile is ever easy.  If you love something, the benefits will outweigh the struggles. I love my life and where I am, but if I could change one little thing, I would have done this years ago.

Here’s what I wish my guidance counsellors had told me, “You can be a designer, you can be anything you want to be!  You might have to work another job while you establish yourself – your “pay the bills job” won’t define you – but if you work hard and are really passionate about craft, you will be successful.”

I was very excited to see Ohhh Lulu featured in the online magazine, Madmoizelle.  Ohhh Lulu was featured along side KnickeRocker and Naomi Lingerie – two of my favourite Etsy lingerie shops.