Browsing Category

Uncategorized

It’s a beautiful day in the neighbourhood…

Uncategorized March 16, 2012

Spring has come very early to the Sunshine City.  It was a balm 18 degrees Celsius today!  Considering we had a snow storm 2 weekend ago, it is feeling pretty nice! I walked home from work today with no coat on (I am still wearing my down parka to work every day!), and splurged on a new pair of Hunter Wellingtons in preparation for rainy Spring walks to work.  We woke up to thunder and lightening this morning.

Dan surprised me on Monday with a new patio set for the back yard and today I put it to good use, lounging and playing with Oliver after work.  It is so nice to be able to come home and sit outside with my dog.

I am looking forward to planting a garden this spring.  I’d like to grow a few vegetables and of course, some flowers.  We are also planning on fixing up our very dilapidated garage.  That is going to be quite the project…

Hard at work…

Uncategorized March 14, 2012
After I moved I really got out of the sewing groove… but I feel like I’m back and re-inspired, and am working on a few custom orders and a whole new line! 

 I feel like all of a sudden I have a ton of things to do again.  I just started a 6 session Bikram Yoga Class (that is kicking my butt), I need to do a huge supply order, I’ve run out of business cards, I’m in the midst of digitizing some patterns so that people can make their own lingerie using my designs, and trying to get a new collection sewn & a photo shoot organized.

It seems that my move has disrupted my sense of organization.  I need to start making lists again, and chipping away each night at a different thing.

But, it’s all good, I love being busy and I’m really enjoying the sewing I’ve been doing lately.  Mostly I’ve been loving drafting again.  I love to draft. I could spend all day drafting and sewing test garments.  I feel good doing that again.

Ooh La La Pin-Up Sew-Along… Recap.

Uncategorized March 12, 2012
Well, fellow Sew Alongists, we are done! It’s time to recap what we’ve done with our corsets.
  1. We learned how to print a pdf pattern and add seam allowance.  I traced my pattern and added a facing for the lacing, while Anna added her seam allowance directly to the printed pattern.
  2. Anna demonstrated how to grade your pattern up or down a size.
  3. We sewed our muslin and made alterations.
  4. Anna showed us how to do a lace overlay.
  5. We sewed our Corset with Flat Felled, or stitched down French Seams.
  6. For those of us making a laced-up corset, I showed how to prepare our center back facings.
  7. I also added contrasting bone casings, for a little extra detail.
  8. Anna did a great post on How to Add your Boning.
  9. Then she showed us how to add our hook and eye tape, for those of you using this type of closure.
  10. I demonstrated how to add eyelets to our reinforced back panel.
  11. The top and bottom of the corset were then bound with bias binding.
  12. I made satin covered garter straps, while Anna used vintage clips!
  13. Anna added some adorable handmade rosettes to her corset, while I added some large white bows.  I love bows.

I absolutely love how Anna’s corset turned it.  It looks so vintage! And her ribbon rosettes are adorable.  I may still go back to mine, and add a few along the top one of these days!
Image Courtesy of A Few Threads Loose
Image Courtesy of A Few Threads Loose

 Do you have pictures to share? I’d love to see what you came up with!  Did you like watching the different techniques that Anna and I used along the way?  One of the things I love about sewing are the multitude of ways you can sew a garment.   Are you happy with the end result of your corset? Is there anything you would change? For me, I wish I had interfaced my Self Pieces, and I am very glad I flat lined my corset.

So, Are you excited to start the next part on the Sew along?

Ooh la la Pin Up Sew-Along… Adding Bows.

Uncategorized March 8, 2012
We have a saying around my house… “Bows make everything better.” Whenever I finish something that I’m not 100% thrilled with, my husband suggests I “slap some bows on it,” and you know what? It usually works!
I am adding bows to the “points” on my corset above my garter straps.  I’ll show you how to make 2 kinds of bows.
The first kind of bow is a sewn bow.  Cut a large rectangular piece – I cut mine on the bias.
Fold in half length-wise and stitch around the edges, about 1/4″ Seam allowance, leaving a small gap where you will turn the rectangle inside out.  Clip your corners, flip right side out, and pull your corners out with a pin.

Grab a piece of left over bias trim, or make a small strop of fold over bias tape.

Add a row of basting stitches down the center of your rectangle and gather, tying off both ends.

Sew your bias strip around it, forming a loop.  I left a raw edge on the back of mine.  This can then be hand sewn onto your corset.

My favourite bow, the the bow I am using on my corset, is a hand tied ribbon bow.  I took a piece of 1 1/2″ satin ribbon.

And tied a bow.  Cut the ends on an angle, at equal length, and singe with a lighter.  Give your bow a press with a hot iron (but not so hot as to melt the ribbon – always test on a scrap first).

I machine stitched my bows on, but you can also hand stitch.

Here’s my best pin up pose!

Voila! What kind of embellishments will you use on your corset?

Ooh la la Pin Up Sew-Along… Optional Detail – Satin Covered Garter Straps

Uncategorized March 7, 2012
Now that your all of the major construction of the corset has been finished, we can add our garter straps.  Has anyone had a hard time finding garter clips? I bought pre-assembled straps, that I’ve taken apart.  I’ll use the sliders and hooks on another project, today all I need are the clips and the elastic.
I decided I wanted ruched, satin garter straps for my corset.  Here is how I did it:
I cut a piece of satin on the bias, 1 1/2″ wide – adjust the width of yours depending on the width of the garter elastic ( I am using 3/8″ elastic). I didn’t use any particular length, I just cut a long strip, and made more as I needed.
Folded in half length-wise, stitch 1/4″ in from the raw edge, forming a long tube.  With a safety pin attached to one end, turn the tube right side out and press, so that the seam falls along one side of the tube.  The seam side is the back side.  Now that you have a nice, pressed strip, carefully stitch 1/8″ in from each edge – can you see my stitching lines in the picture below?

I am using a polyester satin, so I am able to singe the ends with a lighter. This makes life much easier – we are going to have to carefully turn the raw ends in once we have our elastic in place.  I hate dealing with fraying fabric!

Feed your elastic into the satin casing using a safety pin.  Pull and stretch the elastic as you go.  You will start getting a gathered, ruched effect.  Once you have the gathers the way you like it and the elastic has pulled almost all the way to the end, stitch one end so the elastic doesn’t pull back into the tube, and turn the other end in, leaving a “tail” of elastic at the turned end in (about 1/2″ of elastic should be sticking out).  The elastic that is left sticking out the end will attach onto our garter clip.
In the picture above, you can see how I stretch the elastic as I pull it through the satin.  In the lower left, you can see that I leave some elastic sticking out of the casing.

 Fold up your raw edge, at the end where you’ve left some elastic sticking out, feed on your garter clip, fold the loose end of elastic back up into the satin casing, and carefully stitch it closed.

Now, do that four times! Don’t they look pretty?

I attached my straps by hand, first laying the strap upwards and the right side facing out, I basted it to the corset.  

Flip it back down, facing the proper way, and stitch it down.  I then stitched by hand around the entire piece to keep it securely in place.

There! Satin covered garter clips.  I feel like these give my corset a burlesque-ish look.  What do you think? Will you use something like this on your corset?

Juggling!

Uncategorized March 5, 2012

It looks like there is quite a bit of interested in an Ohhh Lulu Pattern Shop.  I’m still not sure if this is something I want to do, but I do really appreciate the input! If I were to sell kits or patterns, would you like the option of  a PDF or Hard Copy Pattern? I’d love to offer a paper pattern, in an envelope with some cute artwork on it, but I know for myself, I usually just buy the PDF version.

I also am working on a new line of goodies, but am having a debate in my head… Because I am juggling a full time job with Ohhh Lulu, I often find myself running short on time.  Right now I have virtually nothing in my shop and it’s really stressing me out, but I’m not sure which way I want to take Ohhh Lulu.  As a customer, would you rather see:

1. A bunch of ready to ship, one or two of a kind sets, each sewn in a variety of sizes.
2. A made to order collection that changes seasonally
3. A Collection of ready made garments sewn in multiple sizes
4. A combination of option 1 & 2

I posted a couple polls on my facebook page this morning, so maybe you’ve already answered my questions there. Thanks so much for your input!

Ooh la la Pin Up Sew-Along… Binding Your Edges

Uncategorized March 5, 2012
Now that you’ve finished off your back with either eyelets or hook and eye tape (with optional decorative edging!), we are ready to bind off the top and bottom edges of our corsets. Make sure you have inserted all of the bones you plan on using, and have tested the fit.
For your binding, you can use purchased bias trim or bias trim made of self or contrasting fabric.  I’m using the same pink satin as I used to cover my bone casings.  I am cutting bias strips 1 1/8″ wide, and pressing my folds prior to stitching.

Baste your bias tape in place, leaving a little overhang on each end as pictured above.

With right sides of the bias tape facing and raw edges on the outside but folded up, stitch the bias tape together, as close to the back edge of your corset as possible.  When we flip this right side out, we will have a nice, clean edge with a sharp corner.  Below is what your stitched bias binding should look like.

Flip your bias binding around to how it will be stitched down, and you’ll see how nice this finishes off the ends of your bias binding.  Do this to both ends before stitching your bias tape down.  You may need to “pull” your corner out with a pin (gently), to get a perfect 90 degree angle!

There are a few options for finishing the back of your binding.  You can stitch by hand – I prefer the look of a slip stitch, but can use a cross stitch, straight stitch, or any stitch you like!

If you want to stitch my machine, like me, you can “stitch in the ditch.” Stitching in the Ditch is when you top stitch over a seam.  Can you see where my needle is going in the picture below? Right back into where I basted my bias trim on.

Stitching in the ditch makes for invisible stitching on the front, and a neat back. Do go slowly and stay within your original stitching line!
On the bottom edge of the corset there are lots of corners and points.  When you come to a point, with your needle down, lift your presser foot and carefully “snip” into the bias binding, so it will easily curve around sharp corners.
There! all of your edges are finished, neat and tidy! Now we are ready for our garter clips and embellishments! 

Ohh La La Pin Up Sew Along… Applying Your Eyelets

Uncategorized March 2, 2012
Now that we have sewn our seams, added decorative bone casings, inserted the bones, and finished our centre back panel with self facing and fusing, we are able to apply our eyelets and lace up our corset for the very first time!
If you are using hook and eye tape, head on over to A Few Threads Loose for instructions on how to apply it.

Start by either transferring the lacing markings on the pattern onto your centre back seam OR make small markings, starting 3/4″ of an inch down from the top edge, every 1″ apart.  Eyelets should sit about 5/8″ away from the centre back edge.

Using your markings as a guide, punch small holes where your eyelets will go.  You can use an awl, or grommet pliers to make your hole.

Eyelets can be applied a number of ways – there are two common tools pictured above.
1. Grommet Pliers – these can be found at most hardware store, and will set 2 piece grommets.  Grommets come in many different sizes, so make sure the pliers you buy fit the eyelets you want to set.
2. Tool & Die – These often come with eyelet packages you purchase at the fabric store, and are set with a hammer.

I used grommet pliers to apply my grommets, and used a 2 piece grommet.  Two piece grommets are preferable for a corset that is going to be worn for an extended period of time, or if you plan on wearing it a lot.  Eyelets without washers tend to have rough edges and will work their way through your fabric, if you are applying much strain to the fabric around it.

Remember to insert a bone on either side of your eyelets to keep your lacing laying flat. This is the only spot in your corset where I really, really advise that you use boning.  The rest is up to you!

Now, lace it up and see how it fits! Do you feel like you need to add more boning? Does everything lay flat?

Next we are onto our binding.

Ohh La La Pin Up Sew Along… Adding your boning.

Uncategorized March 1, 2012

Yesterday, Anna put together a great post on how to bone the seams of your corset. Like Anna, I am only boning the Side Front, Side Back, and on either side of my eyelets – giving me a total of 8 bones in total. You can add more if you like!
This corset sits fairly low over the hips. Because of this, I am not boning the entire length of my seams. Prior to adding my contrasting bone channels, I made small “tacks” where I want the bone to stop. You can choose to bone the entire length.
Anna and I are both using plastic boning – Anna is using this amazing vintage Featherbone and I am using modern plastic boning. Both come in a casing, that will be removed.
Round off the end of your boning with scissors. Smooth off any rough edges with a file.
Insert your bone into your french seam “Casing”. It’s pretty tight, but you should have just enough room to squeeze the bone through the case.
Next we’re onto binding and eyelets! How is everyone progressing? Have you hit any road blocks?

My Favourite Yet!

Uncategorized March 1, 2012
I’m really excited about the new pieces I’ve just finished drafting.  For this bra, I was inspired by the amazing lines in this 1930’s strapless bra from the Victoria and Albert Museum. It’s hard to believe this piece is nearly 80 years old.  It looks so modern in its construction.  I wanted to draft something similar, with the mesh panels and sweeping lines, but in a less structured style, and with straps.  This is what I came up with:

The cup is lined in soft beige lining, and the centre panel and upper left panel are self lined in satin. I bound the upper edge in bias binding, eased on with elastic to help give it stretch and support.  The bottom band is trimmed with plush elastic. It’s a very comfortable, supportive bra for something so light weight and with no wires or padding!
My dress form doesn’t quite “fill out” the cups the way a real body does.  It really creates a nice shape.  I am so happy with how this pattern turned out.  It needs just a few more tweaks and will be ready to go! I sewed my sample in a stretch polyester satin and stretch lace.  The nice thing about these fabrics is they are easy to wash and care for… but it could be made in nearly any fabric imaginable! I think it would look cute in a floral.  What do you think?