Bralettes & Bow Ties: A Valentine's Day Party with Zelma Rose and Rue Magazine

Valentine's Day is a lingerie designer's time to amp things up a bit and with the launch of the new collection, I really wanted this year to be a special one. When HCH PR maven Camille and I started brainstorming party ideas way back before the holidays, we had only an inkling of how awesome the final outcome would be. Lucky for me, Lisa of Zelma Rose was totally on board to team up as my co-headliner for Bralettes & Bow Ties! Lisa's handmade bow ties and pocket squares are pretty incredible and undeniably dapper - not to mention she makes bright, beautiful and expertly handcrafted cross-stitch jewelry! Rue Magazine co-hosted Bralettes & Bow Ties and a week after our special night, I'm still delighted with the outcome.

Credit: Portraits to the People

Bralettes & Bow Ties was the perfect opportunity for me to sew up a full size run in all the new pieces from my Deco and Cotillion collections, get a bunch of friends and colleagues together, talk shop, try some lingerie and bow ties and drink some cocktails. Photographers Sarah from Portraits to the People and Cristal Veronica really elevated the whole experience with their gorgeous shots. Thanks a million to the dashing Borden Ornelaz for his expertly crafted cocktails, Rebecca Taff for hair and makeup, Camille Schmidt for her PR know-how, Marianne and Richelle for modeling my lingerie and Morgan for being the evening's go-to girl. For more images, be sure to check out both photographers' galleries here and here.

Credit: Cristal Veronica

Sad you missed it? Not to worry - many more HCH events are in the cards for the year, so stay tuned to Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to be the first to know about them.

Credit: Cristal Veronica

Credit: Portraits to the People

Credit: Cristal Veronica

Credit: Portraits to the People

Credit: Cristal Veronica

Credit: Cristal Veronica

Credit: Portraits to the People

Gift Giving, Honey Cooler Handmade Style!

You: "Where is Stephanie and what has she been up to?"

Glad you asked. I've been sewing my little heart out, but not for Etsy. As it turns out, two very important people had birthdays over the past month and I was determined to knock out two very handmade and very special gifts for both of them in the space of just a few days.

The first gift was for my best friend's daughter Sadie, who just turned 4. Even though there's an enormous age gap between us, I can relate to Sadie on many levels. We both like princesses, pink, glitter, butterflies and dancing. So when her birthday rolled around this year, I knew I had to make something uber special to add to her cache of princess wear. After consulting with her mom about Sadie's favorite things, I decided that a pink sparkle tutu lined in purple tulle and topped with giant rhinestone-spangled butterfly wings would be the most practical solution to every fairy princess' problem: "What the hell do I wear for a day of adventure?" So, behold. The finished product!

The wings were by far the most fun part of this whole enterprise! If I can get BFF to take photos of Sadie in all her fairy princess glory I'll make sure to do a full-on blog post about this uber-fun piece. Sadie is already mastering the ability to turn down paparazzi photo shoots, so I wasn't able to get shots myself. As a side note, this tutu is for outside use only because the glitter tulle sheds sparkly speckles everywhere. Wish I'd known that when I bought the tulle, but hindsight is 20/20.

Next up: my husband. His birthday was this week and he's been asking me to make him a button-down shirt for years. Too scared to venture into the uncharted waters of menswear, I always pushed off the project, but this year I decided to make his dream a reality. I drafted the pattern off one of his existing shirts and got down to business sewing. It was actually a really fun project!

My husband looks amazing in his shirt, but I doubt he'll model it for me so you'll have to be content with folded close-ups for now.

My workspace is currently overrun with contractors (long story), so needless to say there will be no sewing this week. Next week, however, I plan to rock the socks off every Deco-loving person on the planet once again. I scored some lovely lightweight jacquard this week, so expect some incredible loungewear in the coming weeks.

Have you ever made a gift for someone that stretched beyond your realm of expertise or comfort? I'd love to hear about it!