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An Interview with Sarai Mitnick of Colette Patterns
The The Colette Sewing Handbook played a huge part in me learning how to sew. The first three garments I ever made were the first three patterns in the handbook, the Meringue skirt, Pastille dress and Truffle dress. Colette Patterns are some of my favorite to sew. They are everything I want in a pattern; vintage inspired, yet contemporary, stylish, cute and unique. They come in beginner, intermediate and advanced patterns. I have only attempted the beginner’s patterns so far, but I have found them all to have easy to understand directions. With each new project, and the handbook open to the chapter on fit, I have been getting better and better…
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Palette Challenge update: Crepe dress
We’ve been having some pretty nice weather in Seattle lately, so I’ve been doing more gardening than sewing lately. My dog Charlie, is usually my garden helper. He likes to sit out in the garden with me while I work, or just roll on his back in the grass. He’s nine now and starting to get lumpy, as Labs tend to do. So we just had to have one of his bumps removed. Since Charlie is recovering and can’t really go outside much right now, I have a good excuse to stay inside and catch up on some sewing. Now Charlie is my sewing helper! My second project for the Colette…
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2012 Spring & Summer Palette Challenge
Woohoo! I’m going to do a sewing challenge! Apparently, twice a year, Colette Patterns hosts seasonal wardrobe “palette” challenges. For this one, the idea is to pick a color palette for Spring and Summer, make a “mood board” (with examples of your colors, fabric, inspiration, etc.) and then make as many garments as you can, in 8 weeks. Here is my mood board (I totally had fun making this by the way): I already had the first two fabrics and had been eyeballing the third. The first fabric swatch, going from left to right, is a vintage fabric that I bought from Etsy. The listing was for a 60s style back satiny…
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A Pastille for Easter
I completed my first dress (my second garment and the second project in the Colette Sewing Handbook), just in time for Easter dinner at Flower’s house! My inspiration for the fabric and the trim was from this post from the Nashville blog, Lladybird. The author, Lauren, makes the cutest clothes and always seems to find the perfect fabric for each project. To steal a saying from Monica, the owner of the West Seattle Fabric Company and author of the blog Bursting the Seams, my new dress is “happily imperfect”. Most of my mistakes are on the inside though (my surged seams suck) or are barely noticeable unless I point them out. I am…
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Sew-along Tag-along: Pastille Muslin
There is currently a “sew-along” happening, where fans of the Colette Sewing Handbook, are “sewing along” with bloggers Rhinestones and Telephones and Miss Crayola Creepy as they sew all the projects from the book, in order. I had never even heard of a sew-along, but when I heard about it, I thought to myself, “I am a fan of the Colette Sewing Handbook and I have already made the first project, the Meringue skirt!” Unfortunately, when I found out about it, they were already moving on to the third project in the book, the Truffle dress, and I was just starting the second project, the Pastille dress. I do like the idea though, of…
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My “Meringue” skirt- dance party tested, sewing nerd approved
For a long time, I have dreamed of making my own clothes, so this is kind of a milestone for me. Last weekend, I completed my first ever garment; the “Meringue” skirt from The Colette Sewing Handbook. First of all, this book is awesome. I read about it in a post on Seattle blog, Not Martha. It was perfect timing when I saw it, because I had just gotten my new sewing machine and was looking for a good book to learn from. I ordered it right away and was not disapointed when it arrived. It’s hard cover and spiral bound, so it lays flat and and stays open while you work. The…
