Start your sewing adventure with us.    Join Seamwork

  • The year in review for Colette Patterns

    Hello! I’m back from South America, feeling completely refreshed and rejuvenated. There’s really nothing like traveling to realign your perspective on the world. With this fresh new big-picture mindset, I’ve been mulling over a lot of the new directions I hope to explore with the company. But before I write about that (in a separate …

  • Happy Holidays!

    Since tonight is the first night of Hannukah and Christmas is coming up very soon, I wanted to wish all of you a wonderful holiday season. This has been by far the biggest, most successful holiday season for Colette Patterns. I’m going to do a recap of the year soon, but wanted to take this …

  • Photos from the launch party

    I wanted to share some photos from our recent book release party for The Colette Sewing Handbook. We had a great time, and I’m so thankful so many people pitched in to help out. Thanks especially to Rachel (former contributor to this blog) who offered to come early to help set up. What a pal. …

  • 30% off today, books, and new gift bundles!

    Today only: We’re having a Black Friday sale to welcome in the gift season! Just for today, you can get 30% off on all of our patterns. The sale runs until midnight PST. ETA: The discount is applied at checkout, so you’ll see normal prices in the shop until you reach the payment page. We …

  • Gratitude

    Gratitude is underrated. Did you know that there are many studies linking feelings of gratitude to overall happiness and well-being? Today is Thanksgiving in the US, so I thought I would take the opportunity to say thank you to everyone who reads this blog, sews with our patterns, posts pictures, leaves positive comments, emails sweet …

  • Photos from Powell’s

    I had an amazing signing this weekend at Powell’s, and just wanted to share some photos with you all. I was afraid the turnout would be small because it was only days from our big release party (photos of that coming soon!), but so many people showed up that the staff had to keep putting …

  • Quilt Market & thoughts on the sewing industry

    Quilt Market was intense. It was hard, but gave me a serious education and some food for thought. On our end, designing, shipping, and building a booth in an unfamiliar city is an incredible amount of work. Our booth was pretty modest, but still, we worked hard on this thing. During the whole market, we …

  • Reminder: My online fabric talk tomorrow!

    Just wanted to give you guys a reminder to sign up for the free fabric talk tomorrow! Even if you can’t make the time, you’ll have access to the recording if you sign up, and it includes a nice discount on the book through Martha Pullen. If you did sign up, I’d encourage you to …

  • Portland event: Signing & fabric chat at Powell’s Books, Sun…

    I am extremely excited to announce that my first official bookstore signing will be at the world famous Powell’s Books here in Portland! I didn’t want to just do a spiel about the book and sign copies. I was inspired by my friend Amy when she told me she had a cake walk at her …

  • Join me for a (free) online fabric talk!

    I must say, I don’t like the word “webinar.” It kind of creeps me out. So I’m calling this little talk I’m doing an “online workshop,” at least here among you guys on the blog. Doesn’t that sound nicer? So what’s this all about? Basically, my point of view is that almost everyone who sews …

  • Blog tour and big giveaway for The Colette Sewing Handbook!

    All through the month of November, I’ll be participating in a blog tour to help share The Colette Sewing Handbook with the world! As many of you know, with this book I really wanted to create something that would be a guide to more thoughtful, beautiful, and engaged sewing. That’s why I tried to cover …

  • The Colette Sewing Handbook is now available!

    Fantastic news, everyone! The book is officially on shelves, a bit earlier than expected! You can hop over to our shop to purchase. Yay! Please feel free to help me spread the word by posting about it on your own blog, twitter, facebook, etc if you like. And if you’ve preordered a copy from Amazon …

  • We’re off to Quilt Market!

    Today, Kenn and I are flying off to Houston to participate for the first time at Quilt Market! Quilt market is the biggest sewing industry trade show of the year. We’ll get to show off our products and book to lots and lots of independent retailers. Plus, hopefully check out all the new up and …

  • We’re having a party!

    If you’re in Portland (or thereabouts), mark your calendars! We’re having a fun & crafty party to celebrate both the holidays and the release of The Colette Sewing Handbook! Wear festive attire, drink fancy drinks, nibble on some goodies, and meet some of your fellow sewists. And if you have extra buttons and trim laying …

  • Fall Palette Challenge Week 7: A little gingham Peony

    I’m normally a glass-half-full kind of person. When things seem to be going sour, I usually find myself thinking about how much worse it could be, and how 99.9% of the people in the world would likely be happy to trade problems for mine. But every once in a while, you have a week that …

  • We have a new site!

    Just a quick note… yesterday, we quietly launched a new site design for colettepatterns.com! This has been a long, long time in the works, and I’m so happy it’s finally here. Here are some of the new features we’ve added: You can easily sort patterns by type (dresses, separates, etc), or filter them by skill …

  • Colette Sewing Handbook: The Pastille Pattern

    One thing I knew I wanted in The Colette Sewing Handbook from the beginning: A classic shift dress. Pastille is about as classic as it gets. It could be your favorite little black dress, or just the right simple shape to work with a bold pattern. Can’t you just see it in a bright, large …

  • Colette Sewing Handbook: Taffy and Meringue patterns

    When I announced The Colette Sewing Handbook, one of the first things you guys asked for was a preview of the five patterns it contains. I am more than happy to oblige. I’ve planned a series of posts showcasing the designs, with a little background info and even a few outtake photos that don’t appear …

  • Fall patterns are shipping and Clover Sewalong in October!

    I’m happy to report that our new Fall patterns are now shipping in the shop! Aaaaand, to help you make the decision to try your hand at making some pants, we’re going to be doing a sewalong for the Clover pattern! If pants scare you, take heart. These pants are very easy to construct, and …

  • Happy weekend (and new hair)

    An unusually late Friday afternoon post today! Several people have asked to see my haircut, so here it is! I’m still getting used to it, but it feels great to have all that hair GONE. It feels much healthier. I wanted a sort of 60s bob, inspired by the beautiful Natalie Wood. I think I …

  • First Look: Colette Patterns Fall 2011

    You asked, so we decided to answer. Here is your first look at our three newest patterns, now available for preorder! Let’s start with the ones pictured above. Jasmine is our newest blouse. I wanted to create a top that was great for Fall layering, body flattering, but easy and quick to sew. Jasmine is …