From what I understand, there are two main ways to get a craft book published. Method one is to create a book proposal and shop it around to publishers, perhaps with the help of an agent. Method two is to be very lucky and have a publisher contact you. I fell into the “very lucky” …

The lovely Christine Haynes, author of Chic and Simple Sewing, has a kickstarter project up right now. Christine is trying to create her own line of sewing patterns. I love working with and supporting other independent pattern designers, and would love to see Christine’s ideas come to life! If you feel like supporting her, head …

Guess what arrived in the mail to Colette Patterns HQ this week? A video camera! Many of you have said that you’d like to see some video tutorials, so I got a lovely new camera for just that purpose.* But Caitlin had a great idea for breaking it in and getting used to doing video. …

I have a huge announcement today, folks. I have a book coming! It’s called The Colette Sewing Handbook! I’ve been so jittery and nervous to announce this, I can’t even tell you. I’ve worked so hard on this project and am so incredibly proud of the result. It was a complete and total labor of …

I am very excited to announce our brand new blog name and design here at Colette Patterns! You may remember that I asked for your help coming up with a name for the blog waaaay back in February. We’ve been hard at work on redesigning the blog, and today is the official launch! We’re also …

I have some changes planned for the blog in the next few months, and I’d love to hear what you think. Please let me know if you have thoughts or ideas on any of this! I learned so much from our recent survey. I want to thank everyone who took the time to answer it… …

Just a quick announcement I wanted to make… You can now follow @ColettePatterns on twitter! Some of you may be thinking, weren’t we already on twitter? Well, kind of. I am on twitter (@saraicat) and Caitlin is on twitter (@thestorycat). But I decided to spin off Colette Patterns into a separate account, so that those …

So, I was thinking. It might be fun to have some kind of event in the next few months. I don’t want to say too much yet since it’s still in the planning stages, but it’ll be a fun, celebratory, mainly social event. Just a chance to hang out, maybe have some food and drink. …

It’s time for another reader survey! This time, I’d like to learn more about you, your personal style, and also get your feedback specifically on the blog. I have my own ideas, but I’m really curious to hear your thoughts on how we can improve the blog. To say thank you, I’m offering a coupon …

My friend Mari emailed me this morning with a picture of this beautiful little gal above. Penny is 9 months old and was sentenced to be killed this morning at an overcrowded shelter. The reason? She has a fractured tail. As you may know, when animals are taken to a shelter in most cities, they …

I’ve been meaning to share this with you all for a while. Several weeks ago, I flew to Colorado to film an episode of the new PBS sewing show, Sew It All! It was a really interesting experience overall. The host is Ellen March, who also happens to be the managing editor of Sew News …

Years ago, I worked a retail job in a shop that sold rather expensive things to people with a lot of money. I don’t know if it was because our customers were rich, or something about the store itself, but we had a lot of rude, crazy, and abusive customers. Of course, most customers were …

Looking for some lovely classics to add to your summer wardrobe? A go-to pattern you can make again and again in different ways? Something simple to sew, with great instructions? Welcome the two newest additions to Colette Patterns: the Violet blouse, and the Ginger skirt! These patterns were largely inspired by you, our friends and …

Of course, you are always welcome to buy patterns in our shop, but sometimes it makes more sense to buy them locally (particularly those of you overseas). So here is a roundup of the retailers we know and love, and who we’ve already shipped the new patterns off to. If you’re looking for a shop …

This week, I have the pleasure of collaborating with one of my all-time favorite sewing bloggers, Mena of The Sew Weekly. Mena originally started the Sew Weekly to document the process of making her own clothing for a year, but it’s now expanded even beyond those ambitious plans. This week, Colette Patterns is sponsoring the …

Colette has asked to help announce the winners of the recent blog naming contest (since there was so much discussion about her role in the company), as well as the Negroni giveaway. The winner of the Negroni pattern (as chosen by the random number generator) was Jessica of the blog Running With Scissors. Congrats Jessica, …

To help celebrate Celebrate the Boy month (is that redundant?), we’re doing a little giveaway for a free Negroni men’s shirt pattern. This is a really great pattern for learning some new techniques around sewing for guys. And as a bonus, if you need a little extra help, cheerleading, and inspiration, Peter is still doing …

I thought you guys might enjoy these photos of Crepe in some lovely & light colorways as we start thinking about Spring sewing more and more. The polka dot version is made from a crisp cotton, and the white version is a lovely swiss dot with a turquoise cotton batiste sash. Swiss dot is one …

{Threads by loveingstitchred} Guys, I’d like your help. I’m thinking about giving the blog a name. So far, it’s just been called “the Colette Patterns blog,” and that’s a bit unwieldy and not very interesting, in my opinion. However, I seem to have a bit of a creative block on this issue. For the life …

A Colette Valentine from Colette Patterns on Vimeo. One more treat from our Valentine’s shoot, courtesy of Anja and Dalas. I hope we get to collaborate on more videos in the future, they are so much fun to share with you guys. Please feel free to repost our photos or video (with credit and links, …

I was toying with the idea of doing a special shoot just for Valentine’s Day, with the Nutmeg pattern. But once Rachel and Anja said they were interested, it was a done deal. I invited Jade, did a wee bit of preparing, and the result is a collection of some of the prettiest pictures ever. …