Coming Soon! The Colette Guide to Sewing Knits: Professional techniques for beautiful everyday garments

As you all know, over the last year or so I’ve been thinking a lot about creating a functional, beautiful wardrobe. I want to make things I both love, and will wear the heck out of.

So I started examining the clothes I actually wear all the time. And what did I find in my wardrobe?

Knits.

Knits knits knits everywhere.

There are the leggings and t-shirts and workout wear, of course. And the underwear and bras and loungewear. And the sweaters and cardigans.

But there are also the dresses I reach for day after day, because they make me feel put together while not thinking about my clothes at all. There are knit skirts I pull on when I don’t feel like tugging at a waistband constantly. There are soft drapey tops whose comfort is belied by how darn pretty they are.

And that’s when I realized, it’s time to dive into this whole knits thing.

So I turned to my friend Alyson Clair. Alyson has her own knitwear label, but also has 8 years of experience as a patternmaker and technical designer working for large companies in the activewear industry. The lady knows her way around a serger. She also knows the difference between what’s done in factories and what we can do on a smaller scale in our homes and small studios. It turns out, the differences are not as great as you might think.

I asked Alyson if she’d like to write a book for us all about sewing knits. She’d write everything she knows, and we’d put it together in our own clear and beautiful Colette style and publish it for you as both an ebook and a physical book. She agreed.

It also made complete sense to work on some knit patterns together, so you could take all that sewing knowledge and use it. So Alyson also helped us create two patterns for gorgeous knit basics that we’ll be releasing at the same time.

(If you were wondering what we were doing in Palm Springs recently, we were shooting these lovely new patterns. Plus floating around in a pool on a swan. As one does. Note Alyson’s sewing tattoos.)

This book is for you if:

• You are itching to try something new with your sewing.
• You’ve always wanted to sew more wearable basics, but are intimidated by knit techniques.
• Comfort is important to you in choosing what you wear.
• You love making clothes that are fast, fun, and easy.
• You like to spend your time sewing, not fitting, finishing, and pressing.
• You want to learn how to sew knits without a serger or a coverstitch (or before you decide to invest in one).
• You have a serger (or coverstitch) and want to learn how to do more with it.

You’re going to learn:

• How to seam and finish knit garments, no matter what kind of equipment you have.
• How sergers and coverstitch machines work, so if you have one, you can use it in a professional way. And if you don’t, you’ll learn what’s worth investing in as you grow.
• Industry techniques from someone who has spent years on the factory floor (and how to adapt them for home use).
• How to shop for knit fabric and what to look for.
• Basic fitting and quick-fit techniques that work well for knit patterns.
• A variety of methods for finishing edges, like necklines, armholes, and hems. You’ll learn techniques you can swap out on almost any knit pattern!
• Fun embellishments that work particularly well with knits, such as using stretch lace, decorative elastic, and more.

Knits are easy-peasy

I have learned so much in the course of working on this book with Alyson.

But above everything else, the main thing I’ve come to realize is how doable it is to create a highly functional, comfortable, and lovely wardrobe once you start sewing with knits. They are so fast and fun and once the book and patterns come out, I can’t wait to share all the knits I’ve been sewing up!

The what and when

We’ve created a gorgeous book that will be available either as a lovely full-color paperback or instantly downloadable ebook.

We’ll also be releasing two brand new patterns designed with Alyson Clair just for knits. Think lovely, versatile, feminine basics.

All of this is coming to you next month, on April 15th. In the meantime, I’ll be sharing excerpts, the cover, and some behind the scenes stories in the coming weeks as we get closer.

I’ll also have one more thrilling announcement about the patterns next week. There’s one more thing that makes them pretty special.