Every year at this time I get a little nuts. Something about the post-Christmas let down makes me anxious to start new projects. Last year we took down the Christmas tree ON CHRISTMAS DAY to start constructing our giant basset hound perch-slash-windowseat. This year I tried to convince Mr. Bug to start work on remodeling our basement (unsuccessfully, I might add) on the way home from the Christmas Day celebration at his parents’ house. All my angsty need to start something new has reminded me that I have quite a few unfinished projects to get to as well. Here’s my checklist for the next few days…
Back to sewing. I made my alterations to the Parfait and am still not satisfied… to refresh, here’s the fine photo of the bodice of muslin #1 all laid out with my changes marked – remove the gap from the underarm area and add some length to the bodice in order to drop the empire seam. I know this photo is a crowd pleaser and am particularly happy with how this will show up in everyone’s blog readers, all cheerful and granny bra-esque!
Hello all! I’m still alive and crazily discombobulated. Props, as they say, to all y’all who faithfully blog, even with your full time jobs! I’m having a hard time keeping it together blogging with my 20 hours a week job! And my job is sewing related! You’d think it’d be a snap! I’ve progressed through my second Parfait muslin and have come to the conclusion that the curve of the midriff has to be redrafted to fit the way I’d like. I’ll be back with that later. Tonight, I’m playing Santa.
Let’s talk Christmas. My shopping is mostly done. Mother-of-the-bug already has her presents in hand and has transported them across county lines. Stockings are stuffed, Mr. Bug has constructed a top-secret satellite Santa workshop in the basement and I’ve put up some police tape to keep him out of my closet. But there are a few last minute things I’m trying to get done that led me to a bit of internet usage using the phrases ‘handmade for boys’ and every iteration thereof. As penance for my recent radio silence I’ll share some of my favorite finds from the day… I tried to stick with projects that are quick, easy and require supplies that can be obtained in your garage, sewing room or big box store. Details after the jump.
Hey! Remember this post? The one with the giant orange and pink striped turtleneck and a yet-to-be made dress to go over it by my recent pattern-designer-obsession? A few of you got it right – I’m making the Colette Parfait, a cute little dress with straps, buttons and what should be a flattering fitted midriff piece. Here’s my first muslin (sans-skirt – what’s the point until I get the bodice to fit?)
While Mr. Bug spent Saturday and Sunday shoveling our (and total strangers’) cars out of snowbanks, my mom and I amused ourselves by building an army of turtle and tomato pincushions! It was super fun and the final tally was eight tomatoes, four turtles and an apple. And I can report that crushed walnut shells are indeed an excellent filling for pincushions!
Ah! So, early Christmas is over, gifts have been given and I can post photos of my mother’s Christmas present. Of course, puffed up with cleverness and general silliness, I alluded to this gift in the last paragraph of my recent post on pincushions. I thought I was safe, what with her general anti-technology leanings and immanent arrival and separation from her desktop computer. Then she stole my computer to read with her morning coffee during her visit (PRE-gift opening…) and the cat was out of the bag. I nearly withheld the present. But in the end, decided that it was my big mouth (and loose fingers) that caused the problem, and lesser people should not be punished, so she got her present. So without further ado, here it is. Reversible vest and turtleneck.
Farah! From Farah Makes Stuff. A Torontonian (OK, Canadianiacs, feel free to correct me on the correct name for a resident of Toronto…), stay at home mom, full-time grad student and Crepe sewalonger! I also noticed on her blog that she is already showing Oliver + S some love, so how perfect is this?
Your dream job responses were all AWESOME and I’ll be sorting through to decide on future dream jobs posts… and probably contacting a few of you! I’ve been all distracted by the giant amount of snow that fell on Minneapolis last Saturday. The plows finally toddled past our house this morning, so we were able to take the Subaru to Target, a huge relief for me, as I had only stocked only one gallon of half-and-half and it was close to running out! If I don’t have half and half, I don’t have coffee. And without coffee, I lack the will to go on. Also, my mom was in town. We made eight tomato pincushions, four Henrietta turtles and one apple. My fingers hurt. Also, turns out that my mom is fully capable of using MY computer, so she got a hint of her Christmas present after reading my last post! Last time I let the cat out of the bag prior to the gift giving occasion.
Thanks for playing along! And if you are having a hard time dealing with the letdown of not winning this giveaway, head on over to the Blue Gardenia learns to sow her blossoms to win your very own Crepe!
[Cars buried during the great storm. Really. Buried. That’s a street…]
Yet another utilitarian sewing project. Pincushions. These were made mainly as samples for the shop, but they were so fun and so cute I took some time to make one for my sewing room (it matches my new ironing board cover!) Here’s the one for me… more eye candy and the pincushion tips I’ve managed to glean after the jump!
Back to my recent spate of utilitarian sewing projects. I have a confession. I have actually spent time photoshopping the stains out of my basic white ironing board cover before posting pictures to my blog. Yup. Ten minutes of using the clone stamp so that all y’all don’t think I let Lucy the hound use the ironing board to take care of business. I finally decided to do something about it after finding a nice bolt of red ticking at a local fabric shop (red ticking! how awesome!) First, an action shot. Then after the jump, how I did it…
Who can enter…
everyone. International participation is welcome.
What you will win…
two YARDS of Oliver + S fabric from the City Weekend line. Your choice of interlock knit or cotton woven (actually, they are both cotton). All pretty. You can request the color and pattern and I will do my best to fulfill your wishes, although if we’re out at the shop**, you will have to go with a second choice.
OR…
if you’d prefer, your choice of whichever Oliver + S pattern tickles your fancy (refer to note re. availability at the shop**)
When…
starts now (December 8, 2010), ends Friday at midnight CST (December 10, 2010)
How…
For one chance… be a follower of my blog AND Facebook page. If you are not a Facebook user, well, you should be, but I’ll let it slip. For now.
For two chances…join Oliver + S on Facebook
For three chances…if you are already following The Snug Bug and you are already following Oliver + S on Facebook, leave a comment telling me what particular business or type of business you’d like to see as the next dream job installment. Extra (metaphysical) credit if you volunteer yourself!
Entry details…
Leave a comment here telling me what you’re following, your dream job request (if you have one) and your contact information. If you link to your blog and you have contact info there, that’s good enough!
OK, now GO!! And PLEASE, people. Enter three times. I’m super interested in what you’d like to see out of the dream jobs series!
**For those who don’t know… while this is my personal blog, I do have a connection to the creative fiber business world. I work at Sewtropolis, a sewing studio in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This giveaway is hosted (funded, conceived, and slaved away on) by me because I love giving stuff away and am not above bribing you to find out what you’d like to read on the blog…although if you’re not a winner but are looking for a source to purchase Oliver + S fabrics, they are available via our Etsy shop.
**Describe Oliver + S in a sentence or two…
We’re all about creating an enjoyable sewing experience. Oliver + S produces sewing patterns and fabric for creating contemporary, timeless children’s clothing that is fun to sew.
*Let’s talk about YOU! Liberal arts background, publishing, finance, the Fashion Institute of Technology, clothing design… tell us about what you did before launching Oliver + S (and if helped or hindered starting your business…)
I think all previous experience is helpful in starting a business. But I was fortunate to work in a variety of industries and to hold several jobs that gave me an excellent base of experience when I decided to branch out on my own. I first worked in book publishing and was given an amazing opportunity to help launch a small imprint with a German publishing company. I was in my early 20’s, and the job gave me experience in balancing an enormous number of tasks including scouting authors, developing book ideas, editing manuscripts, working with book designers and cover artists, working with copyright lawyers, and negotiating contracts as well as navigating the publishing process within a much larger company. I moved from publishing onto Wall Street where I learned to read a balance sheet and talked with CEOs and CFO’s of publicly traded companies in order to advise large institutional investors. When I completely burned out on that job, I went back to school at the Fashion Institute of Technology here in New York, and after graduating I worked for Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger. Then S was born and I left it all to stay home with her. Oliver + S grew out of my desire to do creative things while I was home with her.
*OK. Any person who is a maker of things inevitably hears “You should sell that!”…. over and over and over… was that part of your experience? Thoughts on making the jump from hobby to business?
Oh, I heard that all the time. If people like something you’ve made, they’ll inevitably say you should sell it. But it’s so much harder than people realize to, first, make the step up to doing commercial-level production of a product and, then, to run a business in such a way that it’s profitable. It is very challenging to make any money when you’re in this industry, so my first recommendation would be to do a lot of research and planning before you jump in. Be sure that what you’re offering is unique enough that people have a reason to want it, and that you understand both what your costs will be and how much revenue you can generate from your product.
*What’s the meaning behind the name Oliver + S?
S is my daughter, and Oliver is a playmate of hers. Oliver’s mom is also a dear friend who initially suggested that I sell the sewing patterns I was drafting from my designs for S.
*What marketing strategies did you find effective when just starting out? What didn’t work at all?
Well, print advertising has never paid off, unfortunately. And that makes me really sad because I love magazines. Our best return on investment is with social media and our monthly email newsletters. -
*Tell us about a typical day in the life…
Oddly, there is no typical day! I do such a wide variety of activities in my work that on any given day I might be in meetings, shopping, drafting patterns, writing instructions or blog posts, drawing or illustrating, attending fittings, responding to email, etc. Sometimes I’ll do just one thing for two weeks and then won’t do it again for six months. It’s extremely varied work, which keeps it interesting. I like variety, so it’s a good job for me. One thing I can say is that having a child helps to keep me on more of a regular schedule, since she needs to be dropped off and picked up from school every day, and dinner and bedtime stay on a routine. Beyond that, there’s really no saying what I’ll be doing on any given day. This morning I’m catching up on a few details, and this afternoon I’m headed out to do a little “market research”—meaning that I’m going shopping to look at trends and to watch people on the street here in New York. I’m nearly finished with the spring Oliver + S patterns and am starting to think about the fall collection and what I’d like to do. So I’m gathering inspiration right now and letting a bunch of ideas float around for a while.
*I understand you’re a husband and wife team. How are the duties split up? Do you have any other employees?
Yes, Todd left his job in finance almost two years ago to join me. We have very different skill sets, so Todd runs the company and makes all the smart decisions and I concentrate on the creative development. We sit down together once a week to discuss things, and since we see each other all the time there are lots of smaller discussions that happen along the edges. But Todd makes it possible for me to concentrate on what I do best. We’re still quite small. We work with several free-lancers on an as-needed basis, and of course we work with our business partners like Moda (who produce our fabric collections) and Abrams (the publisher for our upcoming book). So we’re able to coordinate our efforts with their marketing teams, etc.
* What’s coming up for Oliver + S? (And yes, we would all like to know if there are any plans to branch into accessory and/or women's patterns!)
Oh, I don’t want to give too much away yet. But 2011 will be a very exciting year for our company. The development cycle in this industry is quite long, and we’ve been working on some big things for which we’ll be making some exciting announcements this spring. Stay tuned!
Thanks to Liesl for taking the time to answer our questions! I cannot WAIT to see what’s coming out next from Oliver + S! In the meantime, check out Liesl’s website if you can’t wait to get some of the patterns in your hot little hands. Or perhaps her blog for great sewing tips? Or if you’re just in the market for eye candy, there’s a Flickr group for the Oliver + S patterns as well as for the City Weekend fabric line!
Stay tuned for an exciting giveaway! There will be polka dots involved. Little teeny tiny polka dots…
I capped off a recent antique store crawl today. A very slow motion crawl, spanning weeks. To celebrate, I decided to share a few snapshots. With bad lighting. That’s sort of my thing now, bad lighting. Here’s some eye candy. Click to see extra-large sized and after the jump find out the details.
OK. So does anyone know about moo.com?? It’s a company that prints business cards. Really cool business cards. Less business card, more trading card. They come in two sizes. Regular and mini. The regular size are normal business card size (3.5 x 2 inches, or about 8.89 x 5 cm.) Mini moos are teeny tiny and awesome – around 2.75 x 1.125” (6.98 x 2.85 cm.) ANYWAY. The cool thing about them is that you can upload different files as your ‘artwork’ – so you can get a pack of 100 cards with 100 different pictures on the back. They are especially nifty for working artists and crafty sorts – in fact, the site even allows you to download image files directly from Etsy! I ordered a bunch with my little hand drawn (ok, drawn in Illustrator with my clever fingers and my mousepad) illustration set against some of my favorite colors. The flip side just shows my name, my email address and my website. I meet a lot of people and always am looking for a pen to jot down my email or web address – now I have a little mini moo to pass out! Once I got my cards I realized I really wanted a case that could hold some of my personal cards as well as some of the full size cards from the shop where I’m working… here’s a picture of what I came up with – along with some shots of my mini moos…
Mr. Bug and I braved the wild winds and whipping snow to venture out to the No Coast Craft-o-Rama tonight – a fun, packed to the brim craft event with lots of good food, artists, homemade things and a preponderance of ridiculously cute stuffed monsters. I wasn’t scared, though. Mr. Bug was with me to protect me from any mishaps with rabid fleece-filled whatchamajigs.
I came home with a pile of business cards. Here are six of my favorite vendors from the night. It was hard to choose just six. ALL of the vendors were awesome and it was clear that in addition to stuffed cute-monsters, upcycling sweaters and ties is the new (?) hot thing. Each photo should link to the proper site – and in case it doesn’t, I included a short rundown after the jump.
In a burst of sewing focus, today’s projects included redrafting the ginormous Kwik Sew turtleneck pattern from yesterday, as well as cutting and sewing three more shirts. It was a good day. Here’s the the rundown of my three almost-finished shirts (all need hemming) and after the jump detailed photos of how I redrafted the Kwik Sew turtleneck to fit better.
Hey kittens! My sewing space (and additional fabric stashing hidey holes) is featured today at the Blue Gardenia! Go check it out… I took new pictures and tried to provide different information from when I unveiled the new space here a few months ago! Also, don’t forget to enter Denise’s excellent giveaway! You have ‘till tomorrow to enter!
Today’s sewing goal: cut and sew main seams of four long sleeve knit shirts. I can do it. I can I can I can. Just need more coffee first!
And here we are. A post that’s all about a little of everything… First off it’s the kick-off day for DIY December (want to know more? Check out this post on A New Vintage Wardrobe!) I’ll keep my DIY December posting to the barest minimum, but lacking anything better, this is what you’re stuck with today… Today’s outfit is mostly RTW (like most of my outfits) with a DIY’d jacket, RTW turtleneck (thrifted! woo hoo! $4.00!), RTW jeans with major at-home surgery to make ‘em not fall off me, and a rather unflattering jodpur effect, what with the kneesocks, baggy jeans and boots…
Alrighty… earlier this week I groused about the early sunsets cramping my picture taking style and I may have mentioned something about low light, home-made movies… just wait ‘till after the jump…
I made my second pair of bloomers – these ones are actually meant for me to wear! I altered the pattern a bit and sewed this version up in a knit (BTW… bloomers work well in knits, too!) The fabric is from the same Oliver + S line that I used for the pink ones… just yellow and stretchy!
I raised the waistband about 4” by slashing horizontally right above the hip notches and adding some wax paper (marked in pink below.) I also graded the pattern up horizontally by about 3” total by adding .75” to each pattern piece (marked in green below.) A note on the pattern sizing – my hips and waist are about 3” larger than the Colette size 18 measurements. BUT the pattern printed out a little on the small side – the test patch was 3.75 x 3.75”, not 4 x 4” like it should have been. So for anyone working through the pattern alterations in their head, I hope that’s helpful.
Here’s just a quick pic of some adorable mini-bloomers (the Colette ones. I swear, I’ll move on to a new pattern designer eventually…) I made these as a sample for the shop where I’m working. Aren’t they they cutest things you’ve ever seen?
I seriously considered NOT posting this, in order to give myself a theoretical better chance of winning, but I decided in favor of doing the right thing. So here goes… Denise at the Blue Gardenia Learns to Sow Her Blossoms is doing a fantastic giveaway through next Friday. A gorgeous pattern (mmmm… view B for me!), four yards of lovely wool and some nice red lipstick and nail polish. Did I mention the cool 50’s pattern?
Head on over to join the giveaway! All you have to do is leave a comment about why you like vintage patterns and if you’ve ever sewn one. That’s it. Head on over! May the best internet savvy contestant win (me! me!)
Another day, another shirt. Four more episodes of Buffy. Today, I present my first version of Colette’s Sencha! I wasn’t so sure about this shirt, thinking that it might not be the most flattering cut for me. I like the finished product, though, and will definitely add to the rotation (with a few tweaks, of course…) Without further ado, here’s the shirt, worn with a denim skirt, boots and cable-knit knee socks. Probably how I’ll wear it the most, although it looks cute with jeans, too!
Mr. Bug and I brought our Subaru to the spa today in preparation for a two and a half hour drive through literal woods and real-life snow to get to Auntie Marilyn’s house for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Of course, Minneapolis is covered with dreamy Christmas-like snow that’s traveling north, so we’re not sure if we’re going anywhere. Perhaps we’ll be staying home, power-watching Buffy, which I missed the first time around and so far is much better than Twilight. Also, second episode, Buffy had a totally adorable dress (with a bow) on! Holy 90’s tv. Brings me back!
So. Here’s some eye candy in lieu of actual sewing work… who’s on Pinterest? Anyone? Anyone? It’s only the COOLEST THING SINCE iPODS!! For those of you who don’t know, Pinterest is a website sort of like Facebook, mostly like ripping pictures out of magazines and pinning them on the wall behind your sewing table. Once you get your account set up, you can set up as many ‘boards’ as you’d like, add the ‘pin it’ button to your toolbar, then when you see a cool picture on the web, you click the little ‘Pin It’ button to add the picture to your board. I’m still figuring out how to use mine, but here are some of my boards… click to see them a little bigger.
There’s ‘Dwelling’ – pictures of interior designy type stuff that I like…
So folkses. I’ve actually had this sweater in my possession (unhemmed, of course) since a few days after the terrible event that I still can’t talk about without tearing up. Freaking amazon hipster stealing the win from Mondo, he of the kneesocks and tapdancing… It took me forever to finish the skirt (and hem the sweater.) So here’s a quick little unveling of my Mondo tribute outfit… First, me winning a staring contest with Lucy the hound.
I had high hopes of a more complete post, but not only is my Beignet not ready for primetime, but this ridiculous daylight savings time is ruining my picture-taking mojo. Get ready for eight months of blog photos that resemble home-baked sex tapes. All blurry and bad lighting. Or at least, that’s what I imagine them to be. Not that I’ve seen one.
I’m slaving away on my Beignet. See? I rhyme! The picture taking I’ve managed has been spotty. I started out with a straight grading up of the pattern. I needed to add 3” to the size 18 at the hips and waist in order to get to my measurements, so I added 3/8” to each pattern piece (4 pattern pieces X 3/8” = 1.5”, X 2 = 3”.) Here’s a photo of the graded up pattern pieces**, I marked in the leftmost pattern piece in red where I cut and added the wax paper…
**Eagle-eyes will spy that the two left pieces are clearly graded up a bit more than the two right pieces. That’s because this photo is of the SECOND round of alterations, post muslin #1…
Congratulations to Elle, blogger at It’s a Sewing Life and owner of the Jenna Belle Designs Etsy shop where one can find adorable little clutches and handbags! With flowers! And buttons! And monograms! Check out her blog! Hopefully she’ll come back and show us her finished mystery Colette Pattern…
For everyone else, thanks for sharing your photos! And SPECIAL thanks to everyone who acknowledged my love of the platypuses, although I have to admit, I still have no idea what one looks like. Not one actual photo of a live platypus. C’mon people…
After the jump, links to finished Colette patterns that were left in the comments…
More utilitarian sewing. Still playing catchup in Snug Bug-land! Last Saturday when I bundled up to head out into the snowstorm of the decade, I realized that my BASSET HOUND had systematically gnawed off various fingers from all of the (apparently delicious) toasty gloves in the house. So I made myself a nice, toasty pair of mittens (no fingers, possibly basset hound proof?) All wool and flannel and purple. They were dubbed the grimace mittens (remember Grimace, the furry purple hamburger lover and ham radio enthusiast from McDonalds ads??) by a friend. You can see why!
Reminder: Head on over to Blue Gardenia and enter the code SB20 in the order box to get 20% off orders of $40 or more – this special offer for Snug Bug readers ends on today.
Who can enter the giveaway.
Again, I’ll open this up all international style.
What you can win.
A Colette pattern. Any pattern of your choice.
When to enter.
Get your entry in by Friday, November 18th, 2010, for a Saturday announcement! I know this is enough to make your head explode, dear fellow U.S.icans. Harry Potter and a free Colette pattern in the same day…
How to enter.
1. Follow this blog!
2. Leave a comment and tell us either what Colette patterns you’ve made (and what you think of them) or what Colette pattern you WANT to make! Extra (metaphysical) credit if you include a link to pictures (of the finished garment. Or duck billed platypuses.) Oh! And let us know if you’re going to do the sewalong with Gertie!
3. You MUST leave a comment to enter and include a way for me to contact you!!
That’s it. Share the Colette love. Ready… set…. GO!
Sigh. Our next woman with a dream job barely needs an introduction. I’ll try anyway. Sarai Mitnick is the founder of Colette Patterns, purveyor of perfect patterns, designer of dream dresses, vintage vixen of… oh, you get the picture. Join us as she shares a little of what it’s like running the coolest pattern company out there!
Describe Colette Patterns in a sentence!
Colette Patterns produces pretty and timeless sewing patterns with great instructions and beautiful packaging, sold through our website and independent fabric stores around the world.
How did you end up launching Colette?
Before launching the company, I worked in Silicon Valley. I worked in the tech industry, but on the design/usability side of things.
I became a bit burned out on the tech industry. I wanted to do something creative, and I also knew I wanted to work for myself doing something I felt passionately about. For me, that was the craft of sewing. I envisioned Colette Patterns as a way to fill a niche of stylish and well-presented sewing patterns, but also as a way to contribute to the preservation of the craft of home sewing.
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