Some exciting announcements about new stockists of Colette Patterns! There are actually several new stockists and I’ll soon be adding a section on the site to keep you updated on stores in your area. But I wanted to share a couple shops that I actually know and love that are no carrying the pattern line!

Los Angeles: First up is Home Ec, a new addition to the wonderful Silverlake shop, ReForm School. I travel to Los Angeles regularly and have been to ReForm School a few times. I don’t want to gush too much, but I really adore this shop full of handmade goodies, art, accessories, and paper goods. So you can imagine how excited I am that the new Home Ec shop is carrying Colette Patterns! They also offer an amazing range of fun classes. They are seriously cool. You can buy them online or check out classes through theHome Ec website.

Portland: I am equally excited about the first local stockist, the beautiful Bolt Fabric Boutique. Those of you in Portland are no doubt familiar with Bolt. It is an absolutely charming store filled with fun, modern, colorful fabrics. Really an inspiring place to shop. In fact, just this weekend, a friend and I strolled by after brunch and she sighed and said it made her want to learn to sew.

Anyway, just wanted to give a shout out to two of my favorite stores, I’m so grateful to be a little part of their inspiring businesses.

I love old needle books, and there are some great ones available on etsy right now. Doesn’t this sewing club look sinister somehow? They seem to me to be scheming.

The insides are often just as pretty. I think these would look great just framed in a sewing room, the graphics are so pretty and colorful.

And I just love the illustration on this one.

{sewing club needle book from ricracandbuttons, happy home needle book from fastercat6860, army and navy needle book from vintageladies}

Just a quick shop note for our Canadian friends. I had an inquiry over at the etsy shop about the shipping rates to Canada. Since the cost of shipping to Canada is much closer to domestic shipping than other international destinations, I decided to greatly lower the shipping prices.

Shipping to Canada is now a flat rate of just $2, just like orders shipped within the US! Hopefully that eases things for our neighbors to the north.

I actually gasped when I saw this amazing print over at Thai Silks. First of all, the colors! Red and pale aqua is one of my absolute favorite color combinations, and these shades are just perfectly vibrant. And those adorable ladies in their bathing caps! The whole thing is so graphic and simple, it actually looks much more vintage than the typical “retro” novelty print. AND it’s on silk.

I’m also really into this red and white coral print. It would look stunning mixed with some solid red, I think.

I’d almost forgotten about all the great prints over at Thai Silks. Personally, I love sewing with silk, and they are a fantastic place to look for fun prints.

Darling Casey was one of the (30 or so!) awesome volunteers who tested out our patterns before they went to print, and she chose the Beignet (though at the time, it had the rather dry name “pattern 1005″).

Well, Casey has just posted her review of the pattern on her blog, go check it out! I am in love with the yellow fabric she chose, the contrasting buttons, and actually the entire outfit she’s wearing here. Casey says:

“The Beignet skirt pattern is drafted beautifully, and everything fit together well. This is definitely a treat to work with patterns that have had this level of attention to detail. The raised waistline and seaming over the upper hip and back waist is super flattering; it’s a skirt that I almost always get compliments on when I wear it! Definitely a pattern I will go back to again and again.”

By the way, I LOVE seeing what everyone comes up with when they make the patterns, so if you have photos, please do let me know! You can either add them to the Colette Patterns group on Flickr, or just contact me!

Check out these ideas for making belts, from Good Needlework, 1935, courtesy of rhiannonmars. The first belt is made with dog collars (!), the second is knitted, the third with upholstery braid, and the fourth with silver cord.

For the full instructions, view the image on flickr and click “all sizes.”

Continuing the theme of beautiful textiles from small design studios, Henry Road is having a wonderful sale with 40% off all their goods, including fabric yardage! Just enter SALE at checkout. The sale goes until May 10th.

I first came across Henry Road in Selvedge magazine, and was really taken by designer Paula Smail’s bold, graphic designs and unusually beautiful colorways. By the way, if you haven’t seen Selvedge, it is just wonderful, albeit expensive here in the states. It is truly textile porn.

Henry Road also offers these neat little bundles of remnants for small craft projects, which is pretty awesome. With the sale, they are particularly inexpensive.

{via More Ways to Waste Time}

There are times when I am writing for my blog (either here or at my personal blog, Sweet Sassafras) that I feel a bit too.. effusive. I mean, how many times can I say, “I love this!” or “Isn’t this artist/creator/thing amazing?” But what can you do when there is just SO much amazing talent out there and accessible online (Ok, there I go again with the superlatives…)

But I have to do it again, because I am just so enamored by the work of the Melbourne-based textile designers at Ink & Spindle. First of all there is this antique key print, which I adore (predictably, since I have a tattoo of a similar motif on my arm). But then all the lovely modern, organic prints are really doing it for me. They are all hand printed and use sustainable inks and fibers.

Visit Ink & Spindle and check out more of their lovely designs.

I really must thank everyone for the outpouring of support since we opened last week. It’s been amazing, and I am really and truly grateful that so many people are so excited!

I also wanted to drop a quick note to mention that I’ve also opened a shop for Colette Patterns on Etsy! I’ll be adding a permanent link to the blog soon, but for all you Etsy-addicts (ahem, like me), you can head on over and add me to your favorites! It’s also a good option if you’re interested in buying patterns but prefer to pay with paypal.