Valentine’s day is coming this weekend, and whether you love it or hate it, you must admit having something adorable to lounge around in makes any day that much sweeter. So I present to you the madeleine mini bloomers, a free sewing pattern that you can download! It takes only a yard of fabric (along with some elastic and ribbon), and an hour or two of sewing to whip up these pretties.

These are no prim and proper Victorian bloomers, as you can see. They sit low on the waist, and are scandalously brief. The back view is particularly flattering. The waistband is sewn with two rows of elastic, and the legs are cinched with a length of ribbon. With just two pattern pieces, a beginner who is comfortable with elastic and buttonholes can make these.

The pattern is put together like any Burdastyle pattern. You just print out the sheets and tape them together to form the pattern. It’s multi-sized for XS to XL, which encompasses the usual sizes 0-18 in Colette Patterns’ range.

Download the Madeleine Mini Bloomers pattern!

Madeleine Mini Bloomers sewing pattern by Colette Patterns is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

My dear readers, I’m starting a mailing list for those of you who would be interested in testing patterns for us in the future.

There’s no commitment involved to sign up, it’s just a way for me to contact you. When there are new patterns that I need tested, I’ll send a note out to the list to find volunteers.

How testing works is this: When you volunteer for a pattern, I’ll send you a pattern before it’s released, along with complete illustrated instructions. They’re not in a cute booklet format, but they’re complete. You sew up the design in a certain time frame, and fill out some questionnaires about the experience and any problems you encountered, things you liked, or general thoughts.

Update: Wow, thank you to everyone who signed up! We have tons of people on the list now, so I’m going to close sign ups for now. I will post to the blog if/when I’m looking for more. Thank you all for your enthusiasm!

Fellow Portlanders, if you’re interested in making the Rooibos dress but think you might like a little extra teaching help for it, my new friend and fellow pattern designer Shelly will be teaching a class at Bolt using this pattern! It was just posted and she’s already had people signing up, so if you’re interested, hop over to the Bolt website for details!

Check it out guys, there’s a little blurb about Colette Patterns in the latest issue of Bust! It’s just a wee blurb, but I’ve been reading Bust since I was a teenager, so it’s pretty neat to see my name in there.

If you don’t read Bust and you’re in a place where you can get a hold of it, I highly recommend it for a fun magazine fix! How often do you read a magazine and actually feel better about yourself rather than worse? It’s great to see the smart, independent, fun women I know reflected in the magazine, and that’s why I’ve always admired Bust.

By the way, the accompanying photo is of the lovely Roxanne, not me!

When it comes to TV shows, if I’m going to get into them, it’s going to be near on a decade after everyone else, which explains why I’ve only just started watching the first series of Mad Men. And like pretty much every woman I’ve heard on the subject, I have become obsessed with the clothes and style.

However, I have found that it is not the exquisitely perfect Betty Draper or curvaceous femme fatale Joan Holloway that has secured my adoration, but the oft-overlooked Midge Daniels, the independent minded and free-living illustrator with whom Don Draper conducts an affair.

Aside from being in general an interesting and forward thinking character, her clothing and style fascinate me. It’s as though, with so many anti-establishment thoughts and creative energy buzzing around her head, clothes for her are an afterthought and subsequently she appears chic but thoroughly at ease, particularly in comparison to the walking fashion mannequin, Betty Draper. In the scene when Midge and her friend Roy take Don to the avant garde performance club Midge wore a simple fitted black short sleeved blouse and black pencil skirt in which she straight-up stole my heart!

The character Midge and her crew are meant to be part of the Beat Generation. The Beats were a group of writers and cultural figures who attempted to push the boundaries of accepted American social values from the late 1940’s, during the 1950’s and into the 1960’s, at which point the ‘scene’ evolved into Hippie movement. The best known of the original members including Alan Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, were all men, but there were some lesser known key female protagonists including Edie Parker and Joan Vollmer. These two intriguing ladies shared a series of New York apartments which played host to many of the early gatherings, debates and think tanks of these early Beatniks. Stylistically, it is difficult to pin down what ‘look’ Vollmer and Parker would have adopted, as there are very few photos available. I would like to try to translate the early Beat culture into some sort of stylistic manifestation, but in this attempt I’m trying not to be swayed by the later stereotypes of the scene.

The literary output of the Beat writers was often of a graphic and therefore controversial nature. For example, William Burroughs’ Junkie (appearing with the pseudonym William Lee to protect his family from association with a drugs lifestyle) was too hot to handle for most publishers, and could only find a willing backer with a pulp fiction house called A.A. Wyn, Ace Publishing. There are many fans of the Beat Generation writers who, with often the best intentions, aim to distance their work from low-culture pulp fiction, but the historical links are undeniable if regrettable for some. For our own ends, further stylistic influence could be taken from these cover images. They seem to portray women as wild-living pin-ups, a party look if ever I heard one!

So, having rounded up this look’s inspiration and fleshed it out with sartorial asides, how to put it into effect? I think the best bet is to take a pared down, uncluttered version of the general late 1950’s silhouette, predominantly in black, with a few daring flashes. I am thinking the Sencha blouse in silk crepe tucked into simple capri pants or the seductive Beignet skirt (perhaps in black with red buttons). This outfit could be teamed with the dashing Lady Grey coat, possibly in black or even a thrilling leopard print faux-fur! Any ideas?

This week I am inspired by walking on cobblestones, of wearing a swing coat while passing by a glamorous palace-turned hotel in Istanbul. On my blog, Love, Rose, I describe a walk along the Bosphorus last Sunday and what I saw. Like an earlier post on being inspired by locations, knowing I was to have brunch with friends along the water set the stage for what I would wear. Some days, when the sky here is gray, and the pigeons cluck around while waiting for seeds, it seems ideal for poetry, for reinventing oneself and only a black coat and black boots will do.

I hope wherever you are, whether your January is overcast and snowy, or bright blue and warm, that it suits your mood and most of all, that you have the exactly the right attire to enjoy it.

I can’t believe this year is over. It certainly was an eventful one for me, with the launch and pretty startling growth of Colette Patterns, my move to Oregon, and a pretty much wholly different life from the one I was leading a year ago. Last December, I was working in a big company in silicon valley. It was an overall interesting job with people I liked, but I spent most of the hours of any given day in meetings, writing reports, and commuting. It was not creatively fulfilling, and that is what I needed to be happy.

I’d spent over a year planning the launch of Colette Patterns, writing a business plan, developing my first patterns, and figuring out all the details. In March, I made the leap, left my job in the middle of a recession, and moved to Portland, OR. I have never looked back, and I’ve never been happier! Portland is amazing and running a small business is the most intense, challenging, and rewarding thing I’ve tried yet.

My main goal in starting Colette Patterns was to share my love of sewing, and that’s what will continue to drive me this year. With that, here are a few of my resolutions for Colette Patterns in 2010:

Collaborate with others

This is one I’ve been thinking about lately. I really like collaborating with other people, both creatively and on the business side. I’d love to find a way to work with other indie pattern designers* as well as other designers & artists. I just haven’t figured out how quite yet.

*A local business person referred to this the other day as “coopertition,” I love that.

More tutorials and free stuff!

I like to share stuff. I’d love to publish some free patterns here, along with more and more tutorials for techniques and projects. It’s hard because it can be extremely time consuming, but I’m planning to make it a priority.

More frequent pattern releases

This is a big change for the coming year that I’ll elaborate on a bit more later. This year, I had two big releases. Next year, I’m planning to do smaller releases more frequently. I think it will be so much better this way. You’ll get to see new designs all the time and I won’t have insane workloads twice a year!

Explore new platforms

I’d just like to find other ways to share the love of sewing. I have ideas as far as this is concerned, but they’re just ideas right now.

Share more about running a small business

I have learned such a huge amount in the last year, and have really found what works for me and what doesn’t. There have been unexpected hurtles as well as great opportunities. And of course, my business is very young so I’m learning more every day. I’d like to share more about my experience and help others of you who might be starting (or thinking of starting) your own business.

Take time off

Oh dear, this is a big one for me personally. I have never been one of those “live to work” people, but frankly running a small, growing business out of your home has a way of turning you into a workaholic. Big time. The upside is that I work so much because I love my business, I love the work I do, and I’m passionate about everything I do. The downside is that this could lead to major burnout if I don’t start pacing myself.

I’ve just updated the gallery with lots of photos of projects made from our patterns!

I’ll be adding lots more as they come in.

Want to show one of your projects on the site? Add it to the Colette Patterns Flickr group! Or you can always contact me with your photos.

I’m pleased to introduce you guys to another guest blogger you’ll be seeing around here! Karen blogs at memyselfandkai.com. Among other things, Karen is going to be bringing us interviews with interesting and creative people out there in the handmade/sewing/fashion worlds. Here’s a little Q&A to introduce you.

How did you get started crafting/sewing?

I learned to sew when I was around 12 years old. I enrolled in a sewing class and I loved my teacher. She was patient and funny and it’s a testament to her that even though I stopped sewing for several years–I picked it up again in my early 20s–I hadn’t forgotten the basics. I have a pattern to sew a pillow star on my blog (it’s under the “how-to do it yourself” tab) and that’s something I learned in her sewing class and recreated from memory. Also, my mother is a talented sewist and even though I went through a rebellious phase wherein I refused anything she made me, perhaps I inherited some of her skill? I can only hope.

I taught myself to knit by following instructions in “Stitch’n’Bitch” by Debbie Stroller. Her directions were accessible and I recall picking it up fairly easily. Then again, I also remember a disastrous first attempt to knit in the round, and my ex reminded me that I once threw a work-in-progress project across the room in a fit of frustration. Oops. I guess I have an impatient streak. But I persevered.

I also embroider. And I’m learning slowly–oh, so slowly–to crochet. I suppose I’m something of a dabbler when it comes to needles and thread.

What draws you to these crafts?

I’m inspired by what I see others creating. I’m driven on my the desire for the finished object, and I like to use/wear what I make. Some of the patterns out there today are phenomenal, better than a store-bought garment. And there is something fulfilling about the act of creating. It feels great to stand back after completing a project and think, “I did that.” Not all projects end that way, but that’s part of the learning curve.

What are your major interests in this realm?

I tend to knit/sew things I can wear. I also like to make quick projects–obi belts, zippered purses, etc. Because remember that impatient streak I mentioned above? It’s true.

I want to learn more about pattern making and customizing clothes to fit my specfic measurements. I tend, more often than not, to be a slave to the pattern. All in time.

As promised, the new patterns are available for pre-order in the shop today!

While they’re still at the printer, we’re offering free shipping, and they’ll ship as soon as they come in stock, around mid-December.

Or, if you’re worried about getting them for Christmas, we’re also offering lovely gift certificates from $25 to $100. These ship immediately and also ship free!

And yet MORE good news: we now take credit cards directly (no more of the Google Checkout malarkey) and also accept Paypal directly through colettepatterns.com!

I also want to give thanks to all the wonderful people who helped me: Lisa Warninger, who took all the new photos, Rebecca Westby who beautifully styled the shots, Kassandra Sommerville of Ginger Suite Salon who did hair and makeup, and the friendly & wonderful folks at The Cleaners at The Ace Hotel where we shot the photos. And of course Jade and Kiaha, the gorgeous models.

Last, I want to thank all of you for your continued support. Independent pattern companies could not make it if there weren’t people like you willing to seek out new and interesting things and support small businesses. So thanks a million!