[Justine J]

Hi Susanne – you are certainly not alone when it comes to fabric!!! It is seriously obsessive!!!

Justine

[Sarvi]

We accept you, we accept you, one of us, one of us! Ha, sorry for quoting such a ‘freaky’ movie, but yes, you will not find anybody here shaming you for a fabric obsession, that’s for sure. I almost certainly have more fabrics & patterns than I could sew in a lifetime (or Nicole could sew in 2 weeks, ha ha). Welcome aboard!

[runciblespoon]

Hello Susanne, I found just the same with boy / girl clothes – boys’ things just seem a bit more challenging, and little dresses are so accessible and fun! But now we have our little girls we can use our new confidence for our boys… just like you, I have plans to sew more for my boys now – I can’t wait to see what you create with your new patterns.

This is a bit back to front, but I’ve not properly introduced myself yet, so here’s my introduction…

I’m Catherine, I live in England on the south coast, near enough to the sea to hear the foghorns but not the actual waves. I have a lovely husband and three gorgeous children (but sadly won’t be posting photos of them – my husband’s work has brought him into contact with more of the dark side of life than he’s have liked and he is not keen to share pictures of the children… hope you can imagine them in the clothes instead: two tall skinny boys aged 5 and 8, and a little pudding of a baby aged 9 months with lots of fluffy hair and pudginess). I’ve been sewing things ever since I started making clothes for myself in my teens, then was diverted into more mundane house-type sewing for a few years (curtains, cushions, blankets) before beginning to rediscover the joy of making clothes when my boys started wanting dressing up outfits, and then full-blown baby-sewing frenzy when the scan showed baby no.3 would be a little girl! The boys are owed some real clothes now…

I’m new to o+s, but have hardly sewn anything else since trying these patterns, they are such a pleasure to use. And the flickr group and forums are fab – I learn so much from all of you – thanks!

[amy]

Hello! My name is Amy and I just recently completed my very first Oliver + S pattern. I don’t have any little ones to sew for so I made the Birthday Party Dress for my friend’s baby girl. I decided to attempt an Oliver + S pattern because I get so overwhelmed when sewing for myself. I thought a small scale pattern might help me focus on the construction without worrying about fitting my body. I am so happy that I did this because the Birthday Party dress came out so well. I even tried French seams for the first time! You can check it out here, on my blog, if you’d like: http://helenethelstudio.blogspot.com/2011/01/oliver-s-birthday-party-dress.html.

A little about me: I’m 29 and I live in Philadelphia. I’ve only been sewing for about a year now and this was the first wearable garment I’ve made. (Wearable by a wee little one of course- not me!) I plan to sew many more garments in 2011 and I thank Oliver + S for giving me the confidence to do so. Also, thanks to the forums I was able to get over a few hurdles I encountered along the way.

[Janell]

Hi, my name’s Janell, and I’m from Austin, TX. I just joined the forums today, but I’ve been lurking for a few months. I’ll admit that I’m relieved to see Amy in this forum because, like her, I don’t have any little ones to sew for… nor nieces… nor nephews. I learned of Oliver + S through Google Reader and fell in love with the patterns and styles. My first motivation to purchase a Oliver + S pattern was when the School Days jacket was originally going out of print; I was certain someday in the future I would regret not owning that pattern. Shortly thereafter, I purchased the Bubble Dress pattern for the same reasons.

I began sewing when I was 8 and became quite accomplished by 12. Primarily due to shortages of time, a lack of money, and a frequent lack of interest, I have only created the occasional skirt or costume in the 15+ years since.

Just this weekend I finished making the Bubble Dress. I wanted a project to relearn my sewing skills and preferred a project that would use less than a yard of fabric. The Bubble Dress was the perfect choice. It came together much more quickly than I thought it would and the instructions did a beautiful job in guiding me through the process. My next project will be something for myself, but I’m definitely planning on making another oliver + s creation in the future!

[josiejo]

Hi, my name’s Josie and I’m from Perth, Australia. It’s great to see so many people who love sewing and all the other stuff. Makes me feel less alone in it and geeky. I have three children who I force to wear the stuff I make (not really). I have very poor taste in choosing matching fabrics ie sometimes green orange and purple just will not go:) But I don’t have to force them too much. I have two girls and a boy and sewed a lot of the dresses and skirts for my girls, but the other day I decided to make the shirt and shorts for my son (sorry, I’m not very good at the pattern names … or song titles). To my surprise, they looked great and I got some good practice at buttonholes. And he loves to wear them – hooray!!

I really love the funky style, Leisl. There’s not much else out there. My sister also loves it but is yet to sew any of your patterns – don’t worry everyone she won’t be borrowing my patterns, she’ll have to buy her own.

[CILOU]

Hi! My name is Cécile, I’m 36, I live in France (in Alsace, in the Far Eastern part of France), have 3 kids : 2 boys aged 9 and 6 and a 3-year old girl.

I’m a half-time teacher in primary schools, and the very short time left by taking care of my kids and my classes are devoted to reading and sewing.

I have a couple of O+S patterns, and I wish I had enough time to sew them all. Until now I’ve already made the Puppet show tunic and shorts, a couple of Popover dresses, a couple of Sailboat tops, a Nature walk tunic, one pyjamas. And I just began a 2+2 tunic and skirt.

I like the style of the O+S patterns and I also like to learn new things when sewing these patterns.

I just hope you understood all!

[Nicole]

have you posted in the flickr group ? It would be lovely to see them ! Nicole

[KellyNYC]

Hello! I’ve been lurking around for a while but feel compelled to introduce myself and chat with you lovely women on all things O+S and beyond. My name is Kelly, I am a 30 year old SAHM to my wonderful 19 month old daughter, Chloe. I quit my sales job at Yahoo! eight months ago to raise my daughter and have since picked up a ferocious sewing addiction. I’ve been slowly teaching myself one O+S pattern at a time and am always thinking of my next project. So far I have made a few music box jumpers, an ice cream dress, a lazy day skirt, two sailboat tops, a 2+2 shirt and the music class shirt and skirt which was the trickiest yet (the shirt).

I just ordered the puppet show pattern (thanks, Laura!) and have school photo waiting for me to tackle as well. On my list to buy on my next visit to Purl are Swing set tunic and Playdate dress. I also hope to venture into sewing clothes for myself an dress shirts for my husband but have to work up the nerve.

Thanks for letting me introduce myself and I look forward to chatting with you all in the future. You’re such an inspiring group!

Kelly

[janimal]

Oh Kelly – next time you go to Purl give all those luscious Liberty fabrics a hug from me! What a wonderful store to have access to!

Welcome to the forums.

[KellyNYC]

Ahhh I am obsessed with their Liberty collection! My mom got me a generous gift card to Purl for Christmas which will be spent entirely on Liberty since I rarely will spring for it out of my own pocket! Now the question is whether to make something for me or my daughter. Lucky girl has no idea the extent of her mom’s sacrifices! 😉

[janimal]

Well, there is something so lovely about being able to see and buy Liberty fabric in person. I visited Purl in September and just wanted to run my hands over all of it!

BUT….something I learned here in this forum…you can buy Liberty for less than Purl, even with international shipping, from http://www.shaukat.co.uk/

I think at Purl Liberty runs about $35/yard. Ordering from Shaukat is a lot less, even with shipping it’s still less. Course, you have to wait for it and being able to visit Purl and go home with lovely fabric is SUCH a luxury.

Oh, and your mom rocks!

[sayiamyou]

Well, at least while you’re waiting you could have time to trace the pattern or two that you’re planning for the delicious fabric!

[CILOU]

motherof5, no, I haven’t posted in the Flickr group (I struggled some time ago to register and finally lost the battle 😉 but I’ve joined a French “collective blog” of O+S sewings (http://oliverslovers.canalblog.com/)

[Justine J]

Nice to ‘meet’ you Cecile & Kelly!!!!

Try one more time for flickr, Cecile – it’s worth it!!! (I had a look at your blog – are’t Marie-Michelle’s creations amazing?)