dianelyons

@sarvi your Persian New Year in the park experience reminded me of one of my favorite Carl Sandburg poems from 1916.

Happiness

I asked the professors who teach the meaning of life to tell me what is happiness.
And I went to famous executives who boss the work of thousands of men.
They all shook their heads and gave me a smile as though I was…

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Sorry all of you who are waiting. We can’t even announce the new patterns yet because someone (I won’t say who…) is spending this week enjoying some wonderful spring skiing in Utah, and he has to finish photographing the samples and editing the modeled photos once he gets home later this week. He’ll be working over the holiday weekend to get…[Read more]

Sorry to keep you in suspense!

Everything is printed, and now it’s time for the process of marrying up the jobs from the different printers and getting them assembled. Then they need to ship back across the country and get warehoused before we can release them.

So it will probably be another couple weeks, but it could be sooner if everyone does…[Read more]

I have one I inherited from my Grandma and I’ve only ever used it for heavy oaktag, so I’m sure it wouldn’t be effective on fabric by now. But I hadn’t ever considered using one on fabric until now. Nicole, please do show us what you use! Is it something you’d like to see us carry? I’m very curious.

And while we’re talking about tools, is there…[Read more]

So here’s a crazy suggestion for you Aussie die-hard digital fans. Purchase your own roll of 36″-wide paper!

Seriously, it just might work. We don’t have our own 36″-wide printer here in the studio. As much use as we would get out of it, we just don’t have the space for one. We do a lot of 36″-wide printing when we’re developing new styles. We…[Read more]

You Aussies are more crafty per capita than most other countries. You’re our second largest market, by far. The volume we sell into NZ and Singapore is tiny compared to what we do in Australia. You always have to assume the complaint rate for things like this is low (2-5%). We sell enough into Australia for that to become a real number and to…[Read more]

It’s really only been with customers from Australia that we have heard about issues with printing the larger format sizes. And I haven’t yet been able to figure out exactly what the issue is. My current assumption is that it’s not a hardware-related issue but it’s due to the paper that print shops stock in Australia–or with the inability of…[Read more]

It’s really only been with customers from Australia that we have heard about issued with printing the larger format sizes. And I haven’t yet been able to figure out exactly what the issue is. My current assumption is that it’s not a hardware-related issue but it’s due to the paper that print shops stock in Australia–or with the inability of…[Read more]

We took feedback very seriously from the survey we asked people to complete last December. We’re making a few changes to our digital patterns for this spring as a result of feedback (one change is in the inclusion of A0 sheets), and we’ll be making a major enhancement to them starting with our next collection.

I have it on my list to do a series…[Read more]

Yes, digital patterns currently available are not sized to be printed on A0 paper–which, by the way, seems to be an Australian standard not used most other places.

Starting with our Spring 2015 patterns, though, we will be included A0 layouts for those of you Down Under.

That is completely adorable!

I’m so with you on that one @meleliza! I keep a few baskets with the larger pieces and they’ve become all sort of fun projects and trims on other projects. I’ll often cut and prepare bias trim with the scraps so it’s ready when I need it. Remaining scraps go to a painter friend who uses them to wipe his brushes or to local schools for art classes.…[Read more]

Yes, Sarvi! A few years ago I purchased a pattern and yardage for a pair of PJ pants from a well-known pattern company that’s well respected within the industry. It was meant to be a very quick sew for my sister, who was about to be hospitalized and needed some TLC. And I could have just cried with frustration when the yardage was more than 1/2…[Read more]

Very well explained, Todd!

Actually, there’s one piece of the puzzle that Todd hasn’t included in his description of the process and which would certainly account for a discrepancy between the yardage chart and the minimum amount of fabric you actually need. That piece is this: I try to use one cutting layout for as many sizes as possible. I…[Read more]

Actually, there’s one piece of the puzzle that Todd hasn’t included in his description of the process and which would certainly account for a discrepancy between the yardage chart and the minimum amount of fabric you actually need. That piece is this: I try to use one cutting layout for as many sizes as possible. I could alter the layout for each…[Read more]

@maraya thanks for your thoughtful response to my post.

I’m glad there are people who understand that the old adage “penny wise, pound foolish” still holds true. We want our patterns to give everyone a sewing experience from start to finish that exceeds their expectations. We know that the most important commodity in most people’s lives today is…[Read more]

Thanks @georgeandizzy. I’m not sure if that’s it or not. They’ll often do a special printed display just for the brand. Has anyone else seen anything like that?

Oh yes @lightningmcstitch, it’s all about fabric width. If you find something that’s wider than what’s specified, you can change the layout and perhaps use less fabric.

But can you really beat the computer? It would be an interesting John Henry vs. the steam hammer challenge to pit you against our computer if we have the width of your fabric and…[Read more]

Oh yes @lightningmcstitch, it’s all about fabric width. If you find something that’s wider than what’s specified, you can change the layout and perhaps use less fabric.

But can you really beat the computer? It would be an interesting John Henry vs. the steam hammer challenge to pit you against our computer if we have the width of your fabric and…[Read more]

We’ve heard that there is a separate box out for the new Lisette patterns, but we haven’t seen it yet–if you can believe that.

If someone is going shopping next week to get these on sale and happens to see the box, please take a photo and share it here. We would love to see what Butterick has done.