Boersma's

Located in historic downtown McMinnville, Oregon, Boersma's Sewing Center offers a tremendous range of products and services, from sewing and knitting supplies to long-arm quilting machines for rent and sewing classes of all sorts.

Because the store is located in a former department store, Boersma's also has enormous glass windows at the outside of the shop. We're thrilled to be featured as their fall window display; the large-scale paper dolls from our banner at Quilt Market look terrific displayed among the clothing samples made from our patterns, with giant scissors in the act of cutting out the dolls and their outfits.

You can see more photos from the shop windows on the Boersma's Flickr set.

at last!

When we moved into our new studio space in early September, I knew almost immediately how I wanted to use the space. But it took a lot longer than that to bring it all together.


Now, at long last, we're settled in with countertops under the windows, lots of shelving for the boxes (and boxes!) of inventory, and a mailing station for filling orders.



It's clearly a working studio; I wanted the space to be simple and clean, without a lot of decoration. Since I strongly prefer a neutral space without a lot of color when I'm designing, we've kept almost everything white. And we're still putting the finishing touches on the space, but it feels great to be working at those big windows, looking out over industrial Brooklyn and the changing light of the day.

vintage buttons

My favorite buttons are the really old ones that, if you're lucky, you might find at the bottom of your button bin. They're made of real shell, with chips and discolorations and irregularities. I love the patina that they've developed from the many years of washings and handling that has worn much of the shine from their surfaces. Once upon a time I might have passed them over when looking for a suitable button; they're mis-matched and, at first glance, don't appear to be anything special. But now those imperfections and irregularities appeal to me. I like to recycle them to use on samples; a bit of old mixed in with the new that gives the clothes extra character and interest.

those fabrics

Since you asked, here are details on the fabrics we used for the spring samples.

We've had the great pleasure of partnering with the Japanese fabric company Lecien, who supplied all our fabrics for the show. Lecien makes adorable prints, and their fabrics are affordably priced.


For the Sailboat outfit, we used a Minny Muu stripe in blue for one shirt and the little tulip print for the other shirt. The skirt and pants were both made from a Kona cotton solid, although I noticed that Lecien also produces a wide range of solids, which I'll have to ask them about.


The Birthday Party Dress is made using a floral print from Lecien's Le Petit Jardin collection, with a coordinating tiny polka dot for the button tab and hem facing.

Purlsoho.com, the Fat Quarter Shop, and Superbuzzy all carry Lecien if you're interested in purchasing the fabrics. And the Lecien booth in Houston was extremely busy, so watch for their fabrics elsewhere because I think you'll be seeing more of them soon.

spring 2009

Well, hi there! We're back from Houston, and I have photos to share.

We debuted two new patterns at Quilt Market this fall. Both will be ready in March, and I'm really excited about them.

The first one, the Sailboat Top, Pants and Skirt is great for boys and girls.

The top includes buttons at the shoulders and a shirt-tail hem, both with curved topstitching that looks great in a contrast or coordinating color. This shirt could be sewn from a woven or a knit, and it's incredibly easy and fast to make.

The cropped pants and skirt both have classic sailor button-front features as well as elastic at the back waistband for a comfortable fit. They're also very easy and quick to sew.





The second pattern is the Birthday Party Dress, which features three pleats at the center front panel.

The little assymetrical button tab in the front can also be sewn as a big bow, which offers lots of design opportunity for a contrast fabric or a favorite ribbon.


Both patterns will be available in two size ranges: 6 months through 3T and sizes 4 through 8.