A little over a week ago, we announced that Liesl’s two new video workshops, Apparel Sewing Basics and Seams, Closures + Hems, are now available for sale on our website.

Since then we’ve seen something unusual. Orders for these DVDs are coming in from a lot of men. Not that we don’t like selling things to men. It’s just that seeing a man’s name on an Oliver + S order is a bit out of the ordinary. We’re chalking this up to the upcoming holiday season and are figuring that some of you will be getting the DVDs as Christmas gifts from your lovely husbands. (And, no, we’re not giving any hints about whose husbands have been shopping with us so don’t bother asking….)

But we’re sure that not all of you will be getting the series for Christmas, even if you did ask your personal Santa Claus very nicely. So we figured we would help you out by giving away a copy of Apparel Sewing Basics.

To enter the drawing for a free copy of the DVD, leave a comment telling us what else you’ve asked Santa for this Christmas.

One entry per person, please. Comments may be subject to moderation before they are published, so don’t resubmit it if your comment doesn’t appear immediately. As long as you didn’t see an error message when submitting your comment, you entry has been accepted.

The drawing will run until 2:00PM ET on Dec. 1 at which point we will turn comments off and will ask our friends at Random.org to help us pick a winner. If your name is drawn, we’ll contact you via email to get your shipping address.

(Before you leave your comment, let me give you a warning. Whatever you do, do not check that little box below that says “Notify me of followup comments via e-mail.” Trust me. You don’t want your inbox to be inundated with emails from strangers telling you what they want for Christmas.)

Interested in winning a copy of Seams, Closures + Hems? Then you’ll want to check out the post at the top of the Lisette blog today. And, while you’re there, why don’t you explore the site a bit. There’s been a lot of interesting content posted to the Lisette blog lately that you might not have seen yet.

Earlier this year, our School Days Jacket + Coat sewing pattern went out of print. As always seems to happen, once the style was no longer available we started receiving a large number of requests for it.

So we’re happy to announce that this style is available again as our second digital pattern.

This versatile unisex pattern contains options for both a lined, three-season raincoat and a heavy winter jacket with an optional quilted lining.

As we’re moving into winter here in the northern hemisphere, we’ve heard from many of you who are considering sewing the winter jacket version. Need a little inspiration for what you can do with it? After this style was originally released, Liesl wrote a couple posts here about jackets she’s made with the pattern. Here’s one that focuses on wool fabric options you can use for making the jacket. And here’s another that shows the version that S wore for a couple years (which she, sadly, has now outgrown). And if you have any concerns about sewing a coat at home that will stand up to the worst of what winter can throw at you, here’s a full field testing report on what the jacket can do. (Spoiler alert: it passes with flying colors.)

Like our recently-released Puppet Show digital pattern, the pattern file you’ll download once you complete your purchase provides you with options for either printing and tiling at home using a standard printer or for sending full-sized pattern pieces to a print shop that can handle 36″ wide sheets.

You can purchase the pattern now from our website. We hope you enjoy having it available once again. And be sure to share what you make using it in the Oliver + S Flickr group.

Earlier this month we announced our participation in this year’s Small Business Saturday, sponsored by American Express.

For those of you who plan to use your American Express card this coming Saturday to receive two free Oliver + S patterns, here are the details you need to know.

 
• You need to have pre-registered your American Express card to participate in this offer. (Didn’t register your card already? You may still be able to do so on the Amex Small Business Saturday page.)
• Visit our website on Saturday November 26, 2011, and place a minimum of two patterns in your shopping bag.
• During check out, use coupon code SHOPSMALL. This code will reduce the net price of all paper sewing patterns in your cart to $12.50 each.
• Check out and pay for your order using your American Express card.
• After your order is placed, American Express will issue you a $25.00 statement credit. (The fine print on the registration page says this: “Statement credits are generally issued within 5 business days after your qualifying purchase, but may take up to 2 billing cycles to post to your account.”)

And that’s it. You get two patterns shipped to you and you  pay only the shipping and handling charge for your order.

Don’t use an American Express card? Don’t worry. The coupon code listed above will work for you too, making the price of all our paper patterns $12.50 for the day. (A minimum purchase of two patterns is required to receive the discount.)

So take advantage of this offer to stock up on our newest styles and some items from the backlist that you don’t already have in your collection. And remember, Oliver + S patterns make great gifts for your friends and relatives who sew.

We had so much fun last summer taping our two new instructional workshop videos with the crew from Interweave, and I’m thrilled to tell you that they’re now available for sale on our website.

We taped the videos on some of the hottest days of the year. But the whole crew rallied, and we had a lot of fun in the process. Here are a few behind-the-scenes photos from the shooting. I still can’t believe we fit all that equipment into our little space!

The first of the DVDs, Apparel Sewing Basics, is intended for someone who is just learning to sew. It covers basics like the tools and supplies you’ll need, how to select and prepare fabric for sewing, how to prepare and cut pattern pieces, and some of the basic techniques you’ll need to know to begin any project

If you’re a little more advanced seamstress but still somewhat uncomfortable with hems, seam finishes, zippers or buttonholes, the second DVD, Seams, Closures + Hems, is for you. In this video, I spend lots of time explaining the details in depth. I show you how to measure and mark a buttonhole, how a buttonhole is constructed, and my favorite methods for installing a lapped zipper, centered zipper, and invisible zipper. I think you’ll feel more confident once you’ve seen the tricks and tips.

The videos also include some bonus and interview footage shot around our studio and neighborhood here in Brooklyn.

I hope you’ll enjoy watching and learning from them as much as I enjoyed making them for you!

Now that Cape Ann is finally showing up in stores, here are a few quilts made from the collection. First up is the quilt we designed specifically for the fabrics.

When I went to the Moda website to find the link to this free, downloadable quilt pattern (Be sure to look at the last page of the instructions where they put each swatch in a little dress shape. So cute!). I also noticed that the company offers darling little tags you can download for your Cape Ann projects. (To find and download them, click on this link and type in “Cape Ann.” Then click on the yellow scissors icon next to download the labels.)

You can also download and print clever informational sheets about the collection, taken directly from the big, hard-to-get-your-hands-on catalog, called the Playbook, that Moda produces for each Quilt Market. These pages are really well-designed and show off all the fabrics in addition to project ideas, coordinating patterns, etc. They’re a lot of fun, I think. Aren’t they clever over at Moda? Love them.

Ok, next. Here is a simple quilt kit from Fat Quarter Shop that shows off the prints nicely, especially the Virginia’s Closet print with all my little dress drawings. You can buy the kit here.

I’ve seen some other quilts popping up all over the place. I love this little one over at Pink Suede Shoe, which she made from the little 2 1/2″ square sample packs (we call them petit fours) we hand out at Market. No quilt pattern for this, but it doesn’t really require one, does it? Very quick and simple.

So where can you buy the fabrics? Well, a quick search brought up the following right away, with many more to follow as the fabrics arrive:

Fat Quarter Shop, obviously

Hancocks of Paducah

I can’t wait to see what you make with the fabrics! A few items have already shown up on the Cape Ann Flickr group. We hope you’ll join them and show off your projects, too.

The work week is almost over (I guess it already is over for those of you lucky enough to have Veterans Day off here in the US), so I thought I would share a couple end-of-the-week laughs.

Last night we attended the launch party for the new BurdaStyle Sewing Handbook to which Giulia contributed a garment. Since we were there celebrating for her, we decided to let her talk us into costuming up for the photo booth. The resulting image is blackmail worthy, I know. But since Giulia, the instigator, decided to wear the goofiest glasses, I figured she would be the one getting the most blackmail threats.

And, of course, you know by now that today November 11, 2011, is the best corduroy day ever, right? If you’re a corduroy lover, you can show your pride by joining The Corduroy Appreciation Club.