Back in design school, one of our best professors frequently gave our class the assignment to go home and each sketch 50 dress concepts before class the next day. To come up with that many unique ideas in one evening, on top of our full course-load of homework, felt unimaginably difficult. But it took that many sketches to really push out new and imaginative designs, and somehow we always managed to complete the task on time.

I recently gave myself the same type of homework and spent the past three full days filling a sketchbook with page upon page of ideas for future sewing patterns. Hopefully when I look back at the designs I’ll find some useful ideas, now that the fall patterns are at the printer and it’s time to start work on the spring collection.

While I was in the studio, looking for some inspiration, I also came across some other sketches and thought you might enjoy seeing them. These are the spring sewing patterns, not in their first incarnation as preliminary ideas but as part of the package I send to Dan, our illustrator, each season, so he can paint the paper doll clothing. Among the many ways that I communicate with Dan are sketches I make showing him what the clothes should look like on the dolls. I also send photographs, fabric and color swatches, and lengthy notes about each garment. But the sketches are the most useful part of the package, I think. I can show exactly what the silhouette is: how long a skirt should be, how closely (or loosely) a garment should fit, where the pockets are placed and how the collar sits. Here is the Ice Cream Dress (sorry for the smudges; I generally work with pencil on vellum so I can draw directly on top of the a paper doll to get the proportions right.):

I get to pretend that I’m an illustrator when I do this, except that I use a lot of words to show what I mean. Dan doesn’t have that luxury. (On the other hand, he’s a professional illustrator; I merely need to communicate an idea, thank goodness.)

Here are the other spring patterns, just for the fun of it:

So I spell out (literally) a lot of information here, but there is one area in which I let Dan have complete control: I always suggest a few props to coordinate with the name of each pattern, and Dan chooses exactly which prop to draw and how to show it. He’s never disappointed me. My favorite prop is still the bunny slippers. After he finished the painting, I found an exact match for them and bought them as a prop for Quilt Market.

Ok, back to my sketches.

Several people have asked about the books we presented during last Saturday’s Crafternoon at the New York Public Library. Jessica Pigza, our wonderful sewing librarian who organized the event, has posted a summary with catalog links to many of the books on her blog. I hope you’ll have a chance to look at some of these materials–we enjoyed seeing the books and images that inspire each other and each managed to learn something new in the process.

This is a cover from the July 1928 issue of Amateur Golfer magazine. Who knew golfing could be so inspirational!

We love Spoonflower. If you’re not familiar with this innovative company, they can digitally print your designs onto a variety of fabrics like quilting cotton, sateen, and even a new linen/cotton canvas quality. Heather Ross made her skirt for our library appearance last week by printing onto Spoonflower’s sateen, and it looked fantastic! The fabric has a nice hand, the printing quality is very high, and the price is shockingly affordable for custom printing of such a high caliber.

Every week Spoonflower has a fabric contest, and this week’s contest required entrants to “create a sewing pattern and design for an article of children’s clothing that includes — in one yard — all the pieces, cut lines, seam allowances and short instructions printed directly on the fabric.” No easy task right? Well, they received seventeen entries!

I’m so impressed with this design by Sylvia Ion. The dress design itself, the print (love the lace!), and the accompanying illustration are all adorable, professional, and very clever. So you know who I’m voting for. What about you?

Everyone had a great time on Saturday. And so many of you attended! Thank you, everyone who came. It’s always lots of fun to meet other crafters and to get to know you. Many of you had cameras, too, so I’m hoping to see some photos of the event.

Heather showed us the most amazing illustrated books of field flowers and fish (as well as a mermaid!), and Denyse shared some old quilt books and contemporary art as inspiration. I was happy to display those fashion plates I showed you on Friday, along with some materials that have been inspiring me for some soon-to-be-announced projects.

I told you we had a beautiful room? I neglected to ask anyone to take photos, so these pictures were taken by S on our way out.

Thank you to to our friend and librarian Jessica Pigza, to Crafternoon author and organizer Maura Madden, to the staff of the library, and to Heather, who organized the event. And you must see Heather’s skirt, made specially for the occasion using images from the library’s digital collection. She also includes instructions for making it using a modified pattern from her book, so visit her blog for details.

Tiny rickrack also adds a feminine detail to this Sailboat Top where it was applied to the topstitching. April used a special tool for this step, but you could also apply the rickrack over topstitching or by using basting as a guide. I think the miniature rickrack enhances the sweet Little Red Riding Hood fabric and, again, adds some visual interest to a pattern that can be made for boys and girls.

Dan Andreasen illustrates the Oliver + S paper dolls. We were able to speak with him recently about his background and some of his most enjoyable recent projects. (Part 1 of the interview can be found here.)

What do you like to illustrate most?
Right now I’m getting a kick out of illustrating my own stories. I like that a lot. After doing piles and piles of book jackets and picture books, I started writing my own stories. I’m working on my sixth book now to be published next year.

Do you have a favorite?
I do. It came out last year, and it’s called The Giant of Seville. It’s based loosely on a giant who moved to a small town and spent his life in the circus in the 1800s after the Civil War. His name was Martin Van Buren Bates. He weighed 525 pounds and was 7’ 11.5” tall. He married a woman who was a giant too. She was even a little taller than he was. The way I wrote the story, it’s fictional. It’s about someone who’s different and can fit into a community. I think it’s a neat book for kids.

How did you find out about these people?
I don’t remember how I found out about them originally. I must have stumbled across an article at the historical society. There are a couple plaques there now indicating that giants used to live there. In one of the shops they may have had a pair of his boots in a window case.

When my kids were younger, we used to drive through the town of Seville which is not too far from where we live. My son was in a car seat, and I told him that giants used to live here. His eyes would get as big as saucers, and he would look around like he expected to see giants today. I used to tell my kids about the giant couple who lived in this town, and I figured if they were that interested there was something there that I could write about.

My story is a fictionalized account of these real people’s lives. It’s a made up story the way I would make up stories to tell the kids. I’ve met some real sticklers for historical fact. It bugs them that I don’t tell the true story, but I had a story I wanted to tell. I used a little bit of historical fact and built a lot of fiction around it to allow me to tell the story of someone different and how he was accepted.

What do you like about the Oliver + S paper dolls you do?
I’ve enjoyed creating the paper dolls. I think it’s a clever and unique way to feature the patterns. And I think the retro look, in a strange way, is really fresh.

Dan Andreasen, creator of the Oliver + S paper dolls, began his career as a sculptor and illustrator for American Greetings Corp. Over the past 25 years, he has illustrated more than 35 picture books. His illustrations have also been used to advertise iconic American products ranging from Orville Redenbacher to Harley Davidson.

This is something that our customers wouldn’t necessarily know, but your original illustrations for Oliver + S are really small in scale. How are you able to achieve so much detail in such a small space?
Good glasses, I guess! I usually work to size. When I illustrate a season for Oliver + S, the whole thing (a paper doll and five outfits) fits on an 8.5 x 11 inch piece of paper.

My first job was working for American Greetings as an in-house illustrator and in their studio. I just got used to working small like that. It’s the way we did things. If I’m doing a book jacket, I’ll sometimes do that at 150 to 200 % of the reproduction size. But for most of my illustrations I work to size.

How did you get your start as an illustrator?
I was 19 years old when I was hired at American Greetings Corp. Back in 1980, I was at Kent State working on a fine art major. I decided to go look for a job, and I went to American Greetings with my portfolio.

When I was waiting for my turn to go in to interview, the receptionist took a phone call, and I heard her say she was sorry but there were no artist positions available—unless you can sculpt. Of course, my portfolio was filled with all two-dimensional work. When my turn came, I went in and showed my portfolio. The interviewer asked me what deep in my heart I wanted to do, and I said I wanted to sculpt. So they sent me home with a block of clay and told me to make something. I did. And I got the job.

I spent my first few years there using dental tools to sculpt figurine and picture frame prototypes. They would be shipped overseas to be mass produced. After a couple years of that I moved into the conventional design department.

Did you learn anything interesting from working in three dimensions?
I learned that I really wanted to paint, not sculpt!

I worked through the 1980s at American Greetings, and at the end of the 1980s I hooked up with an agent in New York who started giving me publishing work. So I started working for myself. I did two American Girl series—first the Felicity then the Samantha books.

When you illustrated the American Girl books, you based some of your work on your own children, didn’t you? What did they think about that at the time?
Anybody who hangs around my studio long enough ends up in one of my books.

My kids grew up with that. My oldest daughter is 22 now. Felicity’s younger sister and brother were my kids. Later when I did the Samantha books, I used my daughter as the model for Samantha and her best friend for Nellie. My youngest is five now, and she’s my new model.

I work with professional and neighborhood models too. When I hire someone to model for me, I pay them. So when my kids would pose for me, I would give them a few dollars. It was a real job for them, and they’ve always been good sports about it. When my oldest was in kindergarten, her teacher asked her what kind of work her dad did, and she said, “He colors.” As far back as their memories go, I was always working in my home studio.

Next: Dan discusses his favorite recent project.

A few months ago when we first launched the Boutique Sewer Program, we promised we would be working to support the participants of the program. We want to build a community, linking seamstresses with customers who want to purchase handmade garments.

To that end, I’m pleased to announce a new page on our website: the Garments page, which contains links to boutique sewers who are offering readymade and custom clothing created from Oliver + S patterns. Now if you don’t have the time to sew (or haven’t learned how yet), you can still purchase a piece of clothing made from one of our designs.

This new section of our website will put you in touch directly with talented sewers who are willing to work with you to create custom garments to your specifications. We hope to expand the number of participants in the program in upcoming weeks, and we will be adding more photos of finished garments. Stop by often to see the work of our talented boutique sewers highlighted.

A few months ago, I wrote a post about Natalie Chanin’s Alabama Stitch Book on my personal blog. I adore Natalie’s work, her book, and her sustainable approach to clothing and design.

Following my post, I received a very kind email from Natalie, which started a lengthy series of conversations via email and phone. It’s been a pleasure to get to know her, and we’ve started to collaborate on a few ideas which I’ll tell you about when the time is right.

In the meantime, I was thrilled to open this month’s issue of Cookie magazine and discover a feature article about Natalie, her family, and her company. And there was an additional little surprise in the article: a Tea Party sundress, made using Natalie’s own fabric and construction techniques.

You can see another photo of the dress (and her adorable daughter) and read more about it on Natalie’s blog. Thanks, Natalie!