Congratulations to Lisa M. for winning a copy of Apparel Sewing Basics in our giveaway. What is Lisa asking Santa for this year?

“This year I haven’t asked Santa for anything. My focus is to enjoy spending time with family and to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.”

With an answer like that, she really deserves to win, doesn’t she?

But don’t despair if you didn’t win. We have a little something special for most of you, too.

Through the rest of December, Interweave is offering shoppers in the United States a $5 rebate on the purchase of either of Liesl’s workshop videos. Click on the coupon above to enlarge and print it. Send the completed coupon to Interweave along with a copy of the emailed sales receipt you receive when you purchase one of the DVDs from our website, and Interweave will send you the rebate.

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.

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!

I’m happy to let you know that Seams, Closures + Hems, the second of the two DVDs I filmed with Interweave this summer, is now available for purchase.

This new video is intended as a companion to the first, Apparel Sewing Basics. As the title implies, this video focus on the techniques that you can use to give your garments a professional finish. In it I walk you through four different types of seam finishes, button holes and zippers, and three different styles of hemming (including some hand hemming techniques that will give your sewing projects a beautiful finish). I also share some information about my design process and give you some other tips for improving your sewing and making it more enjoyable.

Here’s a short preview of what you’ll see in the 107-minute video.

Seams, Closures + Hems is now available as a download on the Interweave website. They are also taking pre-orders for those who prefer to wait to receive a DVD version. We will have DVDs for sale on our website later this fall.

I hope you enjoy watching this video as much as I enjoyed making it!

Earlier this summer, I alluded to a little filming we were planning to do. I’m very excited to finally be able to tell you all about this project!

This past July I had the pleasure of working with a team from Interweave, the folks who publish Stitch magazine, to record a couple of instructional videos right here in our studio in Brooklyn. The first of those videos, Apparel Sewing Basics, is now available for purchase as a download (it will be available as a DVD soon, too, if you prefer a hard copy) at the Interweave website.

In this video I introduce you to my favorite sewing tools, talk about selecting and preparing your fabric, and show you how to get your pattern ready to sew. Then I demonstrate how to sew curves, corners, gathers and ease-stitches, and edgestitching. I’ve included lots of little tips and tricks  that will help you as you sew and as you plan your sewing.

The 90-minute video also includes some interviews and other fun bits in between the serious sewing. Here’s a little preview of what you’ll see.

I had so much fun making this video! Tricia Waddell, the editor of Stitch, is a real professional and a pleasure to know. We bounced around a lot of ideas and had a great time preparing for the filming. Garrett and Caroline from the production team were fantastic, energetic and enthusiastic. They did a beautiful job bringing everything together.

I’ll tell you more about the whole process later, and I’ll let you know when the DVD is available. You’ll be able to purchase it on our website, too.