Guest Tutorial: Sarai of Colette Patterns

Have you heard of Colette Patterns yet? Recently Colette has burst onto the sewing scene with lovely, retro-inspired sewing patterns for women. Their pattern collection features dresses, blouses, a coat, and even lingerie. They recently released a new pattern that really piqued my interest: their Negroni shirt for MEN! I had to have it. I ordered it right away and it went straight onto "the list" of projects for Celebrate the Boy *crossing fingers that I'll get Mr Rae's finished in time to show you.*

Here's a peek at the Negroni pattern (all images courtesy of Colette Patterns):

I knew I had to ask Colette's creator Sarai to help us out when it comes to sewing for men and boys. Not only is she a talented designer and seamstress, she writes fantastic tutorials. Today she's written a couple of tutorials for us on flat-felled seams. Don't let the terminology scare you, this is one of the best ways to make guys' clothing (or any clothing for that matter) look professionally finished, and you'll be amazed at how easy it is to do! She's also got a giveaway for us today that I know you'll find very exciting. Even if you don't enter the giveaway make sure you at least go and take a look at the Colette website which is one of the prettiest I've ever seen.Here's Sarai:

"Hi friends, I'm Sarai from Colette Patterns! While the trademark of our patterns might be a feminine, vintage-inspired style, I'm also passionate about sewing for men. In fact, we recently introduced our very first men's pattern, the Negroni.

While Colette Patterns is focused on adults rather than kids, when Rae asked me to participate in Celebrate The Boy Month, I jumped at the chance to show you some sewing techniques that could be applied just as easily to boys' clothing as men's (or women's, for that matter). In honor of this month, I've written not one but two tutorials on creating flat felled seams, a very sturdy and durable seam used often in guys' (and little guys') shirts and trousers. The first tutorial shows you how to do these seams without the aid of a special foot, and the second shows you how to use the foot if you have one."

Click on the links below to go directly to Sarai's posts over on the Colette blog:

Tutorial: How to sew a flat felled seam without a specialty foot

Tutorial: How to sew a flat felled seam with a felling foot

Thanks Sarai for these wonderful tutorials! We're so glad you could join us to help celebrate the boy!

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Have you seen the Men's Shirt Sewalong that's happening over at Male Pattern Boldness? Peter's writing is hilarious and his sewing is impeccable. If you've been thinking about making a Negroni shirt, be sure to take a look!

This entire month of THE BOY is a collaboration between myself and Dana of MADE! Dana's doing a fantastic Kids Pant Series (including a free pattern that I think might actually fit Elliot, yipee!) and yesterday added an easy lining tutorial for pants! Check it out:

And one last thing: if you're a local, come to our next SE Michigan Crafter's Meetup on Thursday March 10. The next one's happening in Livonia again and we'd love to have you join us! See these posts for more information on what it's all about.