guest posting at oliver + s

i don’t think it’s any secret that i love oliver + s patterns.  i showed a partial stack of my patterns and explained that love in this guest post.  since then, my pattern repertoire has grown by two (i now own and have sewn the school photo dress and the field trip raglan)!

though my mom can sew anything, i didn’t have much of an interest in sewing myself until i got fed up spending more than i wanted to on the simplest cotton toddler skirts and asked for a sewing machine in 2009.  at that point, i was married with a daughter of my own and no longer lived at my folks’ house to learn from my mom directly (bummer!).  i started sewing in our basement during Em’s 4 hour monster naps, when i was stuck at home but couldn’t make much noise.  i credit oliver + s patterns and the online sewing community with teaching me how to sew, building my confidence and skill, and making me fall in love with handmade.  i think it was always in my blood, i just hadn’t discovered my passion for it yet.

oliver + s

here’s my first sewing/oliver + s project!  Em was just 15 months old.

lazy days skirt

today i’m guest posting on the oliver + s blog, and i’m over the moon about it!  when i took two hours to sew that first little lazy days skirt three years ago, there was no way i imagined it leading to something like this – that the designer of the pattern would notice my work and comment,  that she’d notice and link to other things i’ve made with her patterns over the past couple years, and now that she’d approach me to write a post for the company’s blog.  i still can’t really believe it, frankly.

check out my post for the oliver + s blog here!

i rounded up some of my own projects and mixed them up with a bunch of lovely autumnal inspiration from the ever-bustling flickr group, to show how even the more summery oliver + s patterns can be easily adapted to fall sewing.

thanks for reading, guys.

PS – for even more fall sewing inspiration, caila has a really wonderful series going on this week with some of my favorite bloggers sharing their favorite fall patterns – you can find that right here!

17 thoughts on “guest posting at oliver + s”

  3. Stef says:
    Reply

    Ooooo – I love your post over there. Too many great ideas, not enough time to sew. For someone that has no oliver+s patterns from someone that has them all, which would you recommend as the number one must have. I drool over all the patterns and can’t decide on just one and then end up with none.

    • kristin says:
      Reply

      Oh geez Stef, hard question!!! If anyone else is seeing this please comment too!

      If you just want to give them a shot, try the popover sundress! Free, and you get a feel for how O+S patterns look and sew. I think the puppet show dress, class picnic blouse and shorts, and jumprope dress seem very much your style and would be so cute on your girls. My personal favorite is probably the sailboat top and pants but I’ve only sewn it for my son. It would look pretty cute in girly fabric though, and it does come with a skirt pattern too! Little sailor-type style, so cute and really versatile.

  5. rachel says:
    Reply

    kristin, i started sewing for the very same reasons! i actually just blogged about that yesterday. your story also gives me hope about my own daughter. indigo got mad at me and said, “when i grow up, i’m not going to sew. i’m going to buy my kids’ clothes at the STORE! does that make you mad??!!” hahahaha i said, no, she needed to find her own path. so funny though. she was totally trying to needle me!

    • kristin says:
      Reply

      omigosh! what a little stinker! Haha. Em is still young enough that she wants to learn to sew and I think she’s proud of the things I make her, but I wonder what’ll happen a few years from now…

  8. Jess says:
    Reply

    loved the post, Kristin! How sad is it that I’d never used one of their patterns before? That will soon be remedied, never fear. I ordered 3 during KCWC! can’t wait to try them. 🙂

  10. Cherie says:
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    So awesome, Kristin! It’s kind of a wonder why you haven’t posted over there earlier, it’s like you already work for them 😉 I loved the post and I’ve loved all your Oliver + S creations. You definitely inspired me to give them a try!

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