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Free Pattern: A gentleman’s necktie

Holy smokes, Father’s Day is this Sunday! What a great excuse to share a new pattern with you all: a classic gentleman’s necktie brought to you by the lovely Kristina Angelozzi of Fischer clothing. We will hand the blog over to Kristina as she shows you the step-by-step process for sewing up a super special gift.

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Hello Colette readers, I’m Kristina of Fischer clothing from Brooklyn and I’m thrilled Colette Patterns is giving me the opportunity to share a little tutorial with you!

Neckties seem like a pretty cliché Father’s Day gift, but they can definitely take on a whole new sentiment when you make them yourself. It’s so much more personal to hand pick a fabric you know he’ll love, isn’t it? I chose a multicolor madras pattern for my dad since he’s a pretty classic and casual dude.

When I first set out to add ties to my mens collections about two years ago, I searched high and low for a thorough tutorial on how to make them. I was unsuccessful and finally wound up buying a few ties at a thrift store and tearing them apart to see how they were constructed. I altered a few details to suit my style and have been hand-making them here in Brooklyn ever since.

I’ve replicated my patten in a downloadable version for you all to try at home. This tie is a standard 55″ length and 3 3/4″ Wide. It’s slim, and I find it looks good on a variety of body types.

Supplies Needed:

  • Our free downloadable necktie pattern
  • outer fabric: 3/4 yd of 45″ or 60″ wide fabric
  • contrast lining fabric: 1/4 yd
  • interlining (I use muslin): 1 1/4 yd
  • thread to match the outer fabric
  • iron & ironing board
  • sewing machine
  • scissors

Continue reading to learn how to make a necktie >

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Ask the readers: Is your taste in fabric different from your taste in clothes?

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Way way back in January, Charlotte of the blog seamripped wrote about how her taste in fabric was radically different from her taste in clothing.

I’ve been meaning to write about this ever since. Because I’ve noticed the same thing.

As I said in my comment, I love neutral colors and I wear a lot of warm and muted pinks. I wear tons of black, ivory, and camel.

But if you look at my fabric stash, you’ll find the color best represented there is blue. Why? I have no idea.

I also have lots of lovely colorful and bold prints in my fabric stash, even though I really prefer classic patterns (checks, stripes, dots with the occasional awesome floral).

I think there’s a tendency to go for more attention-getting colors and prints in the fabric store because they aren’t in context. You’re judging them purely on their own aesthetic value, rather than the look of an entire garment. A nice black wool looks sort of boring on the bolt, but can look amazing in the context of a beautiful coat.

What do you think? Are your fabric choices at odds with the colors and prints you actually wear?

21

Meet Rachel, our new web editor!

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I want to introduce you all to Rachel Marie, our brand new web editor!

Rachel joined us this week at Colette Patterns, and we’re so happy to have her. She’ll be helping out with the blog, which means more time for us to do in depth posts, like tutorials and sew-alongs. She’ll be working directly with Kristen and me right here in the studio.

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Rachel is an Oregon native, a rare thing here in Portland it seems! She attended local arts magnet schools and was also a member of a modern dance company before studying philosophy at the University of Oregon. She loves coffee, writing, photography and freshly cut flowers (as do we all here at CPHQ).

You can check out Rachel’s blog to learn a little more about her sewing adventures.

Please join me in giving Rachel a warm welcome!

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Detail Inspiration: Plaid and overlay

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I’m totally fascinated by this dress, for sale from Vintageous.

At first, I thought this dress was made of two layers of plaid fabrics overlayed on one another, perhaps a chiffon over taffeta. That’s definitely what it looks like.

But actually, this is a plaid taffeta dress with an overlay of marquisette, a light mesh fabric. The mesh is the dark blue chiffon-like fabric, while only the taffeta has the large scale plaid. The layering gives it a really cool effect, don’t you think?

It’s cut on the bias and matched beautifully at the front. I also love the way it plays with directionality. The belt is cut straight along a stripe, and so is the top fold. There’s a lot to admire here.

Images: via Vintageous.

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New pattern June 18

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Just wanted to throw out a quick note and let you guys know that our summer pattern will be launching June 18! I don’t want to reveal too much, but it’s pretty awesome. I briefly considered playing 20 questions with you guys, but I’m too afraid of someone getting too close and having to ruin the surprise.

I will tell you 5 things:

  1. This one will be intermediate, though I’d say it’s on the easy side of intermediate. We’ll be doing a sew-along to go with it too.
  2. It has buttons (obviously, as you can see from the photo).
  3. It’s a classic style that takes a little inspiration from the late 50s and early 60s.
  4. It will work for any season.
  5. It looks cute with a belt.

That’s all I’m going to say for now. I can’t wait to share more!

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