That's the phrase you'll find inside every sewing pattern produced by Storybook Patterns; our exciting new venture, due to launch later this year.
The idea is one borne partly of inspiration and partly of frustration: Inspiration from the many Stitchery students who have found, to their surprise, that they really can make their own clothing; inspiration from the 'unseen people' who manufacture our clothing, in far off lands, and whose stories are seldom told; and inspiration from the simple silhouettes and styles that we have grown to love.
But also frustration: Frustration at the status quo of sewing patterns, with their dated packaging and mind-boggling instructions; frustration at the generic fashions and poor quality of high street clothing; and frustration that sewing patterns are all-too-often just too difficult to fit to non 'model sizes'.
And so, Storybook Patterns is our answer.
An independant pattern company, based in Glasgow, offering simple, flattering garment designs, with a digital age approach to user friendliness
At least that's how we described it to the judging panel for Starter for 6; a government sponsored mentorship program created specifically for creative startups such as ours. And it obviously worked, as we were accepted to the program; whittled down from over 100 applicants to the 29 participants.
With the aid of SF6, our plan is to launch Storybook Patterns sometime in late Spring 2016 (this is both exciting and daunting at the same time!). We'll keep you posted as we build towards this. And in the meantime we'll be asking you sewers to attend some special events, geared at making our patterns even more fantastic. More about that below.
Calling All Sewers!
As part of our market research for Storybook Patterns, we're gathering a number of students (past and present) for a bit of a chin wag about sewing patterns: things you like; things you don't like; and any ideas you have for making patterns much better.
Our first gathering will be this coming Monday, the 30th at 7:30pm, here at The Stitchery. The session will last a maximum of 1.5 hours, and we will of course provide some nibbles and drinks.
If you would like to take part in these discussions, please send us an email at info@thestitcherystudio.com.
