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Thank you for 5 amazing years (and here’s to the next 5)!
It’s a very special day.
Today marks the five year anniversary of Colette Patterns, an incredible milestone for our little company and for me personally.
It’s all thanks to you.
I’ve grown so much and learned more than I could have imagined in the last five years. Sometimes this involved discovering talents I didn’t know I had, like time management, business development, and storytelling.
Other times, it’s pushed me to face my weaknesses, like fear of rejection, confronting people who disappoint me, or assuming any sort of authority whatsoever (ugh, still so hard).
I could list a thousand lessons learned, mistakes made, and small triumphs achieved.
But there’s one discovery that rises above all of that, that informs everything I do now, and that has transformed the way I run this little ship. It’s the importance of sincerely, deeply caring about the people that I work for.
That’s you.
I started this business because I thought the idea was interesting, because I wanted to create something that I’d want to use, and because I wanted to change my life for the better.
All of that happened, but in the end, it isn’t what drives me anymore. Sure, I want a business that sustains me and my crew. But I believe the way to do that is to create things that sustain you.
I want to be a force for good, even in a small way, in your creative lives. I want to spread the joy I feel in making and learning, because I know what a powerful force it is. I want just a little more happiness in the world, and I think making things with your hands is a path to that.
So please raise a virtual glass to the last 5 years of Colette Patterns, and here’s to the next 5. I anticipate many adventures, new ideas, and great conversations along the way.
Comments
Heidi massingill
April 30, 2014 #
Congrats on your 5 yr anniversary, and best wishes for many more! Thanks so much for your patterns – they have spread much happiness into the world!
Mandy
April 30, 2014 #
Many many congratulations on reaching this milestone. I look forward to seeing what you come up with over the next five years, and beyond.
sophie
April 30, 2014 #
joyeux anniversaire Colette!!
Monica
April 30, 2014 #
I’ll raise my glass to that! Well done.
sewlittletime
April 30, 2014 #
wow – 5 years! congratulations! good luck for the next 5, and the 5 after that. hopefully you’;ll be around long enough for my daughter to be buying your patterns when she’s old enough (she’s 5)
maddie
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulations, Sarai! My glass is raised!
Sewsewcial
April 30, 2014 #
Congrats on 5 years. Your story is fascinating and inspiring to those who aim to see their passions become their livelihood and life’s work. You should be so proud.
Deanna
April 30, 2014 #
I raise my coffee cup to you! I love your patterns and even more so, your blog. The one blog I check almost every day of the week. Hoping some day to come to Portland and say hello in person.
Many happy returns of the day! Keep up the awesome work.
Stevie
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulations Sarai and team. You are so dedicated and have built a fabulous company. Wish I could work for you guys!
Here’s to the next five!
x
Nicoletta
April 30, 2014 #
congrats for these first 5 years! raise my glass for you and keep on doing this good!
Jet Set Sewing
April 30, 2014 #
That’s quite an accomplishment. Congratulations!
Annette Tirette
April 30, 2014 #
I’m raising a peanut butter sandwich to you. The best of luck in the following years!
Andrea
April 30, 2014 #
I wish you the happiest of Happy Anniversaries, Sarai.
Sierra
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulations on 5 years! Your patterns, books, and blog are an endless source of inspiration. I’ve only known about your company for about a year, but I absolutely love it.
Sarah
April 30, 2014 #
What?! Five years already?! Where does the time go? I cannot imagine sewing without Colette in my arsenal. Here’s to many, many more years!
Sarai
April 30, 2014 #
I know! Some days it feels like we just started. But then, we’ve also gone through so much change.
Rachel
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulations! I love all of your patterns, can’t wait to see what you do with the next five years!
Maggie
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulations! Like everyone else here, I love your patterns and have so enjoyed being part of this ever creative corner of the internet. May we share many more years to come with you!
Juliana Calado
April 30, 2014 #
I salute you and thank you for all the inspiration and strenght!
What you said is really true, for me: you are a force for good and a model of creativeness, strenght and feminine power!
greetings from Brazil, a toast for many more years to come!
Sarai
April 30, 2014 #
That’s an amazing compliment!
Sheila
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulations on your 5 year anniversary! You have done amazing things and we all get to enjoy your creativity and work. Thank you so much for all you are doing. I love your patterns, web blog, and all the tidbits and encouragement! Raising my glass to you and looking forward to the next 5.
gabriel ratchet
April 30, 2014 #
“I want to be a force for good, even in a small way, in your creative lives. I want to spread the joy I feel in making and learning, because I know what a powerful force it is. I want just a little more happiness in the world, and I think making things with your hands is a path to that.”
and so you are, and so you do, and so there is.
well done.
Sarai
April 30, 2014 #
Thank you, gabriel.
Cheryl
April 30, 2014 #
Cheers to you! Congrats to your first five years. Can’t wait to see what will be in my Colette wardrobe next :-)
Lori C.
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulations for 5 years of awesomeness, Sarai, and best wishes for all the years to come!
Christine
April 30, 2014 #
Yay! Cheers to you and Kenn and the whole Colette team, past and present!
Amanda
April 30, 2014 #
*Clink* Well done!! Thank you for five great years of inspiring patterns, books, and perhaps most importantly, fueling this amazing community – and here’s to the next five!! I’ll be there! ;)
sonia
April 30, 2014 #
I bought fitting and pattern alteration based on a Colette recommendation, and the book was a revelation, solving a lifelong fitting problem (I have not one but two lines of asymmetry). I now have a wardrobe architect file to pull everything I love in clothes together. So I raise my coffee to Colette, thank you, for making clothes make sense, making lovely patterns, and for making clothes enjoyable (maybe even a little magical again).
Sarai
April 30, 2014 #
That’s wonderful, I treasure that book!
Natacha
April 30, 2014 #
Cheers and “santé!” from Paris. And thank YOU!
The best to you and your team. You are amazing!
wundermary
April 30, 2014 #
Has it been five years? Amazing, and congratulations!
fangaroni
April 30, 2014 #
Here’s to many more! Congrats on creating a wonderful, creative and inspirational small biz!
Cheryl
April 30, 2014 #
Yes, it IS a deep joy to make things and you DO help people to find that. Thank you for helping me make the first top I’ve ever had that properly fits my small frame, big boobs shape. It is a lasting joy to have this knowledge and I’m passing the skill on to my daughters who have inherited my shape. We all thank you, Sarai. Good job!
Melissa
April 30, 2014 #
Congrats! Can’t wait to see what the next 5 years bring :D
Helen
April 30, 2014 #
Happy anniversary! Yours was the first independent pattern company I ever discovered, and my route into the online sewing world, which has become my world! Thank you, because your patterns showed me that well designed patterns with thorough, helpful instructions, in my style, actually existed. Now I rarely sew anything other than independent. Here’s to the next great 5 years!
Marianna
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulations! You have been an inspiration and a hero (yeah, live with it!) and I’m all agog as to what you will do next. Far as I’m concerned, you can’t put a foot wrong!
Sarai
April 30, 2014 #
Your comment made me think of this, and that made me happy.
Victoria
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulations! I’m very excited to see where the next five years take us.
SewSleepy
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulation on 5 years in business that is an awesome accomplishment. I love your patterns and can honestly say that it is your patterns that have taught me how to sew. Thank you Sarai
cathy
April 30, 2014 #
Happy birthday to CP!! Love everything you do!
Heide
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulations!
Marlise
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulations! I still remember discovering your personal blog just a couple of months after moving to California and diving into “handmade USA” from there. Following your growing company is really inspiring. So thank you for sharing your experience with us and also thank you for all the great work you do. I just ordered your new book and can´t wait for its arrival (shipping overseas takes forever it seems…).
Sarai
April 30, 2014 #
Yay, I love hearing from people who were here from the beginning… or even before the beginning!
Julie Allan
April 30, 2014 #
And a glass raised back at you – thank you for bringing a bright, practical and modern twist to sewing at home – really looking forward to seeing where you will go in the next five !!
Rebecca
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulations! You really are an inspiration!
A Morris
April 30, 2014 #
WOW, CONGRATULATIONS, I read your blog every every chance I get. xx
Lisa
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulations! It’s been five amazing years for all of us watching out here. Keep up the wonderful work!
Samina
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulations on a fantastic 5 years & here’s to very many more!
Vanessa
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulations!!
Colleen
April 30, 2014 #
I have just raised a literal mug of Scottish Breakfast tea to you — did you see it? :)
You guys are my shining light and are the reason I started to sew for myself years ago. I’m so glad that you — and the others that I discovered because of you — are here. But, especially: You! Happy Anniversary!
Sarai
April 30, 2014 #
I saw it in my mind! It looked delicious.
Honora
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulations, and thank you for the fantastic patterns!
Joyce Giordano
April 30, 2014 #
You’ve done a great job, Sarai. It was scary at first but you quickly showed that you have what it takes to succeed. Congratulations to you and Kenn. I’m proud of both of you.
Amelia
April 30, 2014 #
Wow, congratulations on 5 years! It’s an amazing achievement and it must be great to see so many makes from all of your patterns being made every day! I have the Laurel and Violet ready to go, just need to find time to make them!
Becky
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulations! You and your company have made so many amazing contributions to the sewing community, and I wish you all the best for many, many years to come!
Lady Stitcher
April 30, 2014 #
Happy Anniversary!! Five years – well done! :) Colette Patterns has been an immeasurably positive influence on my sewing and I’m looking forward to seeing what the next five years bring you – and us :) Congratulations and thank you!
Michelle Rose
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulations! I remember making my first Colette pattern (a Parfait) shortly after you launched while I was in the throes of preparing for my wedding later that summer. Five years later, I’m a happily married mom of a 2-year-old and have sewn probably around a dozen Colette patterns (most recently, the Mabel and Moneta). I can’t wait to see what you do next!
Isabel
April 30, 2014 #
Congrats! and here is to many more years (and amazing patterns…) :)
Lauren of Rosie Wednesday
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulations on 5 years! You’ve created such a wonderful company and community, and I’m so looking forward to sewing with you for many more years to come!
Elizabeth Koz.
April 30, 2014 #
Thank You! I so much enjoy exploring your patterns, reading your words and being a part of the conversation. Congratulations and cheers to many more!
Tasia
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulations! You’re an inspiration to so many sewing enthusiasts, small business owners and anyone who’s ever wanted to follow their dreams and make cool stuff. You’ve done an amazing job of building a community, creating great products and constantly improving. Hope the next five years (and then some!) are equally rewarding and enjoyable!
Sarai
May 1, 2014 #
Thanks Tasia!
cyngehin
April 30, 2014 #
Five years! I just found you two years ago and have been amazed by all the tips and tricks I have learned. Great business and blog that you have created. The first five have been awesome and I have come to expect, without disappointment, the same every time I connect with ‘Colette’. I purchased your first basic sewing book and felt connected with Colette after reading. I think it’s saying ‘something’ that you can connect with old-time sewers like myself and young, beginning sewers. We all want to create and you have made that possible while encouraging quality, style and individuality. Many Thanks
Cherie
April 30, 2014 #
After several years off from sewing one of the best surprises when I started up again was your wonderful patterns and blog. Thank you and I hope the next five years are good to you and your team.
Kate Hampshire
April 30, 2014 #
Congratulations on your 5th birthday. I’m looking forward to more patters. My little button up skirt is the favourite thing in my wardrobe. Keep ’em coming!
Juliette
May 1, 2014 #
Congratulations to the whole team, and all the best for the years to come – I hope there’ll be many! I raise my mug of tea to tour success !Keep being awesome !
Lauren
May 1, 2014 #
A huge big massive congratulations to you and all your gang. I’m so pleased and happy for you and so pleased that your part of the sewing world x x x
stella
May 1, 2014 #
congratulations from germany, too !
im a little sewingteacher in a little city in southwest germany.
the sparkling in the eyes, when the women who got to my courses see how easy it is to create something new for themselves makes me happy. the understanding to be an own creator is impossibly for those woman.
so, i understand the feelings you mentioned in your post …
thank you
and best wishes to you and yout team !
stella
Donna Mitnick
May 1, 2014 #
O.K. I have managed to keep all my “so proud of you my chest may burst” comments to myself for five years, but I can’t keep it in anymore. You are amazing and a mother could not be more proud of her daughter than I am of you.
Congratulations! I know what hard work it has been but I never doubted that you would succeed and will keep on succeeding. Love you.
Sarai
May 1, 2014 #
THANKS MOM!!!
sewing princess
May 2, 2014 #
Sarai, from the onset I loved Colette Patterns designs, brand image and pictures. You have set up a great company and I wish you many more successful years. I am very happy that sewing has been finally revived!
Tilly
May 3, 2014 #
5 years? Wow!! I mean, I know it’s 5 years because I remember 4.5 years ago first reading about Colette Patterns on Casey’s blog where she tested the Ceylon dress and I knew I HAD to make it too. But 5 years sounds so grown up. It’s a pleasure to have watched how your business has grown over the years into such a success. Huge congratulations. Here’s to the next 50 years! x
Inge
May 6, 2014 #
Congratulations! Thank you for being such an inspiring woman with such an inspiring business. Besides great patterns, you offer so much value on your blog, it truly is one of the best around!