We’ve been growing. Meet Taylor and Wallis!

First of all, I really love my job right now.

Around this time last year, we were three people: me, my husband Kenn, and Kris. In the last year, we’ve added Meg, Christine, Haley, Wallis, and Taylor as full-time employees. And just this week, we’ve also added Anna part time, who I’ll introduce you to later.

These 8 people make this job what it is. I don’t know how we managed to build this amazing group, but they are truly a dream team. You’ve never met a nicer or more creative bunch. There’s nothing like coming in on a Monday morning to share breakfast, talk over some cool new ideas, and hear what sort of weird vegan junk food Kris ate over the weekend. They’re funny, positive, caring, and they inspire me constantly.

I’d like to introduce you guys to the two of the latest additions, Taylor and Wallis. Taylor has joined us as our graphic designer, and Wallis is our new (ish) pattern maker. Wallis has been with us a few months, but never really got a formal introduction. These two women have already contributed so much to our little team.

I asked then each a few getting-to-know-you questions.

Meet Taylor

Where are you from? Kansas City, MO

What’s your history with sewing? I’ve been the forever bystander most of my life while watching my mom make me and herself clothes. My mom tried to teach me, but I always got too distracted. During college I took a few fiber classes and made my first quilt and loved it, so since then I’ve been working on small projects. I recently finished my first dress with assistance from a friend, so that was exciting for me!

What are your favorite fabrics or prints? I love Timorous Beasties fabric. It’s super intricate and a lot of their prints have really interesting twists on classic prints, such as their New York City Toile.

What are your other favorite pastimes? I really like to thrift and explore nature. A big reason we moved to Oregon was to be near such beautiful landscape!

What’s your favorite drink? Non-Alcoholic: coffee :) Alcoholic: Margarita, but not the premixed kind of stuff.

What’s your favorite snack? Apples and Almond Butter

Do you have pets? I do! A 5 year old Basset Hound named Daisy and a two year old tuxedo kitty named Scout!

What do you like to listen to when you’re sewing / during your creative time? It changes all the time depending on my mood, I hate to admit it, but I’m a big netflix “listener”…although since I’m trying to break that habit, I’ve gotten really into podcasts lately. My favorite currently is “Sword and Scale”, it’s like a crime TV show but it’s based on all true stories.

Why are you excited to work here? I’m excited to work here because I’m genuinely interested in sewing and the nature of making. It’s really inspiring to be around so many talented people all out to make the community a better place. I’m also really excited to be able to work on a diverse set of projects. Being a graphic designer you don’t always get the opportunity to work on so many different types of content as well as media.

Meet Wallis

Where are you from? Cartersville, GA

What’s your history with sewing? I didn’t start sewing until I was a freshman at Auburn University in Apparel Design. Before this I would sew occasionally by hand, but usually gave up on projects due to the amount of time I had to put in. My sewing skills were very basic until I started watching YouTube tutorials outside of class. Some of the vloggers who inspired me most were Secret Life of a Bio Nerd and Threadbanger; I would stay up late in a cramped dorm room following along on my own machine with their videos. By the time I graduated I was sewing my own personal projects several times a week and even started my own Etsy store.

What are your favorite fabrics or prints? I love working with knits! It seems most beginner sewists are intimidated by them, but once you start you’ll never want to go back to wovens (at least that’s what happened to me).

What are your other favorite pastimes? I’m a very active person and I enjoy being outdoors. I like to run, and I’ve been working on becoming a more competitive distance runner in the past year.

What’s your favorite drink? Sweet tea, I’ll always be a southern girl at heart!

What’s your favorite snack? I love chips and fresh salsa or anything I can dip in hummus.

Do you have pets? Unfortunately not, but I do always check the Pacific Pug Rescue page because I am determined that one day I will adopt a rescue!

What do you like to listen to when you’re sewing / during your creative time? Anything upbeat to keep me going even when I’m frustrated. Typically I can’t listen to anything too mellow because I’ll become bored.

Why are you excited to work here? The Colette office is beautiful and inspires creativity the moment you walk in the door. Everyone who works here is happy to be a part of Colette. My coworkers welcomed me from day one.

Please welcome these talented ladies to Colette! To me, the best part of having a business is filling it with the people you want to work with. I’m thrilled to have Wallis and Taylor here.

You can see more about our team and what each of us does here. With this group in place, we hope to put out some really cool ideas in the coming months and years.