the talented, fabulous liesl!

Liesl Gibson is quite a creative sewing force to be reckoned with. Founder of three beautiful brands ~ Oliver + S, Lisette and Straight Stitch Society, Liesl is always presenting fresh, modern sewing patterns adored by all. With a degree in fashion design from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and time spent working for Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren, she had a wealth of knowledge and fantastic experience under her belt before launching her own companies. She's created quite a niche with her boutique brands and endlessly inspiring creative ideas and we're thrilled to have her teaching a super stylish Smocked Necklace workshop at the inaugural Makerie Sewing. Smocking can be used in so many wonderful ways once students learn the techniques and they will come away from this class armed and ready to add a special smocking flair to any project.

Get to know the lovely Liesl below! 

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What is your favorite food obsession right now? 

Ice cream will always be at the top of my list. I just can’t seem to help my sweet tooth, although it doesn’t really extend to cookies and candy. Just ice cream.

        

What did you want to be when you grew up? 

I always wanted to be an artist, and clothing design was an early obsession for me. A friend and I were designing clothes in a little notebook already in second grade.

What's for breakfast? 

Usually a small bowl of muesli with yogurt, milk, and fruit. But I like variety, too, and New York makes an awfully good bagel.

A wish that came true. 

I still can’t believe that I get to wake up in the morning and do something I love!

What risk are you glad you took? 

I really had no idea what I was getting into when I started Oliver + S, but I’m so glad that I did.

If you could learn a creative skill other than your profession, what would it be? 

Someday I’d like to have more time for weaving and knitting. I’m pretty much obsessed by all fiber arts, really.

A favorite gift you’ve received. 

Anything that demonstrates that the giver has put thought into the gift makes it meaningful to me.

A condiment you love. 

Vinegar! Balsamic, rice wine, it’s all good.

What book do you keep on your coffee table? 

Right now it’s Alexander McQueen, a book on color trends over the decades, and an out-of-print book of illustrations by Antonio Lopez that my husband scored for me in an ebay bidding war several years ago for Christmas. I adore Antonio’s work and am so excited that his work is currently being re-discovered.

What you love most about what you do. 

I love that I can help other people discover a love of sewing! It’s so rewarding to hear that I’ve helped other people learn to sew and gain confidence in their skills through our patterns. Plus, it’s amazing to see the darling clothes they make for their adorable kids!

The most challenging or difficult part about what you do. 

I find it very challenging to put my work aside at the end of the day. I love what I do, and there’s always something more to be done. I could just keep going if the day was longer.

_________ is at the top of my inspiration library. 

New York, baby!

Any tricks for finding life balance? 

Having a child, actually. She requires me to put aside my work and pay attention to her, and that’s been very healthy for me. There’s nothing like a cute kid to distract you from your work and take your mind off things.

Any trade secrets/words of wisdom you’d like to divulge? 

Sure, I keep learning fearlessness from my daughter. She attacks a blank page of paper with wild abandon, and she works with her mistakes without giving them a second thought. I think that’s a great lesson for the grown-ups.

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Thanks Liesl!

sharing our story

It's not often an opportunity comes along like this so I feel really grateful that Monica of Smart Creative Women invited me to share our story. I'm really quite shy and tend to get a little nervous in these situations, but Monica truly put me at ease with her relaxed, conversational style in a way that almost made me forget we were 'live' ~ well almost. :) 

What's even more fun is that several of our wonderful teachers, both past and current, have been interviewed on the show too ~ Amy Butler, Janine Vangool, Liesl Gibson, Jenny Doh, Flora Bowley, Marisa Anne ~ so please do check them out as well!

~xo

and we're off!

What a thrill to present our 2013 Makeries ~ the original Makerie and our brand new Makerie Sewing! We are incredibly excited about our sensational teachers for both events and the workshops they have so thoughtfully put together for you. Each of these weekends will be quite special and unique in their own right, with two totally different, retreat designs and focuses.

Our Makerie event is just filled to the brim with some very exciting new classes, along with bringing back a few of our most popular ones from last year. The amazing Aran Goyoaga (whose brand new gluten free cookbook is almost out on shelves!) will be teaching two different workshops this year, and onsite at an actual local farm. The Lyons Farmette, which happens to be one of our personal favorite farms, is a magical little spot and will be the perfect setting for what Aran has planned. Whole Foods Boulder is generously sponsoring her classes this year and boy, do we have some fun partnership ideas in the works that we can't wait to share! The adorable and talented Allison Bozeman will be back teaching the old fashioned art of Letterpress, but this year she will be bringing her workshop to Chautauqua. We received the sweetest notes on stationery made in her classes last April and what we know for sure is that the preciousness of a hand-written letter cannot be replaced.

Five new inspiring classes and teachers are being introduced at the 2013 Makerie. You can spend a day with Janine Vangool of Uppercase Magazine (yes, that fabulous publication we covet and adore!) crafting content and making handmade books. She'll be interweaving her classes into a larger, quite incredible project that will be shared with all Makerie participants ~ more on that later ~ but we will say that when Janine presented her idea to us, we were in awe of its brilliance and I'll admit, jumped up and down because we loved it so much. The marvelous Molly Hatch, who designs gorgeous kitchenware for Anthropologie, will be leading a brand new ceramics workshop and the first of it's kind at the Makerie. Her work is outstanding in every regard and we couldn't be more thrilled to bring her design expertise to Boulder to share with all of you! Jennifer Mercede, whose amazing, colorful, cheerful art can be found through the Land of Nod and Oopsy Daisy, is all about connecting to the moment and having fun. The inspiration she gathers through bright colors, graffiti, children's' artwork and a free-flowing spirit are infused into her work, and she will be sharing her awesome art-making process with her students through two unique classes. We have been a huge fan of Samantha Hirst, designer and founder of Inklore and Good Measure, for quite some time and were thrilled when she agreed to teach her magnificent, modern block printing techniques for us. Samantha's work is so approachable and lovely that it's no wonder why Terrain (swoon!) chose to carry her goods in their splendid shop. Our seventh and final teacher for 2013 is the darling Elke Bergeron. Elke, who was a Makerie participant both years, recently burst onto the scene with not only her incredible sense of design and creative aesthetic, but also her vision for turning recycled materials into perfectly crafted, modern handmade products. Those who have the chance to take her leather accessory class are in luck, as she will be teaching her special techniques so you can learn to make your own unique versions, since hers are in such high demand and fly off the shelves.

The Makerie Sewing has been in the works since last April, when Liesl Gibson of Oliver + S planted a little seed about doing a sewing retreat when she taught for us last year. We've been working all summer to put together a terrific team of teachers and a brand new event design that allows participants the chance to take classes from four different teachers. It's been a very special treat to work with Liesl on this one-time special event and we are really over the moon with excitement about the group of teachers who will be leading the amazing array of workshops.

Amy Butler, who couldn't be more kind and heart-centered, will be taking her students on a journey to find their own unique color story. It's really fun to imagine how this could affect not only your creative pursuits, but your life and home environments too! Amy rarely teaches classes and we feel so incredibly lucky she wanted to come to Boulder to teach you! The lovely Cal Patch, author of Design Your Own Clothes, will be teaching a fantastic workshop on how to create patterns to fit your own body. Won't that be amazing to learn this foundational skill that can then be used to create your own wardrobe? The possibilities are endless and we are thrilled to have the talented Cal on board. If you've ever been curious about the improv quilting process, we've got just the ticket for you. The wonderful Heather Jones ~ improvisational quilter extraordinaire ~ will be sharing her tricks of the trade to help you create a one of a kind quilt project, guided by your design intuition. Besides being a wonderful technique to learn, anything that can help strengthen your intuition on any level is a winner in our book! The fabulous Jenny Hart, known worldwide for her dazzling embroidery art and author of seven Chronicle Books, will be leading a special hand lettering workshop that will leave you with an inspiring, permanent take home treat. All you need to bring to this class is a message in your heart (we love that!). If you've been a long time fan of French General like we have, well then you know the dynamic dynamo Kaari Meng who's behind it all. She will be teaching natural plant dyeing, which is a very unique process and one that can take you in unexpected ways, maybe the very best part of it all. The lovely Liesl Gibson brings her world of sewing and teaching experience, as well as savvy style, into the classroom with a hand smocking necklace workshop. Liesl delivers a fresh, modern approach to all she does and these handmade necklaces will add a terrific touch to any outfit. And lastly, Tamar Mogendorff, whose work can be found in stores, galleries and publications around the world, will be teaching a soft sculpture class using an organic hand sewing process. She will share not only her insight on how to bring an object to life through your own unique personality and view of the world, but you'll learn how to create a magnificent sewn mobile to adorn a special place. And if that wasn't enough, we are so happy to announce that Fancy Tiger will be bringing their crafting boutique pop-up shop to Chautauqua once again, for the third year in a row for the Makerie Sewing weekend.

Creativity does magical things to the soul. It's true. We feel immensely grateful to create two weekends dedicated to that and to be able to provide a place for you to step away from it all and focus on play. So we invite you to grab your favorite cup of tea and spend a little time visiting our web site to see what we have in store for 2013. We can promise you this ~ whatever you find, it will be definitely be filled with love.

~xo

p.s. If you would like to read a bit about the two events we have held, you can find some very kind words here.

a special sneak peek!

We can officially say we are kicking off registration on Monday, September 24 (yes ~ this coming Monday!) and thought a little sneak peek of what we've got in store would be a fun way to send you into the weekend. We are beyond elated to announce that we are doing two retreats this year ~ our original Makerie and a brand new event ~ the Makerie Sewing ~ April 18 - 21, 2013.

The original Makerie is just chock full of goodness and we'll wait until Monday to reveal the details. After all, we do love surprises and can't wait for you to see the wonderful workshop offerings! But in the meantime, we wanted to share a bit about this super exciting new event focused on sewing and textiles. To give you a little background, Liesl Gibson of Oliver + S, who taught for us last year, planted a seed at the 2012 Makerie when she asked if we had ever thought about doing a sewing-specific Makerie and well... here we are! Liesl and I have been working all summer to put together an amazing team of teachers and fabulous workshops, as well as an entirely new event design for this one-time very special sewing event. Not only will you get to choose four classes with four different teachers, but each class will be four hours long, giving you two full days (16 hours total) of incredible instruction. In case you want more time to play, we will also be offering studio time to work on whatever you'd like.

So without further ado... here is who will be teaching at the Makerie Sewing!

Amy Butler

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Cal Patch

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Heather Jones

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Jenny Hart

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Liesl Gibson

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Kaari Meng

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Tamar Mogendorff

This team of teachers is really beyond our wildest dreams (still pinching ourselves over here!) and we are incredibly honored to have them come to Boulder in April. The Makerie Sewing will be limited to an intimate group of participants and we have so much more in store that we can't wait to tell you. So mark your calendars for Monday when all will be revealed and registration will be open!

Here's to a fabulous weekend filled with sunshine, leaf peeping, and of course, lots of happy making. See you on Monday!

~xo

smitten with the city

tamar's beautiful bird houses

Well what an extraordinary few days I just had in New York City and I am filled with inspiration from head to toe! Not only did I get to meet and spend time with the most incredible people ~ Tamar Morgendorff, Sweet Paul, Liesl Gibson and new friends at Etsy ~ but I was able to zip around the city checking out the abundant creative establishments ~ like 3rd Ward ~ I've had my eye on from afar. It was a jam packed couple of days and worth every bit of running around, train riding and biking all over the city. I loved finding inspiration in the most unexpected places... a window display, a type treatment on a restaurant logo, the beautiful packaging, creative merchandising and the thoughtful way so many of the boutiques are built out. I'm in awe of New York City ~ it's true.

Spending the afternoon in Tamar's studio was really lovely. I loved getting to know her and hearing about life as an artist. Just sitting in her space surrounded by her creations was an experience all on its own, as I've been such an admirer of her work and it felt rather special to get a peek into her world. Sharing a dinner with Paul and Paul, creators of Sweet Paul Magazine (a longtime personal favorite publication!) was such an unexpected treat, filled with great conversations, idea sharing and of course, a delicious meal. They have some amazing projects up their sleeves and are one dynamic duo, let me tell you! Getting the chance to spend time with Liesl and meet her adorable daughter was wonderful. She took me to the best breakfast spot and then to a few of her favorite shops ~ including ABC Home (gasp!). I think if I could pick a person to wander the streets of New York with, it would be her. She's so stylish in her own right and has quite a knack for noticing the little details of everything that I love too.

Having lunch at the Etsy headquarters was a most special experience. Just visiting the office was a thrill really! You can imagine how creative their space is, but what I loved equally as much is how well they take care of their employees and the company culture they have created. Twice a week they invite local chefs to cook lunch for their employees (yes, the entire company!). They call it Eatsy (I love that!). There are plants growing in felt pouches on the walls, they have knitted wraps around their air ducts, playful telephone booths for phone calls, the CEO's office is in the middle of everything, they're building a tech-free work zone for those who want some quiet time, there are murals everywhere, and most importantly, you can just tell the people who work there are happy and love what they do. At the end of day, what's better than that? A huge thanks to Etsy for having me for lunch. It was awesome all around!

My last stop was a visit to 3rd Ward. Have you heard of it? Well if you haven't I'm here to tell you it's brilliant. It's a multi-disciplinary workspace and education center where you can experiment, practice and polish your craft and creativity. (Tugging at the 'ole heartstrings here!) You can take a gazillion classes in everything from surfboard making to furniture upholstery to perfume blending, all in beautifully designed, functional spaces. They offer an uber cool coworking space and even have a photography studio available for any business needs. The possibilities here are endless and I just might have found my kind of heaven. :)

It was just such a spectacular trip and as much I love living in Boulder and couldn't imagine living anywhere else, I sure do feel alive when I'm in New York City and I can't wait to come back!

the lovely liesl

I've been a huge admirer of Oliver + S since its inception. Their modern, stylish sewing patterns combined with darling paper doll images have always caught my eye! Liesl Gibson, founder and chief designer, worked for several top fashion brands, including Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren, before launching her own company. She has created such an inviting, successful boutique brand and has certainly filled a need for fresh children's sewing patterns! Lisette, her newest venture, feautres a fabulous new line of women's designs. With a beautiful book ~ Little Things to Sew ~ under her belt and a wealth of sewing knowledge, Liesl is certainly one to watch! Just take a peek at their pinterest boards ~ Oliver + S here and Lisette here ~ to see what I mean. With her warm, wonderful and stylish ways, we are so thrilled to have Liesl teaching two workshops this year ~ Oliver + S Sleepover Pajamas & Lisette A-line dress. Students are in for quite a fun-filled day learning lots of her special tricks of the trade. Each student will have their own dedicated sewing machine, thanks to the generous sponsorship of Janome and even some extra treats from Fiskars (details to come!). Lucky girls!

Get to know the lovely Liesl below! We loved the best advice she's received.

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The first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

My daughter, S, usually crawls into bed with me for a few minutes of cuddling before we head to the kitchen to make breakfast. That cozy time together helps us both face the morning because, much as I would like to be one, I’m just not a morning person. Neither is she.

What's for dinner?

Tonight it’s one of our favorite dishes: pasta with sweet Italian sausage & broccoli rabe. S has been learning about vegetable in first grade, so I’m hoping she’ll try a little of the broccoli rabe for a change. Here is the recipe.

The best advice you’ve received?

Definitely to be yourself & don’t compare yourself to other people. Sometimes it’s hard to do, but I know from experience that it’s true.

What is the best meal you ever had?
My husband, Todd, & I once took a trip to Japan and found ourselves in a little side alley during lunchtime. I ate the best noodles of my life at what I think was the Japanese equivalent of a greasy spoon-style diner, with all the locals. It was probably a combination of the great food & the adventure of it all—neither of us speak a word of Japanese, & we loved finding our way around the city by ourselves, despite the language barrier—that made it all taste so good.

What are you most excited about lately?

I’m looking forward to doing more teaching again this year. For the past several years I’ve had to cut back because we’ve been so busy, but I’ve really been missing it & have decided make time for it again. I love to teach because I enjoy sharing my enthusiasm with other people, and I get a lot of inspiration from my students at the same time.

A favorite spot you’ve traveled to?

The highlands of Scotland really resonated with me. I often think of it & could probably live there very happily. There’s something about the hills, the climate, the traditions, & the dark pubs where the locals congregate in the evenings that I just love. It felt such a strong community, & I can imagine that the lifestyle is a bit more laid-back than my usual frenetic New York pace, too!

What makes you laugh?

I’m pretty easily amused, I admit. I laugh very easily. But I’ll never understand the tv show, The Office. My husband loves it, but it hits a little too close to home for me—I’ve worked there.

Your favorite way to make someone smile?

With a heart-felt compliment.

What, in your mind, is a recipe for disaster?

Not enough sleep and a looming deadline. Oh, wait, I think I just had one of those!

Any tricks for finding life balance?

Is there such a thing? I think it all ebbs & flows. There are various stages in our lives, & each stage has its own tenuous balance. But women always seem to find a way to feel guilty for not getting it “right,” don’t we? I’m skeptical that there is such a thing as right.

If the world ended tomorrow, what would upset you most about the person you didn’t get to become?

Oh, there are so many things I’d like to improve about myself & so many ways I’d like to grow. Mostly I want to see my daughter become the amazing woman I know she’s going to be. And I want to be her proud mom. I’d be really sad if I missed that.

Favorite books from your personal library?

The one book I seem to turn to over and over again is Bird by Bird by Anne LaMott. She gets it right every time, but that particular book keeps me inspired and encourages me to keep working.

Thank you so much Liesl!