Interview with Leslie Gladman of Favorite Things Patterns

How did you start your pattern business?

Initially, in the earlier years of FT I would have described our style as whimsical, romantic and feminine. As it has emerged and grown I would also include the words trendy & fashionable. Our designs include wonderful new sewing shortcuts that eliminate many of the time consuming details of many traditional patterns. We've always done our best to cater to the mature woman in designing fashions that would be figure flattering and in recent years we've also focused on designing hip young fashions that will appeal to the many girls and young women who are discovering the exciting world of sewing.

Do you have a favorite pattern in your line?

My personal favorite pattern is: A Safe Place. This is our earliest wallet pattern and still one of our best sellers. It's easy to sew, cute and practical. Another favorite is...Cute Skirts as it is such a versatile and comfortable skirt to wear and make.

Do you have a hobby or pastime you enjoy/indulge in outside of the sewing world?

Now that's a tough question...where do I begin? I love to garden! I've enjoyed working on my home garden and at our cottage, which is on the Pacific Ocean in Point Roberts, WA. I've helped my friends and family plan and design their gardens too. I have 4 grandchildren that I adore and that keep "Nana" young and active! They keep me busy with answering questions, planning sleepovers, trips to the cottage and all those good things! One more interest I'll share with you. Last year I traveled to India and was profoundly moved with the needs I encountered there. I recognized how much opportunity there would be to help women there and so along with some friends of mine, we have started up a group where we get together as women to bring awareness and fund raising as to how we can be a help. I've started with a project of designing women's T-shirts. I designed a logo using India's national bird the peacock. Our group beads the T-shirt and then we sell them to raise funds. Our first project goal is to build a vocational center for the Dalit (Untouchables) women in a village in central India. We have been very excited by the wonderful response to this project

Do you have a question you have been dying to ask your customers? Now's, your chance! We'll have them comment here on the blog.

Hmmm...now that you ask, yes I do! We love to receive feedback from our customers about what they like in our patterns, what they'd like to see changed, what kind of patterns are they wanting to find but not finding. We're open to all your thoughts and thank you all in advance for your suggestions!