It's pretty well-known by now that Simplicity has a series of Project Runway patterns for those wanna-bee designers who want to dip their collective toes in the sewing-machine waters. And if it's not Simplicity, you're after there's always Vogue, Butterick and McCalls.

But what's not quite as known is there's a crop of lesser-known patterns for those sewers who are willing to pay a little more to get detailed instruction, straight-from-the-catwalk trendiness and amazing fit. For starters, there's Hot Patterns, which can be found online, as well as at local Hancocks Fabrics stores. There's also Betsy Ross patterns, Peggy Sager's Silhouette line, Textile Studios, and others.

Here's an informative interview Threads contributor Ann Stevens conducted (she also owns a fabric site, Gorgeous Things) at
Craftstylish. She interviewed Trudy Hanson, owner of Hot Patterns. We get a kick out of some of the names of the patterns. Who wouldn't want to try making the Jeanius Jean or the Wong-Singh-Jones kimono wrap dress? Not even Vogue Patterns is that clever with names. Just the make-up companies.

There's also a new line of patterns on the Hot Patterns site, the Riviera line. We like the moniker since there's no way on earth that this writer will be able to afford a trip to France this summer with the high and mighty Euro, so she might as well get the look for a fraction of the price. She especially likes this ensemble.