How To Pick The Right Sewing Pattern

With literally thousands of sewing patterns on the market these days, you might find yourself overwhelmed making a choice. How to pick the right sewing pattern? Not every pattern is aimed at every skill level. You can find this info normally on the outside front of a commercially produced pattern and often independent pattern designers state the skill level on their patterns as well. CLOSED!!! Scroll down to see the results.

How to pick the right sewing pattern?

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How is the skill level of a sewing pattern measured? For me as a long time sewist and pattern designer, a lot of steps and techniques seem simple to me and I find myself rating some of my own patterns easier than they actually are. Or the way a tutorial is written with lots of sewing terms that a true beginner might not know yet. Do the images in the tutorial really show well enough what a particular step is about? Is the list of required materials complete so the customer won’t have to go out again to purchase what’s missing?

Or have you bought patterns that claim to be a perfect beginner’s pattern and you found yourself shaking your head at how difficult it seems for you to do? This is a legitimate question that often won’t get answered upfront before committing to purchase a pattern. So how can a customer looking for “the perfect” pattern for their skill level actually find a true tested and rated pattern?

Different skill levels:

• beginner
• intermediate
• advanced
• professional

Different skill levels are determined by how much does the sewist know about certain techniques, terms and procedures. I love how The Dreamstress explained how she found her own skill level. I also found some great aspects of how to find your sewing skill level on the OUSM blog.

What are important questions of a skill level a sewist should ask her/himself?

• do I know how to thread my sewing machine
• do I know how to sew a straight line
• do I know what ‘right sides together’ mean
• can I sew in a zipper, buttonhole or plaket?
• have I worked with the suggested fabric before?

Where these are only a very small fraction of the broad spectrum of questions to answer before tackling a specific pattern, it is very helpful to find patterns that already answer them upfront. Most newer patterns have the skill levels mentioned upfront, either in their listing descriptions when purchasing online or on the pattern envelope in stores.

Ok, but what about the rest of the pattern? Will the sewist be able to follow a pattern with multiple steps for multiple options, or is it rather confusing? Even beginner patterns can have a lot of different options for different looks of a garment or project. Or can a visual learner follow instructions well that are lacking a good amount of detailed images and can a verbal learner complete instructions by looking at mostly images?

From my own perspective as a pattern designer and sewist, I prefer great images and detailed instructions in writing. That’s what I have found so far when I sew other designers’ patterns which I can highly recommend to others.

Find reputable review sites & sources:

To make the decision a bit easier on the customer, there are blogs that review sewing patterns on a regular basis. When you google ‘pattern review sites’ the first suggestion that pops up is PatternReview.com. It is a blog with forum that also does other sewing related reviews for machines, books, classes etc. It’s definitely worth a read. You will also find reviews in Google search (type ‘sewing pattern review’ with the specific pattern title) and you might find a sewing blog that does reviews for specific patterns.

>>> DIY Crush has just started its own directory of blogs that do pattern reviews right HERE!<<<

I had the pleasure of talking to some fellow pattern designers, and they agreed to join in to this “conversation”. We want to ultimately serve you, the customer better to sustain in a world of a wast majority of patterns and we want YOUR input! How can pattern designers make better patterns that suit your needs and that make you want to shop with us again and again?

How To Pick The Right Sewing Pattern

Please allow us to conduct a short survey and as a thank you for filling it out, we are offering ONE (1) pattern of choice (*) for one lucky winner from the following sponsors. One winner will receive one pattern of choice from 15 pattern designers.

[eafl id=15119 name=”Dandelions N’ Dungerees” text=”Dandelions N’ Dungerees”]

[eafl id=15120 name=”Lily Bird Studio” text=”Lily Bird Studio”]

[eafl id=15121 name=”Call Ajaire” text=”Call Ajaire”]

[eafl id=15123 name=”Rachel Rossi” text=”Rachel Rossi”]

[eafl id=15124 name=”Whimsy Couture” text=”Whimsy Couture”]

[eafl id=15068 name=”bishy barnababes” text=”Bishy Barnababes – “]

[eafl id=15069 name=”Pienkel” text=”Pienkel – “]

[eafl id=15070 name=”Momma Quail Patterns” text=”Momma Quail Patterns – “]

[eafl id=15071 name=”Sew Gracious Threads” text=”Sew Gracious Threads – “]

[eafl id=15072 name=”FooFoo Threads” text=”FooFoo Threads – “]

[eafl id=15074 name=”Seaside Notions” text=”Seaside Notions – “]

[eafl id=15075 name=”Seamingly Smitten” text=”Seamingly Smitten – “]

[eafl id=15107 name=”Itch To Stitch” text=”Itch To Stitch – “]

[eafl id=15077 name=”Mandy K Designs” text=”Mandy K. Designs – “]

[eafl id=15078 name=”Mackerilla Design” text=”Mackerilla Design – “]

THE RESULTS ARE IN!! 38 people participated and we have a total of 24 pages of answers for pattern designers! Here are 4 graphics of the results, they are only a small part of the survey. Download the full survey PDF below!

 DOWNLOAD the full survey PDF from HERE!! And our lucky winner is MELISSA dollofmalice @……. – Congrats!!

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Denise

Hi! I'm a craft & sewing loving mom of 2 (+ 1 dog). When I am not crafting or sewing, you can find me playing with my kids and dogs! I am a slow cooker & coffee addict. My favorite color is any color and I have a degree in business management. Hope to inspire you to DIY with me!

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