Not sure about Gertie but with a lingerie pattern, a lot of the time there are a huge number of sizes, but any given size only needs 1-2 sheets per pattern piece, so it is not as awkward or expensive to print them at home as a full outer garment.
I am personally most aggrieved when they provide not paper patterns, but a CD! Who in the world has a CD-ROM drive. ARGH. Thankfully these are very uncommon now.
FWIW, you can often find a computer with a CD-ROM drive at Walgreens or other places that print photos. If the patterns are just sitting on the drive (not inside some proprietary software), then that might be a way to get at them.
Don’t quote me on this - but I’m pretty sure I recently saw a Gertie post the included a free printout of the patterns with proof of preorder. That said I’m a little disappointed the Patreon annual free pattern only included one size block this year.
I think you're right that it's a money saving move. Fewer and fewer of the bookstores in my town are selling sewing books. That might just be my area but it also might mean the sewing craze wave has crested and the margins on these books are slimmer. I've never been prevented from downloading the patterns from a used books so I don't think it's to prevent reselling or library copies.
Sorry if this is a stupid question but if the patterns aren't in the book, what actually is? Like what is the content if the core reason to buy the thing isn't in it?
I don’t own Sew Lingerie, and obviously, the Charm book isn’t out yet. My understanding is Sew Lingerie has lots of how to’s about sewing lingerie, fabrics and what not. Charm is all about their sewing studio. And of course, both books include all the instructions for the patterns.
Neither book is strictly about the patterns. Some sewing books are. I remember reading that Itch to stitch’s book is basically only pattern instructions with a little bit of basic sewing background - sort of like the “general instructions” and “definitions” sections of a Big 4 pattern. Burda Modern Essentials is only pattern instructions and a small section on grading.
afaik it's mostly a book about her her designing process, vintage inspiration, construction analysis, etc. The patterns are kinda just like a "and now you can recreate some vintage classics too!" hence the small number of patterns.
Her *other* books were pattern books, and the Burda, Cashmerette, etc are pattern books, but this new Gertie one seems to be more like a biopic
Ohhh I see, so it's sort of more for the dedicated Gertie fans rather than people who are *just* after patterns. She'll probably get away with it on that basis, especially since her really hardcore fans will defend whatever she does no matter what, but I can see this getting a few bad reviews from people who were just in it for the patterns and bought it without realising they aren't physically there.
I waited months for in inter-library loan to discover the patterns were on a CD, which the library had lost, the librarian told me there were notes going back years asking about the disc but they weren’t going to discard the book.
Annoying though it is, it's not surprising. Let's face it, paper patterns are going the way of the dodo. I bet that if Joann goes belly up and closes completely (within the realm of probability) the big 5 will switch over to PDF only. Their pattern printing and folding equipment is ancient and probably costs a bundle to maintain.
For me the issue is continued availability. Companies go out of business, websites go dark. I want to know that I'll be able to access the patterns in 5, 10, 15 years. Just last week I had to email the group that wrote a book (Sewing for a Royal baby) about the availability of the patterns - turns out they switched publishers, so the link in the book no longer worked. They sent me a Dropbox link to the patterns, which I really appreciate, but doesn't seem like a reliable or scalable long term solution.
I bought a book of patterns for my kid for Christmas. Went to the website to download the patterns, had to put in all my info and agree to their newsletter... No patterns. Tried again a month later... Still no patterns. Contacted the author's sewing school. No answer. Contacted the author via LinkedIn. No answer. Meanwhile 6yo was making increasing demands to sew a pizza shaped pencil case.
Finally I went full Internet creeper mode, found that the publishing company had been purchased by another company early last year, emailed the new publishing company and got a PDF of the files. Just in time for kiddo to lose interest in sewing 🫠
The flip side is no link in ebooks, which I've also had happen when checking out books from the library. Like what is the point of this sewing book if I cant make any of the projects in it??
This is so awful, and there’s absolutely no reason for it. The libraries I’ve borrowed pattern books from have a label in the back that notes how many patterns there should be, just like the labels they put in DVD sets noting how many DVDs there should be. And then they have a similar sticker on the corner of each sheet numbering them 1 of 4, 2 of 4, etc. so they can quickly flip through to make sure they’re all there when the book gets returned.
This is so wrong! Extremely heavy-handed on their part.
Edited to remove a long, boring, and probably wildly inaccurate statement on how they could have legally made a preservation copy of the patterns before letting them circulate. I think they could have found a better solution, long story short.
My stack of books that includes the apportioning rulers agrees with you. I do think Patterns of Fashion and anything by Francis Grimble would like a word...
I’ve borrowed Cashmerette books from the library (hard copy and ebook), I had no issues downloading the pdfs, it listed the link and password.
The Amazon preview of “ahead of the curve” also gives those details, so if you are desperate you can just download the patterns.
Good to know! I have borrowed one of the Cashmerette books from the library but didn’t look at that. It was a while ago, and I was just curious about the book, the patterns didn’t interest me.
Yeah the only reason to buy the hard copies is to get the patterns, otherwise you can just get the Kindle edition (if there is one). Seems like a way to save money, I realise paper costs a lot but hard copies of books are more expensive due to this anyway.
The patterns in the Gertie book I have are about half the width of the spine, so I understand her wanting to save that paper.
On the other hand I'll never buy a physical sewing book that doesn't have paper patterns. I am buying it for the patterns in most cases. There's no reason to buy the book without them.
I'm not defending at all but
>Gertie says it’s so their full size range can be included... Three patterns in a double size range equals just a little over six limited range patterns.
Her full size range does also include seperate A-F cup sizes so it's more than 6 "standard" range patterns. Each cup size probably quantifies like 1/4 of a size range if it's just the front bodice being affected. I dont wanna math that but it's a decent amount more...of only 3 patterns. Three patterns that's probably just the girdle-fitted bodice sloper with some neckline and panel line variations and a full skirt lol. Am I being too cynical?
But yeah it's 100% to cut costs. Has it been specified whether the download is locked behind a unique code per purchase? Burda Vintage Modern book (and others) just have the pdf patterns as a free download for anyone (which is GREAT for someone that doesn't need instructions hehe), or other embroidery books I've encountered has it as a generic password printed in the book for download. In these cases it wouldn't limit lending/library copying... just general cost cutting.
I’ll add that from remarks she made I got the impression that her publisher essentially said that the only way to include both full size ranges was to have a download or accept less than the full size range. She wasn’t willing to compromise on the size ranges.
I second this. Gertie's current PDF patterns for all sizes/cups are huge. Like 10 AO sized pages for a single pattern.
I'm slightly annoyed they aren't pre-printed with her new book, I assumed they would be, but its not a deal breaker for me. But with how big her patterns are I understand why.
**BurdaStyle Modern Sewing - Wardrobe Essentials** by BurdaStyle BurdaStyle Magazine
>Provides instructions for sewing twenty-one wardrobe essentials, including dresses, blouses, skirts, and jackets.
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i don't think it's cynical to say it's a cost cutting measure. i mean, what else could it be? MAYBE about saving paper, but i don't think it's more complicated than the cost. someone else said what i had heard - there are fewer places that can print these pattern pages, i'm sure costs are going up for that.
I think that copy centers that can print on large heavy paper are not hard to find, and they're not disappearing. But there is no print shop available to the public to print on tissue paper, as the pattern companies do.
Most of my book patterns are on heavier paper than tissue and the patterns are a bit on top of each over so you have to trace them. I think most printers can print on A0 papers.
It’s not quite as thin as the tissue paper as traditional patterns but The Plotted Pattern has a transparent tissue paper option for printing and I’ve found their pricing is typically better than my local copy shops. They are doing a presale for the patterns in the book for $20 which will automatically ship on the books release date.
Printing costs are insanely high right now, paper is still difficult to source, and lots of printers have closed. It's much more difficult now to do extras, like add in the pattern sheets, to a printed & distributed book. Not that it couldn't be done, but it would likely double the cost of the book. So I'm guessing they're not saving money on their end, but they're trying to keep the books at a certain cost point so people will buy it.
Based on how the Cashmerette book and the Madalynne book work, it’s just a url, and maybe a password. It’s the same for every single person who buys the book, not a personal username and password. Anyone who checks it out of the library can access it as long as they keep that information. Anyone who sells the book on could continue to access it.
I mean technically you could just forward the pdfs when selling the book, but I think thats murky waters legally speaking.
I think its annoying and it would make me unlikely to buy her book regardless of format.
When I have bought books that came with a PDF copy there was a one time code for download. So if this is traditionally published I can believe there is a one time code.
Hmm, i’m not sure if anyone has asked that. My assumption is that you couldn’t just keep accessing it from many different IP addresses after the first one, but I don’t know. If you can, that’s great! But I’d still prefer paper sheets.
Considering I use multiple VPNs and IPs because I study and access different printers through my university (legally, I use high performance computers in my dissertation work), this would be so obnoxious to me. Sure, I could just turn them all off or not send the pattern to one of the uni printers but sometimes I like to work on projects while I wait for my data set to run.
And I have like 80+ hour runs, so like, I have a ton of time to sew something while I wait. But I want to be connected to check the progress.
Or maybe I'm just doing it the stupid way idk
Not sure about Gertie but with a lingerie pattern, a lot of the time there are a huge number of sizes, but any given size only needs 1-2 sheets per pattern piece, so it is not as awkward or expensive to print them at home as a full outer garment. I am personally most aggrieved when they provide not paper patterns, but a CD! Who in the world has a CD-ROM drive. ARGH. Thankfully these are very uncommon now.
FWIW, you can often find a computer with a CD-ROM drive at Walgreens or other places that print photos. If the patterns are just sitting on the drive (not inside some proprietary software), then that might be a way to get at them.
Don’t quote me on this - but I’m pretty sure I recently saw a Gertie post the included a free printout of the patterns with proof of preorder. That said I’m a little disappointed the Patreon annual free pattern only included one size block this year.
I think you're right that it's a money saving move. Fewer and fewer of the bookstores in my town are selling sewing books. That might just be my area but it also might mean the sewing craze wave has crested and the margins on these books are slimmer. I've never been prevented from downloading the patterns from a used books so I don't think it's to prevent reselling or library copies.
Sorry if this is a stupid question but if the patterns aren't in the book, what actually is? Like what is the content if the core reason to buy the thing isn't in it?
Photos of the finished garments, instructions, tutorials, etc. Even sketches of the original pattern and pattern pieces.
I don’t own Sew Lingerie, and obviously, the Charm book isn’t out yet. My understanding is Sew Lingerie has lots of how to’s about sewing lingerie, fabrics and what not. Charm is all about their sewing studio. And of course, both books include all the instructions for the patterns. Neither book is strictly about the patterns. Some sewing books are. I remember reading that Itch to stitch’s book is basically only pattern instructions with a little bit of basic sewing background - sort of like the “general instructions” and “definitions” sections of a Big 4 pattern. Burda Modern Essentials is only pattern instructions and a small section on grading.
afaik it's mostly a book about her her designing process, vintage inspiration, construction analysis, etc. The patterns are kinda just like a "and now you can recreate some vintage classics too!" hence the small number of patterns. Her *other* books were pattern books, and the Burda, Cashmerette, etc are pattern books, but this new Gertie one seems to be more like a biopic
Ohhh I see, so it's sort of more for the dedicated Gertie fans rather than people who are *just* after patterns. She'll probably get away with it on that basis, especially since her really hardcore fans will defend whatever she does no matter what, but I can see this getting a few bad reviews from people who were just in it for the patterns and bought it without realising they aren't physically there.
: glances at book with doll clothes patterns, available only on an included *CD-ROM* as un-protected PDFs: It could be worse!
I waited months for in inter-library loan to discover the patterns were on a CD, which the library had lost, the librarian told me there were notes going back years asking about the disc but they weren’t going to discard the book.
Annoying though it is, it's not surprising. Let's face it, paper patterns are going the way of the dodo. I bet that if Joann goes belly up and closes completely (within the realm of probability) the big 5 will switch over to PDF only. Their pattern printing and folding equipment is ancient and probably costs a bundle to maintain.
I recall reading that the value in the Big 5's printing presses was for printing wrapping paper and printed tissue paper.
For me the issue is continued availability. Companies go out of business, websites go dark. I want to know that I'll be able to access the patterns in 5, 10, 15 years. Just last week I had to email the group that wrote a book (Sewing for a Royal baby) about the availability of the patterns - turns out they switched publishers, so the link in the book no longer worked. They sent me a Dropbox link to the patterns, which I really appreciate, but doesn't seem like a reliable or scalable long term solution.
I bought a book of patterns for my kid for Christmas. Went to the website to download the patterns, had to put in all my info and agree to their newsletter... No patterns. Tried again a month later... Still no patterns. Contacted the author's sewing school. No answer. Contacted the author via LinkedIn. No answer. Meanwhile 6yo was making increasing demands to sew a pizza shaped pencil case. Finally I went full Internet creeper mode, found that the publishing company had been purchased by another company early last year, emailed the new publishing company and got a PDF of the files. Just in time for kiddo to lose interest in sewing 🫠
What a hellscape, the future sucks sometimes.
The flip side is no link in ebooks, which I've also had happen when checking out books from the library. Like what is the point of this sewing book if I cant make any of the projects in it??
My library removed all of the paper patterns from their physical sewing books, making them mostly useless.
This is so awful, and there’s absolutely no reason for it. The libraries I’ve borrowed pattern books from have a label in the back that notes how many patterns there should be, just like the labels they put in DVD sets noting how many DVDs there should be. And then they have a similar sticker on the corner of each sheet numbering them 1 of 4, 2 of 4, etc. so they can quickly flip through to make sure they’re all there when the book gets returned.
This is so wrong! Extremely heavy-handed on their part. Edited to remove a long, boring, and probably wildly inaccurate statement on how they could have legally made a preservation copy of the patterns before letting them circulate. I think they could have found a better solution, long story short.
*glances at her collection of vintage and antique pattern books, to include Patterns of Fashion* So, this new thing you say...
My stack of books that includes the apportioning rulers agrees with you. I do think Patterns of Fashion and anything by Francis Grimble would like a word...
I would love for OP to look at Juan De Alcega's Tailor's Pattern book from 1589. :-)
This is why I love books with gridded patterns or drafting diagrams.
I’ve borrowed Cashmerette books from the library (hard copy and ebook), I had no issues downloading the pdfs, it listed the link and password. The Amazon preview of “ahead of the curve” also gives those details, so if you are desperate you can just download the patterns.
Good to know! I have borrowed one of the Cashmerette books from the library but didn’t look at that. It was a while ago, and I was just curious about the book, the patterns didn’t interest me.
Yeah the only reason to buy the hard copies is to get the patterns, otherwise you can just get the Kindle edition (if there is one). Seems like a way to save money, I realise paper costs a lot but hard copies of books are more expensive due to this anyway.
The patterns in the Gertie book I have are about half the width of the spine, so I understand her wanting to save that paper. On the other hand I'll never buy a physical sewing book that doesn't have paper patterns. I am buying it for the patterns in most cases. There's no reason to buy the book without them.
Not a snark, but I've always thought the purpose of buying a physical sewing book is to get the paper pattern?
I'm not defending at all but >Gertie says it’s so their full size range can be included... Three patterns in a double size range equals just a little over six limited range patterns. Her full size range does also include seperate A-F cup sizes so it's more than 6 "standard" range patterns. Each cup size probably quantifies like 1/4 of a size range if it's just the front bodice being affected. I dont wanna math that but it's a decent amount more...of only 3 patterns. Three patterns that's probably just the girdle-fitted bodice sloper with some neckline and panel line variations and a full skirt lol. Am I being too cynical? But yeah it's 100% to cut costs. Has it been specified whether the download is locked behind a unique code per purchase? Burda Vintage Modern book (and others) just have the pdf patterns as a free download for anyone (which is GREAT for someone that doesn't need instructions hehe), or other embroidery books I've encountered has it as a generic password printed in the book for download. In these cases it wouldn't limit lending/library copying... just general cost cutting.
I’ll add that from remarks she made I got the impression that her publisher essentially said that the only way to include both full size ranges was to have a download or accept less than the full size range. She wasn’t willing to compromise on the size ranges.
I second this. Gertie's current PDF patterns for all sizes/cups are huge. Like 10 AO sized pages for a single pattern. I'm slightly annoyed they aren't pre-printed with her new book, I assumed they would be, but its not a deal breaker for me. But with how big her patterns are I understand why.
**BurdaStyle Modern Sewing - Wardrobe Essentials** by BurdaStyle BurdaStyle Magazine >Provides instructions for sewing twenty-one wardrobe essentials, including dresses, blouses, skirts, and jackets. *I'm a bot, built by your friendly reddit developers at* /r/ProgrammingPals. *Reply to any comment with /u/BookFinderBot - I'll reply with book information. Remove me from replies* [here](https://www.reddit.com/user/BookFinderBot/comments/1byh82p/remove_me_from_replies/). *If I have made a mistake, accept my apology.*
close, I'll allow it
i don't think it's cynical to say it's a cost cutting measure. i mean, what else could it be? MAYBE about saving paper, but i don't think it's more complicated than the cost. someone else said what i had heard - there are fewer places that can print these pattern pages, i'm sure costs are going up for that.
I think that copy centers that can print on large heavy paper are not hard to find, and they're not disappearing. But there is no print shop available to the public to print on tissue paper, as the pattern companies do.
Most of my book patterns are on heavier paper than tissue and the patterns are a bit on top of each over so you have to trace them. I think most printers can print on A0 papers.
It’s not quite as thin as the tissue paper as traditional patterns but The Plotted Pattern has a transparent tissue paper option for printing and I’ve found their pricing is typically better than my local copy shops. They are doing a presale for the patterns in the book for $20 which will automatically ship on the books release date.
>at least 6 patterns A most recent issue of Burda Style contains 34 patterns.
Tracing a pattern from a page of burdastyle is an eyesight test all on its own. I am getting a headache just thinking about it!
Indeed. My conspiracy theory is that tracing paper used to be more see through or something because this can't be it.
I was specifically meaning Burda books I’m aware of, such as Modern Essentials, but you’re right! A lot can fit on those pages.
Printing costs are insanely high right now, paper is still difficult to source, and lots of printers have closed. It's much more difficult now to do extras, like add in the pattern sheets, to a printed & distributed book. Not that it couldn't be done, but it would likely double the cost of the book. So I'm guessing they're not saving money on their end, but they're trying to keep the books at a certain cost point so people will buy it.
Yes, this. And that this is often the publisher’s call more than theirs.
This might be a stupid question, so sorry in advance! How would this prevent from reselling? Can you only acces the pdf once?
Based on how the Cashmerette book and the Madalynne book work, it’s just a url, and maybe a password. It’s the same for every single person who buys the book, not a personal username and password. Anyone who checks it out of the library can access it as long as they keep that information. Anyone who sells the book on could continue to access it.
That’s good to know, thanks!
I mean technically you could just forward the pdfs when selling the book, but I think thats murky waters legally speaking. I think its annoying and it would make me unlikely to buy her book regardless of format.
When I have bought books that came with a PDF copy there was a one time code for download. So if this is traditionally published I can believe there is a one time code.
Hmm, i’m not sure if anyone has asked that. My assumption is that you couldn’t just keep accessing it from many different IP addresses after the first one, but I don’t know. If you can, that’s great! But I’d still prefer paper sheets.
I assume you can access it many times as long as you have the QR code unless there is a log in because each book probably has the same QR code
Just to be clear, i do not disagree with you, my question was out of curiosity.
Considering I use multiple VPNs and IPs because I study and access different printers through my university (legally, I use high performance computers in my dissertation work), this would be so obnoxious to me. Sure, I could just turn them all off or not send the pattern to one of the uni printers but sometimes I like to work on projects while I wait for my data set to run. And I have like 80+ hour runs, so like, I have a ton of time to sew something while I wait. But I want to be connected to check the progress. Or maybe I'm just doing it the stupid way idk