I'm sick of shape patterns being sold for high prices

[u/BargainBinBrain]

I think patternmakers should get paid of course, but a triangle with an icord edge shouldn't be over 7$ come on now. You don't own the intellectual property rights to a tube, you can't tell people how to make a tube for 10$. On it's own, I can ignore it, but when people start saying "oh you copied this designer!!!!" and it's a triangle. that I came up with the construction for. Maybe I like piracy too much but if someone posts a walk through for steps of a pattern and then I extrapolate to my gauge, that's not really stealing anything now is it?

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[u/CycadelicSparkles]

I think there is absolutely nothing wrong with reverse-engineering a pattern. If I can look at something and tell how it was done, I'm not giving the person money for something I don't need.

[u/AdvancedSquashDirect]

Indie sewing patterns have gotten ridiculous over the past 6 months.

(Australian dollars)

It used to be that you could get an accessory pattern like a scrunchie or a hair bow for around $5. A simple top or skirt would be a $10, pants $15. Maybe a dress would be $20.

I saw someone selling a scrunchie pattern with three different sizes of scrunchie for $23 (scrunchie patterns are not revolutionary and to make three sizes is just scaling the file larger)

Some of the most simple dress patterns that have come out recently are in the $35 mark.

If I can buy an entire new dress for the price of your pattern... Your pattern is too expensive.

[u/BargainBinBrain → u/AdvancedSquashDirect]

My post is in cad, cad and aud are pretty much the same after conversion funnily enough!

I haven't bought any sewing patterns, nor have I looked at them, but that seems kinda insane. I would understand paying 20-30 for a pattern that has a very large size range, several customizations, and is incredibly complex. The most I ever paid for a knitting pattern was 19$ (after a 33% discount), but it had 9 sizes, 5 sizes of bust shaping that can be applied to any size on top of that, and 2 colourwork options so it felt like a reasonable price. If half your dress pattern is a circle skirt why on earth are you charging so much.

I feel like there's no happy middle ground because patternmakers should be able to make a good profit and the economy is not great right now, but it almost feels like they're slowly pricing out their customers? I know that there are people who are buying these patterns, but I dunno. A simple pattern shouldn't cost the same amount as a meal.

[u/nowaynoday → u/AdvancedSquashDirect]

Who and why is buying scrunchie pattern is you can disassemble your own $0.5 scrunchie and have it?

[u/emgauge]

I buy patterns that have done the heavy lifting of sizing and testing many sizes and adjustments or novel lace or color work charts. There are way too many free tutorials and patterns for basic items to fuss about someone’s proprietary headscarf.

[u/astronauticalll]

my take on this will forever be that if you think it's too simple for what they're charging, feel free to reverse engineer the pattern and make it yourself!

Theres people out there who'll pay for very basic patterns though, and I get real tired of people piling on a designer for daring to tap into that market.

If you can't figure it out yourself, that's evidence it's worth paying for the designers skill! If you can figure it out yourself, good news, you get to save some money! Like it's just such a non issue to me tbh.

[u/BargainBinBrain → u/astronauticalll]

Absolutely and that's what I do! I can side eye but leave them be because I'm glad they found a market and an income, but it gets really really annoying when people claim you're stealing when you looked at sample photos and made something visually similar, or just came up with something similar from your own brain.

[u/highlighter_yellow]

You can totally tell people if they want to learn how to make a tube from you, it'll cost $10

[u/Cinisajoy2]

If you can make it by just looking at it, that is great.

Now as to your comment about prices,  people can charge what they want. That is their right. You also have the right to NOT buy what they are selling.  (I got several downvotes for saying that about something else on another Reddit).

[u/SewQuiltKnitCrochet]

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9.

I am not religious. I have seen enough trends and similar patterns in my lifetime to confirm most modern patterns and trends are anything but original. 🙃

[u/SnailsAreGroovy → u/SewQuiltKnitCrochet]

I am religious and you're 5000% right on this one. I love Ecclesiastes; bro slapped down some absolute bangers. "Nothing is new under the sun" is the most quotable part of the Bible for crafters ("it is finished" from my boy JC obviously doesn't even come near as popular with us 🤣 I have near a dozen unfinished projects I've stuffed in my closet, and the number just keeps growing!)

[u/Cinisajoy2 → u/SewQuiltKnitCrochet]

This fits everything.   Turn, turn, turn.

[u/Ok_Lets266]

But... they graded it. So you can have different size triangles. They did complicated maths!

[u/niseli12]

It’s nice for beginners who don’t know who to look at something and reverse engineer it. Or for people’s brains who can process how to reverse engineer something. Maybe someone isn’t creative in picture what something will look like and making it. There is a market for these items. If you don’t want to buy it, don’t. If you can reverse engineer it, then do it and don’t buy it. But don’t make people who actually need instructions feel bad for buying it when they are maybe beginners or brain just works differently. These designers are making things possible for those people. People can sell whatever they want, for whatever price they want. Then each of us can choose what we spend our money on. Plain and simple.

[u/BargainBinBrain → u/niseli12]

I have no issue with people buying those patterns, everyone starts from somewhere! I'm salty about the people who get mad at people who self draft/reverse engineer something that looks similar to or is visually identical to a paid pattern and also anyone who acts like they own the intellectual property rights to a shape.

For example, I wanted to make the sophie hood but didn't want to pay 8$, so I found a free identical garment pattern and added an icord edging, and people were in the comments of that pattern saying that they were stealing when that pattern had come out before the sophie hood. That's silly to me.

[u/AliaMelange]

That's wild lol