Two cents

While I'm not 20-something, I have NOT been sewing for decades. I have been sewing for just over 10 years.

I grew up with a mom who sewed her whole life but she didn't teach me specifically or give me lessons. I didn't want to learn back then. A few things naturally rubbed off by sheer virtue of being around it and probably from my one 7th grade Home Ec class but by and large, I am self-taught, through books, videos, and interacting with others on the internet ... and by just jumping in and doing it. I bought a cheap Sears machine to sew the straight seams for living room curtains I didn't want to pay hundreds of dollars for. And then the spark was lit. (My mother was shocked as she had long given up.)

I'm not out to discourage anyone from sewing, from buying a specific pattern line, or from creating a pattern line. I've been giving my opinions about one pattern. You know what they say about opinions, and you are free to take mine ... or leave them. But when reviewing a product, I don't believe in saying only nice or popular things. I prefer to be thorough and truthful. In the end, though, it's still only my opinion.

I've sewn a number of indie patterns, such as Hot Patterns, Pamela's Patterns, and Colette's freebie Sorbetto, and my own created with Pattern Master Boutique. I've been honest about those experiences too, and two of my favorite patterns are HP's Sunshine and Pamela's Magic Pencil. I've also sewn Ottobres, Jalies, and probably a few others I'm forgetting at the moment. I'd love to try them all. Alas, I'm not rich. But when I do get my next one, whatever it may be, you can count on another honest opinion.

I don't mind PDF patterns and taping together 65 sheets one little bit. I can tape those sheets together in roughly the same time as it takes me to unfold and press tissue and then find the pieces I need.

I'm not really sure where I stand on feeling a responsibility, obligation, or opportunity (or whatever word you want to use) to contact an owner of a company whose product I'm talking about but part of me thinks that if you put something out there for sale at a high price point, it should pass muster. I'm fairly sure I don't want to pay the pattern price to be part of a "community" to give feedback that IMO should have been part of a testing process before release.

On the flip side, they could always contact me to test prior to release. ;-)

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