For the Love of Indie Patterns

Okay, I’ll confess right now – I am WEAK when faced with an irresistible pattern!  WEAK, I TELL YOU, WEAK!  And I’m always keeping an eye out for a pattern that I don’t have that I can add to my collection.  As I’ve previously mentioned, I’m particularly fond of indie patterns (in fact, you won’t find many patterns from the Big 5 in my collection) but in some conversations I’ve had over the past while, it occurred to me there are still many people who’ve not even heard about any of the indie pattern designers or who have never used a pattern designed by an indie designer.  (And I’m not gonna lie, this still surprises me to no end!)  Since I’m a big supporter of these designers (and not because I’m hoping to meander down that path myself someday soon) I decided to write a post that highlight some of the ones I’ve been working with lately.

For those of you who haven’t ventured into the world of indie patterns, you HAVE to try at least one.  Honestly, the hardest part about the whole thing will be deciding which pattern to try first.  There are SO many out there!  Most of these designers have many more patterns than the ones I talk about in this post so you’ll want to mosey over to their websites at some point to browse through the others.  Also, if you Google the names of the patterns you’ll come across TONS of posts by other bloggers talk about their experience with the pattern and most usually include lots of pictures.  So if you’re curiosity is piqued, read on to see the ones I have:

Printed Patterns

Since I much prefer printed patterns, I of course couldn’t resist these:

Sewaholic patterns (Is there a pattern she’s made that isn’t loved?!  As a fellow BC-er, I feel it part of my due diligence to give her a huge shout-out!):

There’s Colette Patterns (Um, hello lovely Chantilly dress!):

The lovely Papercut Patterns (Have you ever seen such creative packaging for a pattern before?  SO awesome!):

And let’s not forget Hand London (Anna Dress on order but hasn’t yet arrived.  CHECK OUT THAT THIGH HIGH SPLIT!):

Photo is from Hand London’s website.

Victory Patterns (Nicola dress on order but hasn’t arrived yet.  And yes, a shout-out to my fellow Canuck!):

Photo is from Victory Pattern’s website.

And finally Blue Ginger Doll Patterns (Again on order.  But really, who can resist that neckline?!):

Photo is from Blue Ginger Doll’s website.

PDF Patterns

While I haven’t been a huge fan of PDF patterns in the past, I’ve slowly been changing my mind thanks to these fine folks:

Scientific Seamstress & Sis Boom (SO easy to tell a scientist-mind developed these patterns):

Picture is from Sis Boom webstore site.

Grainline Studio (Seriously LOVING them right now!):

Picture is from Grainline Studio’s website

Picture is from Grainline Studio’s website

Picture is from Grainline Studio’s website

Thread Theory (for Mr SA, and I can’t resist another huge shout-out for these fellow BC-ers, a husband and wife team.):

Picture is from Thread Theory website.

Picture is from Thread Theory website.

Okay, after seeing so many versions of the Kitschy Coo’s Skater Dress on LLadybird’s blog, I decided I needed to make my own Skater Dress (I know, I have no self-control.):

Picture is from Kitschy Koo website.

I have been eye-ing up the Belladone dress by Deer and Doe as well as Megan Nielsen’s Kelly Skirt but  I have promised myself I’d wait until I’ve made something from the patterns I’ve recently ordered.  (Ha!   How’s that for self-control?!)

There are many more indie pattern designers out there than mentioned in this post.  If I’d listed all the ones I know about in this post, I would have had to title it “The Post that Never Ends” because it would have gone on forever.  Threads posted an article that contains a super-long list of them here so if you’re curious, check it out.  For those of you who know of other designers that I haven’t listed, please feel free share!  And if you ARE an independent designer, tell us about yourself and your patterns!

All right, are you convinced to give one a go yet?  Let us know!

Happy sewing!