I've been selling e-patterns for close to 5 years now and have found myself thinking a lot lately about e-patterns, the future of e-patterns, and trends I have been noticing. In doing so for some reason the movie and the soundtrack to the 1966 movie by Sergio Leone "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" kept springing to mind.

Now I know I'm dating myself with this movie, but now that I've mentioned it to you can't you just hear the soundtrack with that really eerie twangy music playing. I'll bet it will be in your head for awhile! LOL LOL It stayed with me for the whole day.

In any event, in thinking about e-patterns I was thinking of all the good - the positive aspects of e-patterns and decided to make three lists. The Good - which is all the positive aspects of e-patterns. The Bad - which is all the negative aspects of e-patterns.  And, The Ugly - which is disturbing trends with e-patterns these days.   And, of course, the main reason for my post - why my e-patterns are better.

Here's The Good:

1) First of all, you save time and money (both of which are a rare commodity these days).

2) Time because you either get them instantly or you get them emailed within 24 hours.

3)  Money because E-Patterns generally COST A LOT LESS then regular patterns mailed via the post office.

4) They are complete patterns sent to you over the internet as a .PDF (portable document format) file which means they can be downloaded directly to your computer.  You can view or print them anytime you want with the FREE Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is already loaded on most computers you buy today or and is also available as a  FREE download from Adobe.com.

5) They can either be sent to you via Email or they can be instantly downloaded depending on the website you purchased them from.  If you order an emailed E-Pattern then an Email with a .PDF (Portable Document Format) attachment is sent to you which you then need to download to your computer, save, and then open in Adobe Acrobat.

If you "instantly download" a single e-pattern then generally the .PDF file is instantly transmitted to you after payment has been made. You can then download, save the .PDF file to your computer, and then open it in Adobe Acrobat.

Or, if you "instantly download" several e-patterns at once via a website that uses a shopping cart (like mine) then a confirmation email with multiple download links is emailed to you once payment has been made. You can then download each of the .PDF files, save them to your computer, and then open them in Adobe Acrobat.

6) There's no waiting for the postman to arrive.  Or, worrying that the dog is going to bite the postman.

7) Since you can save them on your computer you can view them over and over again.

8) Because you can save them on your computer you can print them over and over again.  No more photocopying pattern piece sheets.  Just print whatever pages you need.

9) Because they are in .PDF format this means they can be read by Amazon Kindle and by Apple's IPad.  In my opinion this is a wonderful benefit to e-patterns for the future.  Most of us who sew keep the e-patterns right next to us while we are sewing.  With an Amazon Kindle and  Apple IPad you could download the e-pattern to your e-reader and keep the it right next to you while you are sewing so as to easily scroll through the pages.

Of course, you'd either have to print the pattern piece sheets out before downloading your e-pattern to your e-reader or connect it in such a manner as to allow you to print the pattern pieces.  My understanding is that the Amazon Kindle is a LOT easier to print from then the Apple IPad. Since I don't own either device I could be wrong about that.

While I think e-readers hold a great benefit in the future for e-patterns I tend to be old school and like having the printed document in my hands and available so I can make notes in the margins.  Maybe if I get an e-reader I might change my mind on this.  Who knows.  The again, I'm a book lover so who know if I'll ever get an e-reader!

Here's The Bad:

1) Instant download e-patterns can be problematical at times.

2) Instant download e-patterns generally allow for a certain number of tries to download and a time frame for downloading such as 48 hours. If you don't download the e-pattern within 48 hours or within 3 attempts then the download link will expire.  You then have to get in touch with the owners of the websites you bought the e-pattern from and request the links to be re-set or the e-pattern to be sent to you as an attachment to an email.

3) Some of the internet email providers have not caught up with the popularity of e-commerce and e-products.  E-patterns can be problematical at times with some internet email service providers. Not all email service providers have caught up with the capabilities of e-commerce and "instant downloads" which are basically computer generated emails. They tend to view all computer generated emails as "SPAM" and send them off to the email users spam account.  As a result, depending on your email service provider, you may or may not get the email with the download link. 

Here's The Ugly:

1) Some e-patterns being developed by some of the e-pattern designers these days are HUGE in file size.  This means they will take up more memory in the computer, take longer to download, and usually mean more resolution to the pages and pictures which means it takes longer to print them.  If an e-pattern is being send as a attachment to an email and if the e-pattern is too large in file size then a zip folder may be created by the email service provider.  This means you will need to unzip the folder before you can read the file. 

2) Some of the e-patterns being developed by some of the e-pattern designers these days are more like e-tutorials and e-classes and are filled to the brim with pictures. While this is nice when viewing the e-pattern on a computer screen or on an e-reader it can be very COSTLY to print. With too many pictures you'll go through toner cartridges like nothing.  This is a major issue as one of the reasons why e-patterns are great is they are cheap.  But, if you have to print a ton of pictures they won't be cheap to print.

While lots of pictures are great when it comes to e-classes I think this is a disturbing trend for e-patterns as it undermines one of the very reasons that e-patterns are great - cost savings.  While you might be saving on the price of the e-pattern with some e-patterns the cost of printing them in their entirety might be prohibitive.

3) The prices of some of the e-patterns seem to be going up and up and up.  To the point where the e-patterns are being priced the same as regular print patterns which, in my opinion, undermines another one of the benefits to e-patterns - they cost a lot less.

So, now the real reason for my post -  "What makes Linda Walsh Originals Doll Patterns So Wonderful?"

In order to answer that I thought I'd show you exactly what our e-patterns contain with some illustrations and then explain to you why our e-patterns are so great.  Then you could decide for yourselves.

For those of you unfamiliar with our doll patterns and craft patterns I thought that a good way to answer this would be to show you an example of some of the contents of our patterns. Our doll patterns and craft patterns were designed to make it easy to follow sewing the doll from beginning to end whether you are a beginner crafter and/or sewer or an experienced crafter and/or seamstress.  Everything and anything you need to know are all contained within the e-pattern.

The front cover includes a digital picture of the doll, the Pattern #, doll size, doll’s name, and doll description.

The back page lists all of the supplies needed to make the doll, including where each of the supplies is used within the pattern (listed in the parenthesis). It also includes our business information, copyrights, and legal information concerning the use of our pattern.

The instruction sheet lists in detail the sewing instructions, additional pieces to be cut, and the instructions for putting the doll together from start to finish. The instruction sheets follow the diagrams from beginning to end and include many references to the diagrams pages. The instruction sheet also references each pattern piece by its name and each pattern piece edge by its label.  It also includes a bare minimum of pictures so you get the idea without breaking the bank with toner cartridges.

The diagrams pages are hand drawn picture examples of putting the doll together from start to finish and show you how the doll should look step by step. They follow the instruction sheets from beginning to end.  They have been drawn in black and white and are usually on one or two pages.  The idea is to give you a quick look at the start to finish process in a minimal amount of pages so, again, you won't break the bank in toner cartridges.  They could easily sit next to the sewing machine while you're sewing as a quick and easy reference.

The pattern sheets are all full size page sheets. All of the pattern pieces are named and indicate the number of pieces to cut. The edges of all the pattern pieces are labeled as to edge placement and what sewing is to be done with that edge. If the edge is to be sewn to another pattern piece then the edge contains the name of that specific pattern piece. The fold lines, sew lines, and cutting lines are all indicated as well.

Whether you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced crafter and/or sewer you should be able to easily follow our pattern directions for making the doll. If you like to sew using written instructions then just follow the sewing instruction sheets from start to finish. If you like to sew using pictures just follow the pictures outlined in our Diagrams Sheet from the first picture straight thru to the last picture. If you like a challenge and like to just put the doll together from the pattern pieces you can do that as well.

We have classified our patterns into 3 groups -  B = beginner, I = Intermediate, and A = Advanced. The patterns classification is shown on their purchase page so you know before you buy the pattern what the it's classification is.  Are patterns can be used by beginners, intermediate crafters and/or sewers, and the more advanced or experienced seamstress or crafter. If you'd like to see the complete pattern classification list for all our patterns please CLICK HERE.

Besides price, the only difference between our print patterns and e-patterns is the plastic envelope they are contained within when they are mailed to you via snail mail.  With e-patterns instead of receiving the whole printed pattern in a plastic envelope via the post office you’ll receive the whole pattern electronically (minus the plastic envelope, of course).

If you'd like to see one of our e-patterns and download it just click on the e-pattern image to the right. It's a FREE e-pattern from Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns and is the e-pattern illustrated above. The link will take you to the page that "Marsh Me Snow" is on in my instant e-patterns website which utilizes a shopping cart. From there you just add it to your shopping cart and then follow the prompts to check-out. Once you finish the check-out process you'll be sent an email containing the download link for the free e-pattern. Then, just copy/paste the link to your browsers window, download the .PDF file, save it to your computer and then open it in Adobe Acrobat.

So now, hopefully, you have a good idea as to what our patterns contain.  Now, here's why our e-patterns are better:

1)  We adjust the resolution of both our Diagrams Pages and Pattern Piece sheets so as to keep the e-pattern file size down to a minimum.  This allows for easier downloading and printing time.

2) You can buy both instant download e-patterns or emailed e-patterns from me. The choice is up to you. If you buy instant download e-patterns a download link is emailed to you once payment has been made through PayPal. If you order emailed e-patterns then they will be sent as attachments to an email within a maximum of 24 hours after you have purchased them. Generally, we send them right away. Right after Paypal notifies us of payment.

3)  Our Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns website utilizes a shopping cart which means you can buy multiple e-patterns at the same time.  A confirmation email with multiple download links is emailed to you once payment has been made. You can then download each of the .PDF files, save them to your computer, and then open them in Adobe Acrobat.
4) For the instant download e-patterns if for some reason you don't receive your email with your download links you can always return to our Linda Walsh Originals E-Patterns website, sign into your account, and obtain the download link. Then all you have to do is copy/paste the download link into your browser window.

4) My e-patterns contain a minimum number of pictures which means you won't go broke trying to print my e-patterns out.

5) Our Pattern Piece Sheets are all single sided full size page sheets and none of the pieces overlap one another or need to be reduced or enlarged.

6) We try to keep our e-patterns at a 1 1/2 to 2X rate which means the price of our e-patterns (for the most part) is 50% - 65% the cost of our print patterns.  There is a bare minimum cost to producing the e-patterns so sometimes this formula doesn't quite work out. 

So now, hopefully, you have a good idea why our e-patterns are so wonderful.

If you love patterns and e-patterns just think of how many you can save on your computer. THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of E-patterns stored on your computer!

No more cluttering up all the drawers in your house. No more hundreds of boxes or plastic containers all over the house. Not only can you get your craft patterns right when your creative juices are flowing, but you also get less clutter and pattern organization. Progress really is being made.

And the best part of all, you can REPRINT the pattern sheets OVER and OVER and OVER again.

No more taping worn paper again. No more photocopying pattern sheets at work. REAL progress is being made.

Now, I have a question for you. Why not try one yourself? Come on. You know you want to. And, when you do please send us an email and let us know how you liked our e-pattern. We'd love to hear from you. Better yet, send us a picture and we'll post it on our Linda's Blog.

Happy sewing.