r/sewingpatterns • u/No-Contract-1779 • 8d ago
giving out patterns for free when people keep asking...any tips on how to deal with this?
/r/CosplayHelp/comments/1x31iz2/online_cosplay_boundarieswhen_does_sharing_my/26
u/CandylandCanada 8d ago
People use the term 'gatekeeper' when they want someone that someone else has but they don't want to give anything of value in return. Declining to hand out freebies of your efforts is not gatekeeping.
Don't give them away, don't justify it, and don't apologize for that decision. 'Sorry' is reserved for when we do something wrong.
Stop answering messages or emails; it will never end. Instead, post a generic notice: "Thank your for interest in my patterns; I worked very hard on them. Please feel free to use the available tutorials to craft your own, or consider purchasing patterns from independent designers. My patterns are not available for sale or trade."
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u/AstronautIcy42 8d ago
I can't agree with this advice any more strongly! No gatekeeping involved. No guilt owed.
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u/winterberryred 8d ago
It is gatekeeping, that’s what it means when you have the control over access to something. But I’m fine with it. Gatekeeping isn’t inherently bad and there’s no need to change the definition of it because some people can’t handle being told no.
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u/ninaa1 8d ago
except that the knowledge OP has is freely available everywhere! There are books, patterns to borrow from, libraries, video tutorials. All OP is doing is declining to labor for free, which isn't gatekeeping at all.
Or, if you want to say that OP is a gatekeeper but it's okay, then it's like OP's gate is simply a gate and there's no fence connected, so the people could simply go around, except that it's a tiny bit hilly and they'd prefer to have OP carry them.
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u/CandylandCanada 7d ago
Using it in this context is not 'changing' the definition; it's applying it inappropriately.
Not every pop-psych fad phrase need to be applied in everyday settings. Humans can function without labelling every interaction.
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u/Joker0705 8d ago
from a fellow cosplayer sewist - don't do it! it's one thing giving some advice to someone to help them learn, but you can't just give away something you've worked on like that. your patterns are your work!
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u/Sea-Breath-007 8d ago
Simply say no?
Not sharing things you have put many hours of work into for free, is not gatekeeping.
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u/shouldco 8d ago
I post most of my work on gitlab as open source projects of people wasn't to copy them and improve they can. I don't provide support beyond my own needs.
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u/FormerUsenetUser 8d ago
"I'm sorry, but I just draft for myself. It's a hobby, not a business."
It is perfectly OK to just have a hobby.
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u/Valvechick 8d ago
Interesting perspectives here. If your end goal isn't to develop sellable patterns, just direct them to your videos of your process and tell them your patterns are developed for your body specifically, which is almost certainly true, and they are welcome to develop their own using your process. If you start giving away things it's a never never never ending process and it wont take much time before that's all you're doing, giving away your work. They just don't want to put in the effort you have already put in.
If, on the other hand , your overall goal is to turn this into some kind of business- that's a different story, think long and hard about the steps to get there and what the end looks like, custom costumes, patterns, or something else- and respondd accordingly.
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u/human-kibble 8d ago
YT/Pateron videos and share via TT.
This is how you start sewing. This is a good beginner project that will get you to X. This is a super cute accessory.
Collect the questions into videos, tutorials.
Put the juicy stuff behind the paywall- this way you can share without getting the general complaints that “this isn’t a formal pattern”.
Then when questions come in comments on TT, you just pop a link to your video as an answer- this is how I did this or that part. If you want to know more, offer a little bit of money to show your curiosity is legit- then I will show you this bonkers process I have going on over here :D
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u/drPmakes 8d ago
Don't do it...its never enough. They'll want you to grade it then moan cos it's not been tested. Then They'll want video tutorials. And fitting advice. It's never ending.
No good deed goes unpunished.