I am launching a campaign next month called May is for Makers.
This is a little bit of a soapbox topic, but I hope you’ll hear me out.
One of my favorite parts of sewing is the ability to make something instead of buying it.
It’s amazing and an incredible high, but the balance between what we expect for free and what we are willing to purchase is way out of whack.
We have all gotten spoiled by the amount of free on the internet and I worry about how much longer our community of independent designer’s can sustain that.
I want to make it very clear, that this is not about me. I am a maker myself and I am SUPER guilty. This is not a ploy to ask people to buy from me.
This is something that was laid on my heart as I sat working on patterns of my own.
The thought went something like this:
Gah, I am so tired of working on these illustrations. This is so much work. *continues working* Hmm, should I print my patterns. I wonder if they do better than PDF? How do I have my patterns printed? Is it worth it? How much will it cost? I’m not sure I can afford it? Will my sales match my costs? Research, Research, Research. Worry, Worry, Worry. Wait, when’s the last time I purchased a pattern? I never realized how much work it is. eek.
And then I get back to designing, because it makes my heart SING!
At the end of the day, it doesn’t always matter to a designer if their patterns are selling because they are passionate about it!
There is a lot of work and cost that goes in to self-publishing a pattern and even a free tutorial on a blog and passion can only take you so far. The quality we expect has a price.
Something needs to change, and it can start with me. I need to be intentional with my purchases.
For the month of May, I am committing to support a different pattern maker each week. I am choosing to skip lunch at Chick-fil-a to instead invest in a person.
I will purchase 5 patterns over the course of the 5 weeks and with each purchase I make, I will tell a pattern maker that their work matters. My purchase will tell them that I am grateful for the time, effort and passion they put into their brand. Validation.
I will be sharing my pattern purchase each Monday on social media using #mayisformakers.
I hope you’ll consider joining me. What a wave of love to send the makers of our community. To remind them that while we all love something for free, we also value time and artistry and we are willing to give our support.
Lots of love!
Lindsey
Feel free to grab a button below to share on your own blog. You can also follow me on instagram @lrstitched. I will be doing my pattern sharing there using the hashtag #mayisformakers.
Lindsey, I love this so much!! I agree whole heartedly. I’ll be participating for sure. I don’t have a lot of time to sew these days, but I do love buying indie patterns and agree it is so important.
I love this idea Lindsey!! I’m totally on board. Count me in. I’m stealing your icon to share.
What a fantastic reason to purchase patterns I have on my wish list. I might have to start before May 1st. The fabulous patterns need to be rewarded. Thanks for the great idea.
This is probably one of the best ideas I have ever heard of to support this wonderful community of creators. I so look forward to following you on this and hopefully will be able to participate with selecting five of my own! Thank you.
What a great idea! I look forward to supporting pattern designers and learning new things. A win for all of us.
Wow, you are so right, so I am with you about supporting Indie designers with a purchase of a pattern for each week of May!!!
THANK YOU !!!
You are totally right. I am not a designer but a user. I love all the free tutorials but even more I am indebted to all of the hard work you talented designers do. I especially love that I can purchase a pdf pattern and make it right away, since I am over 30 mile from a store. I plan on buying more patterns and am looking forward to seeing your choices. Thanks for doing this and reminding us crafters what an important service you all provide us with.
What an interesting idea! I think free patterns and tutorials are a great way to get into crafting but to create a sustainable craft industry we do need to support designers by purchasing their patterns. Your initiative is a great way to highlight the issue and support the community not to mention add some new patterns to my crafting arsenal 🙂
Love this idea and I will participate. I can’t promise to purchase a pattern EVERY week but will certainly do what I can to promote indie pattern makers and to let my blog readers know about this as well.
Following you on IG now. I’m @quilterinmotion
Thanks for sharing your quilting life.
Marsha
This is just great! What a brilliant idea and hopefully one that happens each year. I’m in for sure!
This is very powerful, Lindsey. This pushed a lot of buttons for me in a crazy kind of way, and I am so on board for this. Thank you for this insightful post – I plan to blog about the topic on May 1 and share about my journey through this month along the way to continue to spread the discussion. <3
[…] am joining the May is for Makers campaign initiated by Lindsey from LR Stitched. She is challenging us to buy one pattern each of the 5 weeks in May from indie pattern maker. […]
I completely agree, found you from Lee’s blog Freshly Pieced. I’ll be joining your campaign, added the button to my blog and will begin posting on Mondays with you.
Great Idea! I’m in!
Hi Lindsey. Thanks so much for creating this challenge! As a pattern designer myself, I completely understand your thought process! What a great way to support one another And discover new designers. I am in!!!
Well since I love the indie patterns I’m in! And will continue.
Hi Lindsey,
I just posted about your May is for Makers initiative and will be joining you with a weekly purchase and post. What a great idea!
Thanks,
Mary
Spot on! I am guilty of doing the same. Although secretly I love looking at a photo in a magazine and trying to figure out how it was made and then doing all the math (OK, so I am a bit of a geek).
I was recently asked to design and make a quilt that was to be used as a gift. I figured that the cost of 5 yards of fabric plus batting, plus 20 hours of work would be $100. The person nearly fainted. “You can buy a quilt at the mall for $39!” I felt terrible. All that work, all that love – and you want that for $39? Really.
Next time I am tempted to sit and sketch it out I will hit the buy button instead. There is no price that can be put on love and dedication, but certainly we can compensate for the time and energy put into making, marketing and selling the patterns we love so much.
What an awesome idea! I shared your button and will be happy to participate in May Is For Makers. 😉
This is such a great idea and has created quite the stir in quilter blogland. I posted my support here.
https://needleandfoot.com/2016/05/01/may-is-for-makers
Fiona of ‘http://chainstitcher.blogspot.com/p/indie-pattern-designers.html’ has a great list of designers for ready to wear mostly. Do you or your colleagues have a similar list of quilt indie designers? It would be great to check out many of them!
Thanks!
[…] is something quite special happening this month called May Is For Makers. Please go right now and read the post, because Lindsey has pretty much written everything I […]
[…] is so I figure, I love to buy craft patterns so why not jump on the wagon? The idea is created by Lindsey Rhodes and is to show support to those pattern makers out there for the month of May, rather than just […]
I agree that this is a wonderful idea! I don’t have a blog, but wanted to post a note about the purchase I just made. Kristy from Quiet Play has wonderful paper pieced patterns that are always well done and are generally easy to make. I just bought 2 this morning. Check out her blog http://quietplay.blogspot.com/ and her pattern shop.
Thank you so much for sparking this initiative!! I’m on board and have blogged and IG-ed about it! As a designer myself, I don’t often buy patterns, but I’m making a change this month! I’m looking forward to seeing the wave of love sweep over the designing world. We all sure deserve it! <3
I love this initiative, Lindsey!! It totally resonates with how I have been feeling and I’m definitely on-board to support our community! Pattern 1 already purchased and blog post to follow shortly 😉
Posted my first purchase today, and I’ll be posting every Monday in May.
[…] I join fellow bloggers Lee at Freshly Pieced and Lindsey at LRStitched for the May Is For Makers campaign. Click on their names to read their posts on supporting […]
I’m jumping on the bandwagon! So glad to help you celebrate the makers!
[…] to purchase at least one or two more indie patterns during the month of May. How about YOU? Go HERE to learn more about May is for Makers […]
Lovely idea – even for those of us not on instagram.
Meanwhile, I pledge to use the patterns that I have already purchased.
(I’ve already been supporting monetarily, now I need to make!)
I’m in! I’m a small indie designer too and yet don’t support others like myself often enough. This month I will. And on my blog I’m inviting others to do the same. Thanks for a great idea.
[…] is being (understandably) touted heavily among quilting blogs this week. It started with a post by Lindsey Rhodes which has everyone thinking about the balance of expecting/wanting everything for free via the […]
Well done and very thoughtful indeed. I will support this initiative too.
Thank you SO much for starting this pledge drive. I sew and make quilts but don’t design or sell my work I am awe of those of you who do and yet I know I’ve been guilty of being inspired by others work without buying anything. I often wondered why so many tutorials, patterns and quilt-alongs are free and how the designers or organizer could afford to spend so much time on free material.
I accept your challenge and I signed up yesterday for the “Summer Sampler 2016” which is a quilt-along of twenty block patterns provided weekly and the cost is only $19.99. I am embarrassed to say that as it is ridiculously inexpensive. I will be buying a pattern or product a week during May as you suggest.
Perhaps the challenge needs to go both ways though and designers and makers need to proudly price their work and not put it out on the Internet for free. Maybe they’d be pleasantly surprised that folks would buy their products. Or maybe I am just naive! Designers who are pouring their hearts and souls into designing products, patterns and books need to be paid for their work and thank you for reminding us of the situation.
Lindsey this is the beginning of something big and such a wonderful idea! I support Indie artists as a first choice for almost all our gift shopping. Your idea of doing it publicly and giving people an encouraging social media shout out just rocks!
Fantastic idea! Thank you so much for starting this. I must say I have been feeling quite disheartened lately and feeling like giving up. It gets tiresome seeing my “pattern sales” from Craftsy and it’s only ever my free patterns. I am following you everywhere!
I agree that we must support our creative community. Even if it looks like I might be able to figure something out myself, I now just buy the pattern. I love supporting our independent entrepreneurs, and more times than not, I learn something new from their expertise! I’m so grateful for all the prep work they have done so that all I have to do is sit down and sew. Thank you!
[…] #MayIsForMakers movement began with Lindsey (read her original post here) and has really resonated within our online quilty community. I totally understand Lindsey’s […]
This is a fantastic initiative. I’m very glad to join you this month.
[…] week the May is for Maker’s challenge was brought to the forefront of the quilty blogger community and everyone was joyfully […]
[…] To learn more about the #mayisformakers campaign, check Lindsay’s well written post. […]
This is such a great idea. Thank you! I’ve put up your button and purchased a pattern. I purchase a lot more patterns now, after learning how much work goes into them. Sure, I can figure a lot of stuff out on my own and save a few dollars. But how can I expect others to buy my patterns if I don’t buy theirs?
[…] I’m finally getting around to sharing my purchases for weeks 1 + 2 of May is for Makers. […]
[…] you participating in May is for Makers? Lindsey over at LRStitched had the fantastic idea to commit to supporting indie pattern makers by purchasing a pattern each […]
[…] can read more about May is for Makers by clicking here. It’s not too late to take the […]
[…] that we are already to Week 3 of May is for Makers! May is for Makers is a campaign started by Lindsey Rhodes to bring awareness to the need to support indie designers. I have shared my two other purchases for […]
[…] support of the May is for Makers theme this month, I purchased my second indie pattern of the month. Yikes, it was hard to choose. […]
[…] support of the current May is for Makers campaign, I have purchased another pattern from an indie designer this […]
[…] also want to share my May is for Makers pattern for this week. It has been years since I have made a dress but the time has come. I chose […]
[…] that we are already to Week 4 of May is for Makers! May is for Makers is a campaign started by Lindsey Rhodes to bring awareness to the need to support indie designers. I have shared my three other purchases […]
[…] der “Mai ist für die Selbermacher”, ins Leben gerufen von Lindsey Rhodes vom Blog LR Stitched. Und dieser Aktion habe ich mich am Anfang des Monats angeschlossen. Sie widmet sich den vielen […]
[…] can read more about May is for Makers by clicking here. It’s not too late to take the […]
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.[…] in May, as part of the May is for Makers campaign, I purchased a Craftsy pillow pattern – Modern Sorbet by Seraphym Handmade. […]
[…] you seen this yet? May is For Makers is the superb initiative of Lindsey from LR Stitched. I’m joining with Lindsey and a whole bunch of people and committing to purchase one […]
[…] You can read more about my idea for this campaign here. […]
[…] and today I’d love to share with you an initiative I came across that will kick off in May: “May Is for Makers“, the brainchild of Lindsey Rhodes of LR Stitched. As Lindsey […]
[…] really been enjoying this May is for Makers campaign. Usually, I can only justify buying a pattern if it’s for something I’m […]