Unbelievable......

See how many free patterns - written by generous craftspeople and given to the community for free - that this Etsy seller is flogging as their own....?

I'm speechless. And quite peeved.. (Yes - that's my pyramid purse up there!).

Thanks to those of you who drew my attention to this. If you spot your own pattern up there, I suggest you contact Etsy.

Friday Night Blues... and reds...

It's been a LONG week...

I came home and cracked open the last of the Christmas wine (I only drink red occasionally - if I'd been given half a case of white it would've been lucky to see in the New Year!). My sister works at the vinyard where they make these gorgeous wines and we all look forward to seeing it... I mean HER ...each Xmas.

Ok, so I've had a glass and a half of red wine.... time to change the tone of this happy blog for a minute and spill the beans on what's been eating away at me. I'll get it off my chest, clear the air (and any other cliche that involves having a good whinge) and then get back to being happy.

It's been a tough week of personal grief (with a hefty dose of three-year-old tantrums thrown in). On top of that, it's been a week where I've seen how vulnerable my business is to people abusing my intellectual property. I feel completely used - and not very much like writing the next tutorial or designing the next pattern.

I know this doesn't apply to most people - but can I please ask anyone who may be contemplating it - PLEASE think about it before you share a sewing pattern with friends, copy instructions or patterns in any way, copy designs (ie a bag style) without actually BUYING the pattern, publish online tutorials showing the methods that I've developed or blog the construction processes....

Just realise that you might be killing the goose that lays the golden egg.



Phew! I feel like I've lanced a boil or something. Sorry about the mess of pent-up emotional goo everywhere.... Can we go back to being happy now?