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About FreeSewing

Hi there 👋 and welcome to FreeSewing.eu We’re happy to have you 🙂

If you are new to FreeSewing, please take a few minutes to read this page and learn all about:

Sounds good? Then let’s dive right in:

What is FreeSewing?​

FreeSewing is the leading open source library for on-demand garment manufacturing. Loved by home sewers and fashion entrepreneurs alike, FreeSewing provides the tech stack for your creative endeavours.

FreeSewing is the brain-child of Joost De Cock, the FreeSewing maintainer. Various other people have contributed to FreeSewing over the years (the FreeSewing contributors), and the project is financially supported by the FreeSewing patrons.

Looking for developer documentation?

For more info about FreeSewing – the open source project – refer to FreeSewing.dev which hosts documentation for developers, designers, contributors, and translators.

What is FreeSewing.eu?​

Freesewing.eu is the FreeSewing project’s flagship website where we offer our ever-growing collection of bespoke sewing patterns to makers all over the world.

FreeSewing is not about fashion, trends, or publishing the hot new pattern of the season. Instead, we want to empower makers by distilling the knowledge of the sewing community into parametric designs + documentation, and make that information freely available.

FreeSewing.eu is our most visible asset, and for many people their first encounter with the FreeSewing project.

Patterns vs Designs​

If you came to this site looking for sewing patterns and did not immediately find a place to download them, that’s because all of FreeSewing’s sewing patterns are made to measure.

We don’t scale or grade patterns. Instead, FreeSewing drafts a design into a pattern made to your measurements. That happens in real-time, in your browser.

  • Design: One of the styles that we offer. We’ve got dozens of designs, and you can try them all
  • Pattern: The result of drafting the design (turning it into a sewing pattern to your measurements). We’ve got thousands of patterns stored for our users, and some might be yours
tip
Saving is optional​

When you generate a bespoke pattern, you can tweak it endlessly through its various options, and export it to a range of formats, including PDF. But it remains ephemeral until you save it to your account, so it becomes one of your patterns.

Saving your pattern is optional, but it allows you to re-visit the pattern later, make further tweaks to it or simply download the PDF again.

You can save as many patterns as you like.

note
We respect the strictest privacy laws on the planet​

To generate bespoke sewing patterns, we need your measurements. Asking for them every time would be rather tedious, so we store them in your account.

Your account data is stored on our backend, subject to our privacy notice, and with respect for your rights.

Measurements sets​

Once you have an account, you can start adding measurements. But that quickly brings up the next question: what if you want a pattern for you, but also for your partner?

That’s why we have measurements sets. You can add as many measurements sets as you like. Having just one for yourself is fine too.

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Curated measurements sets​

FreeSewing also provides curated measurements sets. These are measurements set from real people that we use to test our platform and designs. But you can also use them to test-drive our platform before you break out the measuring tape.

How to generate bespoke sewing patterns​

The FreeSewing Editor allows you to create bespoke sewing patterns in your browser.

As our editor is packed with features, we have a dedicated documentation section for it:

Where to turn to for help​

If you get stuck, consult the support page for various support options.

Further Reading​

The following information is important, but probably not something you want to read on your first visit. But it’s here if you ever get curious: