How this data is collected
Short version: a person opens every page, reads it, and writes down what it says. Nothing goes into a table without being read, and nothing is filled in by guesswork.
Where each field comes from
The fields below are the ones we record for sewing patterns. Each category gets the fields that actually decide whether a file is any use in that craft, so the columns will not be the same everywhere.
- Size range — taken from the designer's own size chart, or the sentence in the post that states it. Many designers publish the chart only as an image, which search engines cannot read and screen readers cannot speak. Where that happens we transcribe the chart by hand into text, record the date we did it, and link to the original so any mistake of ours can be caught and corrected. We transcribe only the rows that decide which size you pick — bust, waist, hip — not the designer's whole table.
- Email required — decided by where the download button actually goes. A link straight to a PDF, Google Drive or Dropbox is no. A form that emails you the link, or a $0 checkout, is yes. A newsletter popup on the page is not counted — only what genuinely stands between you and the file.
- Knit or woven — from the fabric the designer specifies. Where a pattern is drafted for one but the designer has said the other works, we say so.
- Skill level — only as stated by the designer. Most free patterns do not state one, and we leave it blank rather than invent a rating.
- A0, copy shop and projector files — from the file list on the download page, or from the designer answering the question in their own comments.
What “Not stated” and “Unconfirmed” mean
Not stated means we read the designer's page and the information simply is not on it. That is the common case, and it is useful to know before you spend an evening on a pattern: plenty of free patterns never tell you where the sizing stops.
Unconfirmed is rarer and means something different — the page gives conflicting signals, or we could not reach it, so we are not willing to call it either way.
Both are deliberate. A blank we admit to is worth more than a number we made up.
How often links are re-checked
Every entry carries the date it was last confirmed. Patterns disappear and go paid more often than you would expect — 1 of the tunic patterns that other roundups still recommend were already returning 404 when we checked. Re-checks run regularly, and the dates on the pages are updated when they do.
Why we host nothing
A pattern being free to download does not make it free to redistribute. Most designers licence their free patterns for personal use only. Copying their files here would break that, and it would take away the traffic and the mailing-list signups that are the whole reason they give patterns away. So every link points at the designer's own page, and the download happens there.
If you are a designer and you would rather not be listed, or something here is wrong about your pattern, we will correct it or take it down.
About this domain
This site runs on freeimagedump.com, which was a free image hosting service for many years before us. That service is gone and none of those files survive. Old links to images on this domain will not work, and we have deliberately not redirected them anywhere — sending someone to an unrelated page is worse than an honest 404.