Patterns for Pirates

P4P stylish, modern, wearable patterns

P4P Spirit Month 2023

We’ve got spirit, yes we do.  We’ve got spirit, how ’bout you?!?!

I am pumped to share that we are gearing up for another round of “P4P Spirit Month“, just like we did in 2020! As soon as the calendar flips to May 1, it’s go time y’all!

What are we doing exactly?  Our team is super in love with Me Made May and the idea behind getting to know your self-made clothing, and to celebrate your sewing skills.  Big props to So, Zo…What Do You Know? for starting this social media movement a decade ago.

We decided to kick it up a notch by creating themes around each day.  Think of it like Spirit Week at school…where all of your fellow classmates dress in theme together and you get to feel the excitement and camaraderie surrounding your themed clothing efforts.  Instead of it only lasting a week, it’s the ENTIRE MONTH.  And the themes are pretty achievable, using items you already have in your closet.  You can play along as much or as little as you’d like.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE PRINTABLE CALENDAR HERE

The rules are pretty simple.

  1. Wear a new / old Patterns for Pirates clothing item that you’ve made, matching up with the daily theme.  ie: wear a purple Basic Tee on Purple Day (May 3).
    • Simple adjustments / pattern mashes are fine to share.  We just want to be able to recognize the P4P pattern you used to make your clothing item!
  2. Take a photo of yourself in the item.
    • It has to be a new photo, taken that day.  Mirror selfies with a messy room behind you are completely acceptable.  We just want to see you, in this moment, playing along with us!
  3. Share the photo on the Patterns for Pirates Facebook Group wall, in a separate post that you’ve created.
    • You must use the hashtag #P4PSpiritMonth so we can find your image. (It must be EXACT to come up in our search.)
    • Tell us what P4P pattern you used to create your look.
  4. Have fun with it!

Why play along with us?  To have fun, of course.  But also — there are some prizes involved.

We will pick three random names from all of the images that are shared using our hashtag.  (Our super pirate sleuths will make sure you’re following all of the rules and posting on the correct days.)  And those winners will be walking away with $25 in store credit to the Patterns for Pirates pattern shop!

Each day that you participate and share counts as an entry into the contest.  The winners will be random lottery winners, meaning that everyone has a chance….from a beginner who might be sewing their first P4P to a seasoned apparel sewist!

But wait.  There’s more!

Each day, we will be featuring a different P4P pattern, and for 24 hours only, that pattern will be $2 off.  No code needed.  Each featured pattern will be announced in the Facebook group at 9am EST by Crew Member Katy McKinley…so go find her posts each morning to find the daily deal!

Have more questions for us?  Send us an email ( help@patternsforpirates.com ) and we will be ready on the other side with an answer!

Sale, Giveaway + All Pattern Update | Spring 2023

Spring is full of new beginnings and the world coming back to life around us with flowers blooming + trees budding. And we often find ourselves making plans for parties, travel, weddings, graduations…the works. We thought we’d add one more little bit of fun + excitement to your spring by launching our 2023 Spring sitewide sale! (We only ever have 2-3 sales a year, so take advantage of our discounts while you can!)

But that’s not all! We’ve got a big announcement AND also have a giveaway happening alongside the sale. SO MUCH GOODNESS. Let’s talk details!

First, let’s start with talking about the sale itself.

  • You can take THIRTY PERCENT (30%) off of every single pattern and bundles of patterns on our site!
  • The code will automatically pop up for you to add to your cart, but just in case use: SPRING2023
  • The Spring Sale runs from April 3, 2023 thru April 12, 2023 @11:59pm CST.
  • Fabric for Pirates Subscriptions + Extras are excluded from the discount pricing.

We’ve got big news, y’all. HUGE. We spent an intense amount of time going through every. single. pattern. in our catalog and they’ve all been updated to include all of the current file types that we offer!

Every pattern now has Letter, A4, A0 and Projector file types with active layers!!! ::cue happy dancing::

Even the earliest patterns in our collections have received these updates. All you’ll need to do is log into your account and head to “Downloads” and any pattern you’ve previously purchased from us will automatically have these files updated and available for you to download.

**When we say “every”, there are a few patterns that don’t include A0 file types. They are typically the pattern pieces that are so small that we considered it a waste of money, paper and resources to print them on such a large piece of paper.

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Let’s do a quick refresher of the different files + formats we offer, in case you needed it:

  • Letter – Formatted for printing on letter size paper (8.5″ by 11″). Located in the US? This is your paper size!
  • A4 – Formatted for printing on A4 size paper (8.25″ by 11.75″). Located outside of the US? This is most likely the paper size you use!
  • A0 – Formatted for wide-format printers using 36″ wide paper. We have a blog post showing how to print this size paper, if you’d like to give it a read.
  • Projector – A newer style of paperless/printless way of cutting the fabric pieces requires a special set up. Read this post to learn about the basics of using a projector for sewing.

Please keep in mind that, while even our Freebies received these updates, our free patterns will continue to have a 3o-day expiration policy on the file downloads. This policy was enacted in January 2021 and is explained in this post: IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT :: CHANGES TO FREEBIES! (tl/dr version…our free patterns expire after 30 days. If you haven’t saved them to a local device and it’s past the 30 days, you’ll simply have to go through the checkout process with the ::still free:: pattern to get access to the downloads again.)

And now onto more of the fun stuff we’ve got going on during the Spring Sale: a Contest + Giveaway! Wooooo!

HOW TO ENTER:

  • Between 04/03/23 and 04/12/23, sew a garment using a Patterns for Pirates pattern + share the finished item with us!
  • Use the tag #P4PSPRINGSALE on Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, or in the Patterns for Pirates Facebook group.

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We have three amazing prize packages for the giveaway. Winners will be selected at random and as always, we encourage sewists of all skill levels to enter their finished items and join in on the fun!

GIVEAWAY PRIZE #1:  We wanted to celebrate the addition of projector file types to our ::entire:: catalog by gifting one of our Pirate Community Members with the choice between a new Serger OR a new Projector! Here are the links to the items the winner will be able to choose between: 1080P HD, Wifi + Bluetooth Projector or Brother 1034D Serger (affiliate links)

GIVEAWAY PRIZE #2: One lucky winner will be receiving a $100 gift card from our fabric shop: Anchor Fabrics! We grand opened the shop during the Fall 2022 season and it’s been a joyride to be able to also supply fabric to our sewing community! At Anchor Fabrics, it’s our mission to deliver high quality fabrics at prices that won’t leave you shipwrecked.

GIVEAWAY PRIZE #3: Our admin Katy just opened up a new shop called Maker Swag, where she’s creating items and curating a space specifically geared toward makers like you! To join in on the spring sale excitement, she’s hooking up a lucky duck with a $50 store credit to load up on some new sewist swag!

 

We will also be picking random winners throughout the sale to surprise with some freebies! We’ve got plans for gifting fabric + sewist swag from past months of our Fabric for Pirates shipments, some Patterns for Pirates pattern freebies and other little prizes to share with our Pirate Community!

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Of course there are some rules to go over. Not fun, we know. But we need to talk about this part. Here goes….

RULES:

  • The item must be created from a Patterns for Pirates pattern, without any major changes to the pattern.
    • The item must be a garment (ie: shirt, pants, jacket, swimwear, etc.)
    • Accessories will not be counted as an entry. We love your scarves, bags + hats but they don’t count for this giveaway.
    • You can use a free pattern as long as it is garment / clothing item like the Tulip Tee or Peg Legs.
    • Typical fitting adjustments are expected.
    • Decorating / embellishing is totally fine!
  • The individual garment may be shared across multiple platforms for additional entries, but may not be shared on the same platform more than once.
    • Make sure your Instagram + TikTok accounts are set to “public” so we can see and count your entry!
    • Use the tag #P4PSPRINGSALE and make sure it’s spelled correctly when you do.
    • In your caption, be sure to include the pattern you used, so people following along with the contest + sale can be inspired by you!
  • Giveaway available to US and non-US residents.
    • In the event shipping isn’t available to your location, we will work with the selected winner to work something out with them. Not to worry!
  • There are no entry limits per person!
    • Sew + share as many garments as you’d like!
    • All items / images shared must be sewn after the giveaway began on April 03, 2023.
    • Submitting older sews + images will disqualify you from winning any of the prizes.
  • Entries are accepted thru 11:59pm CST: April 12, 2023.
  • Winners will be announced 04/14/2023.
    • Giveaway winners are selected randomly.
    • Everyone has an equal chance of winning, no matter their sewing (or photography) skill level.

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Now go grab some patterns and get to sewing! We are OUT OF CONTROL EXCITED to see what you make and share with us this spring!

**Updated April 14, 2023:

First, we want to thank everyone who participated in the Spring Giveaway! It was so fun seeing everyone’s makes and reading all about your sewing experiences + advice on the posts. What an absolute thrill it is to be part of this community with you!

Drumroll please….here are the randomly selected winners for the Spring Sale + Giveaway 2023:

  • Giveaway Prize #1 (Serger or Projector): Charisma Jayne She-herHers
  • Giveaway Prize #2 ($100 Anchor Fabrics Gift Card): Hayley Sykes
  • Giveaway Prize #3 ($50 Maker Swag Store Credit): Stephanie M Hartung
  • April 3 Daily Giveaway ($10 Patterns for Pirates Gift Card): Taylor Peters
  • April 4 Daily Giveaway (F4P Swag Bag): Janice Shaul
  • April 5 Daily Giveaway (April Fabric for Pirates shipment): Lisa Gier Taylor
  • April 6 Daily Giveaway (Sewist Keychain from Maker Swag): Echo Taverner
  • April 7 Daily Giveaway (Guaranteed spot as a tester for the next pattern!): Nikki Ghezzi
  • April 8 Daily Giveaway (2-yard cut of knit fabric from former F4P shipments): Amber Suryn
  • April 9 Daily Giveaway (F4P Swag Bag): Renée Caratozzolo
  • April 10 Daily Giveaway (Projecting Confidence online course): Livia Merialdo
  • April 11 Daily Giveaway ($10 Patterns for Pirates Gift Card): Caroline Plowman
  • April 12 Daily Giveaway ($10 Patterns for Pirates Gift Card): Stephanie Huddleston

If you see your name here, please email help@patternsforpirates.com so we can get you set up with your winnings! Congratulations y’all!

#P4PFeatureMe

We LOVE to see what you’ve made with our pattern collection here at Patterns for Pirates! And even more so, we love showing you and your creations off to the rest of the P4P community…..to the world, really!

If you’ve made something with one of our patterns and would like to be featured on our social media sites (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, etc), click on the link below and upload your images + provide permission for us to do just that!
We’d love to see what you’ve made, and have the chance to share your talents with our followers!

**Clicking the link above will take you to a Google Form, where you can provide your information for and upload photos for our sharing purposes.

You can also use the tag #P4PFeatureMe on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok! By using the tag, we will be able to see your photos and re-share from there!

We can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

2022 A Year in Review

It’s always so much fun for us to look back on the year as it comes to a close and reflect on all that we did during that time!  Here’s a quick glance back at 2022 with Patterns for Pirates!

We released TWENTY (20) brand new patterns to the catalogue. 

The majority of them were designed and drafted by Judy Hale (our beloved Pirate Captain) and five of them were from our newest ::official:: designer, Katy McKinley!

Don’t forget that we offer youth + adult patterns in bundles, as well!

We shared SIX (6) super fun freebies with our sewing community!

They are our way of saying “thank you” for being such amazing members of our sewing family!

We delivered TWELVE (12) amazing fabrics to our subscribers!

Fabric for Pirates has been such an incredible journey for us and we’ve loved the excitement, creativity, and joy you all share with us as you receive your fabric each month!

Please join the fun and subscribe to Fabric for Pirates for the 2023 season!

We hosted TWO (2) fun sew-alongs!

The Lumberjack Patterns (Hourglass / V Figure / Youth) and Kelli’s Dress / Charli’s Dress were all showcased by Alex through sew-alongs that help you sew these patterns even more than our tutorials do! Our sew-alongs remain forever available on our blog and the YouTube videos are such a helpful resource!

Lumberjack Sew-along: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7

Kelli & Charli Sew-along: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7

You chose your MOST LOVED patterns of the year!

We always enjoy checking the stats and seeing what the most popular downloads were for the past year. This year was just as fun to check out, with these six patterns showing up the most in our customers’ carts.

We made some BIG announcements!

Patterns for Pirates hit a huge milestone in our Facebook group! We surpassed the 150,000 membership mark earlier this year and we are so thankful for it! The group has been the bread and butter of our sewing community for so many years now and we love having it as a platform to connect with sewists around the world.

Not only did our Facebook group grow to an incredible 150K members, we also launched a brand new fabric company in the Patterns for Pirates companies. Anchor Fabrics is place to head for all of your fabric needs! We’ve stocked it full of the highest-quality fabrics that are perfect for sewing up your favorite apparel pieces.

We also gave the P4P brand a bit of a facelift and you’ll see us all over the web, rocking our updated look!

We watched our social media GROW!

Thank you to all the new followers, members, etc and for everyone who was here already and stayed with us! We appreciate each and every single one of the follows, members, subscribers, etc! Not only are you learning from our patterns + posts, but you’re returning the favor by helping us learn and be inspired daily!

It has been a heck of a year and we look forward to sewing through 2023 with you!

2022 Fall Sale and Grand Opening of Anchor Fabrics

I’m so excited to share the biggest announcement to hit the blog in a long time! Along with our Fall Sale this year and as we near hitting 150K Facebook members in our sewing group we’re also opening up a small fabric shop called Anchor Fabrics! 


You might wonder why I’d ever try adding anything else to my overflowing plate? Me too… jkjkjk 😉 I absolutely love to share the love of sewing, especially helping those new to the art.  Katy and I started the monthly fabric subscription, Fabric for Pirates, 3 years ago now and have since been on the hunt for smaller wholesalers we could support through that.  I’ve been purchasing my own fabric samples from our wholesalers for a while now, which means you’ve been seeing these fabrics being used in many of our new pattern releases.

I get asked so often where my fabrics are from, and now I can pass along the support of a small wholesale business and give you the same fabrics I’m asked about at the same time!

We’ve started out with a small collection of beautiful fall inspired fabrics.  I will continue to order samples for pattern in testing and stock my favorites on the site along with pattern releases.  This way if you love a fabric I’ve sewn up and shared I will have it for you to purchase for yourself! How fun is that? I can’t wait to provide even more help for beginners trying to pair the perfect fabric to their patterns.

In each of the fabric listings, I have linked a few P4P patterns that will pair nicely with the fabrics.  This is such a useful tool for beginners, especially for those who are still working on figuring out which fabric goes with which patterns.  And of course you can always ask in either Facebook group.

Yep, there is another group now! If you’d like to join the Anchor Fabrics Facebook group, we’d love to have you!  Anchor Fabrics new group will be your new go-to place to share what you’ve made with your fabrics, no matter the designer or pattern!  It’s also a great way to ask questions about fabric pairing, color matching, or anything else you need advice or assistance on when it comes to our fabrics.

I’ve tried very hard to include ALLLL the important information about each fabric listed on the site for those who might not be acquainted with the different kinds of apparel fabrics.  I’ve showed close ups with the back and front (to show texture), draped over a maniquin (to show scale, drape and opacity), and flat fold with other available colors for thickness and color. I use two color correcting devices, natural lighting, and a simple background to make sure I’m representing the colors the best I can in the photos.

Each listing also includes a video showcasing that fabric, so you can see more than what a photo can sometimes capture.  Our goal is to help you become more confident in selecting and purchasing fabrics from us, so you can make all of your sewing dreams come true!  We want you to bring your apparel sewing visions to life with Anchor Fabrics, no matter if you’re a experienced sewist or just starting out on your sewing journey.

 

I also try to show the fabrics I thought matched well together on the site for you!

I love to be able to grab a matching rib knit for cuffs, neckbands, etc.  Sometimes it’s hard to know if a burgundy color in two different fabric bases will even match one-another.  That’s why I’ve try my best to show the fabric combinations that I think work really well together to help make that easier for you. No more guess work!

One of my favorite set-ups on the Anchor Fabrics website is that we are offering everything in 1/2 yard increments!  If you just need a little bit of that matching rib for cuffs you can grab just 1/2 yard instead of a full yard.  Or if you’re colorblocking your make… just grab 1/2 yards of each color!

You can also order continuous yardage in half yard increments as well… so those pesky Peg Legs that take JUST OVER one yard… you can now order 1.5yards rather than 2 full yards.  YES!!!!

With the Grand Opening of Anchor Fabrics, and the Fall Sale at Patterns for Pirates happening at the same time, now is your perfect chance to stock up of fabric and patterns for the upcoming holiday sewing, fall and winter weather, and just grab whatever you’ve been eyeing!  If you have seen a make of mine that you loved the fabric and would love for me to stock it on Anchor… let me know 🙂 I might just be able to do that!

Sale coupon codes will automatically pop up at the cart and you just CLICK TO APPLY 🙂 That way you don’t have to remember the codes! Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletters so you never miss out of sales and releases.  We don’t send newsletters unless there is something new and worthy of an email, so no worries about us clogging up your email.  If you’re subscribed and never see those emails, make sure we are not being hidden into your junk or promotions folder to never be seen!

I hope you’re excited to venture into this new journey with me.  I’m hoping to make the sewing process more accessible and smoother for all those trying to learn the art of sewing and those who don’t have much time for their hobby they love.  I cannot wait to see what everyone makes with our patterns and fabrics!

Spring Time Means Sale Time at P4P

Spring time is here…and with it flowers are blooming and sales are happening!

Please enjoy our Spring Sale Monday, April 25 thru Monday, May 2 (11:59PM US Central Time Zone) with code: springtime for 30% off your total purchase!

The code will pop up on  your checkout page and you can just click to apply 🙂 So no need to worry about jotting it down or trying to remember it exactly!

We only have site wide sales 2-3 times a year, so grab the patterns you’ve been eyeing while you have the chance!

Have fun shopping and then sewing!

 

2021 A Year in Review

We added 9 new patterns to the shop (21 if you count the youth and adult as separate patterns!): 

 

I truly love each and every pattern we put out this year! Here  are  free  patterns  we  gave  this  year as well: 

The freebies will always remain free and will always be there if you don’t want to save them to your own device/cloud/etc. What else did we do this year? How about some special events we held…

Or what Sew A Longs we put on?

You can find each Sew A Long on our blog and as a playlist on our YouTube Channel!

I always love to see what the most popular, previously released patterns are through the year as well! In order of popularity:

Our most popular freebies this year were: Peg Legs, Walk the Plank- Adult , and Peg Leg Add-ons.  Our most loved new freebie was the Fingerless Gloves. 

 

Our blog is run mostly by the wonderful Alex- you know her from our Sew A Longs! But we also have a team of contributors who help up write up blogs… together we managed to put out 9 more P4P University blog posts…these are great beginner blogs answering the questions we see asked the most frequently in the P4P FB group! So, if you ever have a basic sewing question hop onto the P4P blog and use that search… we are working on having the answers for you!  

P4P University added this year: Using a Projector for Sewing, Tips and Tricks for Sewing Curves, Color Blocking Tips, Adjusting for Height, Facings, Understitching and Topstitching, Adding Trims to Hems, and Interfacing 101 .  You can also find all the P4P University blogs rounded up in the FB Group Album!

Here are a few more highlights from the different Social Media outlets we use to keep you in the loop! If you follow me on each one you will notice I use them all slightly differently. I tend to share more selfies, in the moment/candid pictures and sneak peeks on my Instagram. I use the Facebook Group and Page to announce new patterns, sales, etc. I use the Blog to keep all details from everything from new patterns, sales, how tos, hacks, etc. The YouTube channel of course has all our videos from sew a longs, P4P universities, and tutorial videos as well.  I finally caved and joined TikTok for some reels.  

 

Thank you to all the new followers, members, etc and for everyone who was here already and stayed with us! I appreciate each and every single one of the follows, members, subscribers, etc!

I’m excited to see what 2022 will bring for Patterns for Pirates as well- I wish you all a Happy New Year!

3rd Annual Holiday Charity Week- 2021

I began an annual tradition a couple years ago of giving a large portion of profits from the week of Christmas to a charity.  It makes my heart full to be able to reach out a helping hand, with the assistance of the Patterns for Pirates community.  I just hope that our donations will allow a little extra support for those who need it.

We’ve opted to support the same charities that were benefactors last year.  They may change in the future but for this year at least, they will remain the same.

I will be donating to both Action Against Hunger and a local North Texas Food Bank.  With the hardships that the past couple years has brought upon everyone, so many more families need help getting enough food on the table and I hope this week will help get more food to more tables in need both here locally and across the world with Action Against Hunger.

                                           

 

You do not need to do anything special for your purchase to count toward the funds being donated during charity week.  30% of every single pattern purchase during this time frame will be donated automatically. *Note- the Fabric for Pirates Fabric Subscriptions transactions will not go through until the 1st of the month, which means even if you sign up during this week the transaction will not apply to this charity week.

If you’ve been eyeing any patterns for your stash, now is the perfect time to grab it and help make our donation amounts even bigger!

Thank you and Happy Holidays,

Judy

Fall Sale and Giveaway 2021- Winners Announced!

Thank ya’ll so much for sharing your P4P makes this past week or so and using the hashtag PatternsforPiratesSew so we could see all your makes! I can’t wait to send these prizes along to the lucky winners!

And the winners are… drumroll…

For the Perfect Fit Bundle: angieco.studios from Instagram.  The post that won were these fun holiday Loggers!

 

The Sublimination Prize: meinthemeantime on Instagram – They shared this beautiful All Buttoned Up and shared an adorable reel showing SEVEN ways to style it!

 

Our last prize is the Brother Serger: Melissa Stafford from our Facebook Group!  They shared these adorable Basic Tees … what a sweet friend!

 

I hope you three are excited! Please email me at patternsforpirates@gmail.com so I can get these shipped to you!!! <3

 

Spring Sale and Capsule Contest

We’re teaming up with my sister over at Made for Mermaids for another Capsule Contest!

We’ve done a few in the past and they’re a great motivator to create a small capsule that really fills out your or a loved one’s closet with purposeful makes! You can use any M4M or P4P patterns to create a 9 piece capsule.  We know creating 9 pieces is a lot, so feel free to use a couple old makes (still must be a M4M or P4P pattern) to work off of.  We’re asking for at least 5 NEW makes in the contest entry though. To help out if you need more patterns to make the perfect capsule both of us are putting a SITE WIDE SALE up!

Here is how to enter the contest: Must post with the hashtag #sewminicapsule to be eligible for the weekly and final giveaways. #madeformermaids #patternsforpirates is a plus on other platforms 💞 You can post in both our FB groups, on Instagram or tag M4M on TikTok (I haven’t been convinced to hop on that train yet ;)) .

The more places you post, the higher chance to win of course! You can start sewing anytime.

*We’ll choose 4 weekly winners on each Friday, April 2nd, 9th, 16th, and 23rd (16 total weekly chances to win).

  • Weekly winners will receive a pattern of choice from each M4M and P4P plus a $20 fabric gift card (or $20 PayPal).

*Final capsules must be posted by April 30th midnight cst for runner-up and grand prizes.

  • 2 runner ups will receive a $20 store credit to both M4M and P4P plus $50 fabric gift card (or $50 PayPal)
  • 2 grand prize winners will receive $20 store credit to both M4M and P4P plus a Brother 1034D serger OR $200 PayPal (they can choose if they already have a serger/want the PayPal)

 

And if you’ve never created a capsule before Megan created these amazing idea boards to help inspire you and just give a few great examples 🙂

We hope you have fun planning, making, sharing and wearing your new capsules! We can’t wait to see them!

-Judy and Megan

P4P-M4M

Newest Patterns