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4.1 KiB
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117 lines
4.1 KiB
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---
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title: Getting started with FreeSewing.org
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order: 100
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---
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Hi there 👋 and welcome to FreeSewing.org 🙂
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If you are new to FreeSewing, please take a few minutes to read this page and learn all about:
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- [What FreeSewing is](#what-is-freesewing)
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- [What FreeSewing.org is](#what-is-freesewingorg)
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- [What the difference is between patterns and designs](#patterns-vs-designs)
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- [What measurements sets are](#measurements-sets)
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- [Where to turn to for support](#where-to-turn-to-for-help)
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Sounds good? Then let's dive right in:
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## What is FreeSewing?
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FreeSewing is the leading [open source library](https://github.com/freesewing)
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for on-demand garment manufacturing. Loved by home sewers and fashion
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entrepreneurs alike, FreeSewing provides the tech stack for your creative
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endeavours.
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FreeSewing is the brain-child of [Joost De
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Cock](https://github.com/joostdecock), the FreeSewing maintainer. Various
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other people have contributed to FreeSewing over the years (the [FreeSewing
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contributors](https://github.com/freesewing/freesewing?tab=readme-ov-file#contributors-)),
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and the project is financially supported by [the FreeSewing
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patrons](https://freesewing.org/patrons).
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:::tip
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For more info about FreeSewing -- the open source project -- refer to
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[FreeSewing.dev](https://freesewing.dev/) which hosts documentation for
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developers, designers, contributors, and translators.
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:::
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## What is FreeSewing.org?
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Freesewing.org is the FreeSewing project's flagship website where we offer
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our ever-growing collection of bespoke sewing patterns to makers all
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over the world.
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FreeSewing is not about fashion, trends, or publishing the hot new pattern of
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the season. Instead, we want to empower makers by distilling the knowledge of
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the sewing community into parametric designs + documentation, and make that
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information freely available.
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FreeSewing.org is our most visible asset, and for many people their first
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encounter with the FreeSewing project.
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## Patterns vs Designs
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If you came to this site looking for _sewing patterns_ and did not immediately
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find a place to download them, that's because all of FreeSewing's sewing
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patterns are **made to measure**.
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We don’t scale or grade patterns.
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Instead, FreeSewing drafts a design into a pattern made to your measurements.
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That happens in real-time, in your browser.
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- **Design**: One of the styles that we offer. We've got dozens of designs, and
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you can try them all
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- **Pattern**: The result of *drafting the design* (turning it into a sewing
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pattern to your measurements). We've got thousands of patterns stored for our
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users, and some might be yours
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:::tip
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##### Saving is optional
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When you generate a bespoke pattern, you can tweak it endlessly through its various options,
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and export it to a range of formats, including PDF.
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But it remains ephemeral until you save it to your account, so it
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becomes one of **your patterns**.
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Saving your pattern is optional, but it allows you to re-visit the pattern later,
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make further tweaks to it or simply download the PDF again.
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You can save as many patterns as you like.
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:::
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:::note
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##### We respect the strictest privacy laws on the planet
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To generate bespoke sewing patterns, we need your measurements.
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Asking for them every time would be rather tedious, so we store them in your account.
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Your account data is stored on our backend, subject to [our privacy notice](/docs/about/privacy),
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and with respect for [your rights](/docs/about/rights/).
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:::
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## Measurements sets
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Once you have an account, you can start adding measurements.
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But that quickly brings up the next question: what if you want
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a pattern for you, but also for your partner?
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That's why we have **measurements sets**. You can add as many measurements sets as you like.
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Having just one for yourself is fine too.
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:::tip
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##### Curated measurements sets
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FreeSewing also provides **curated measurements sets**. These are measurements
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set from real people that we use to test our platform and designs. But you can
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also use them to test-drive our platform before you break out the measuring
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tape.
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:::
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## Where to turn to for help
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If you get stuck, consult [the support page](https://freesewing.org/support/) for various support options.
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