Help / FAQ
This site should help you to find answers to your questions. Here you get an overview of frequently asked questions.
Questions about orders
Put the pattern you want to buy in the shopping cart. Just click on the button "Add to cart". Afterwards you can continue shopping or go directly to the shopping cart. The shopping cart now contains all your selected patterns, which you can buy afterwards.
After you have bought and paid for your pattern, a few minutes later you will receive an e-mail with all your ordered pattern PDFs next to your invoice. In the mail you will also find a link to your ordered patterns in your user account. There you have the possibility to download every pattern.
The patterns you have purchased remain permanently in your account - you can download them again at any time.
You can pay for the patterns by direct debit, with Paypal or with your credit card (Visa, Mastercard).
With your registration an account will be created for you. This has the advantage that you can not only view your orders and download your patterns at any time, but also create bookmarks with your favourite patterns, with articles on sewing, videos or blog posts of interest to you.
A registration at pattydoo is completely free.
Write us an email to service@pattydoo.de, so that we can help you.
Sometimes mails also end up in the SPAM folder, it's best to look there first.
If you can't find anything there, write us an email to service@pattydoo.de, so that we can help you.
Usually you will receive confirmation of your purchase after a few minutes. Sometimes it takes a little time due to server load. From time to time mails also end up in the SPAM folder, please have a look there.
If after 1 hour no orders are visible in your customer account, then contact us under service@pattydoo.de.
In the registration window you can directly request a new password. All you need to do is enter your email address stored at pattydoo. You will then receive further information on how to assign a new password.
We need your personal data for the following purposes:
- to process your orders (your email address, your address),
- to answer your questions (email address, your name for personal salutation),
- if you subscribe to the newsletter, your email address will be used for your own advertising purposes until you unsubscribe from the newsletter.
Your personal data will only be kept for as long as is necessary for the provision of our services. In some cases it may be necessary to store data for a longer period due to statutory or legal obligations, e.g. the storage of an invoice.
We have set up technical and organisational security measures to protect your data, in particular against loss, manipulation or unauthorised access. We regularly adapt our safety precautions to ongoing technical developments.
Further information on data protection can be found here.
If you have logged in to your user account with your data, you can select "Edit" under the menu item "My account" and change your settings.
Questions about the newsletter
There is currently no english newsletter available.
There is currently no english newsletter available.
There is currently no english newsletter available.
Questions about patterns
You can buy our patterns online in our shop after creating an account with us. Please understand that we cannot accept orders by post, email or telephone.
Our patterns are digital products - you can print them out as a PDF file. After the purchase you can see them in your customer account and download them at any time. You can also save them on your PC and print them out.
Yes, our most popular patterns are now also available printed as pattern sheets incl. booklet. But only in german. Here you can find the complete overview of all paper cut patterns.
If you have registered, an account will be created for you. There you can see all orders and you can download your purchased patterns at any time.
A pattern is available for download as a PDF file. It contains all required pieces (in all offered sizes), dimension tables, cutting plans and notes for the cut adjustment as well as relevant information for the realization of your sewing project.
For particularly simple sewing projects the pdf might contain only written instructions.
Open the pattydoo pattern with Adobe Reader (free download here) and in the printer settings select “Actual Size”. The pattern must be unscaled so that it prints out in the correct size. Make sure that the “Actual Size” box is checked rather than the “Scale” or “Custom scale” box.
In the PDF patterns that have been published since November 2020, the pattern pieces of a size are each on their own layer. Once you have made your size selection, you can use the layer function in Acrobat Reader to hide the sizes you do not need. Only the pattern pieces of your size will then be displayed on the printout. Make sure that you do not accidentally hide the layers with the label and the registration marks.
Please check first whether the dimensions of the check boxes are correct. These must be 1 x 1 cm. If this is not the case, please set "actual size" in the print properties before printing. The pattern must be printed unscaled to ensure that it is the correct size. The grid of the squares must be exactly 19 x 25 cm.
If you have checked this and everything is correct, but the lines still do not meet exactly, then we have the following advice for you: Some inkjet printers scale the document to be printed easily by too much heat when printing multiple pages.
Therefore the following tip: Please print only 10 pages at once, take a short break and then print another 10 pages. This way you can avoid scaled printing by too much heat.
On each page cut the pattern along the right and bottom edges of the grid and glue or tape the pieces together so that the corresponding letters and numbers line up exactly. All lines should join together and the outlines should be clearly visible.
The sewing videos are available under the menu item "Sewing videos" or on the respective product pages.
You can find suggestions and design examples for example on our website or in the pattydoo sewing forum on Facebook.
You can show your sewn things in the pattydoo sewing forum on Facebook. There you will also find numerous tips and tricks for sewing our patterns and can be inspired.
If you have any questions or suggestions, simply send us an email to service@pattydoo.de.
The free and the paid patterns and sewing instructions shown on our website are primarily intended for private use.
For the limited commercial sale (50 pieces per year) of products made after one of our patterns, you need a license for each pattern. Please send us an email with the respective product request to: lizenz@pattydoo.de. You'll then receive all relevant information on how to proceed.
For use in a workshop/sewing course, you will also need a license for each pattern.
Specific sewing questions
1 Button: A very simple sewing project that’s great for beginners.
2 Buttons: You should already have some sewing experience. You can sew curves/corners and have some experience sewing jersey, and you’ve also sewn in a zipper or two.
3 Buttons: You’ve been sewing for quite some time and have experience with a variety of fabrics and patterns. And you wouldn’t shy away from an invisible zipper!
4 Buttons: You’re an expert and would fearlessly take on intricate projects like blazers or jackets.
In each PDF you will find a body measurement table to help you choose the right sewing size.
If your measurements are between two sizes, please choose the larger one. It is also an advantage if you let another person help you to measure.
As with any pattern, it is advisable to sew a test piece of a similar fabric first.
If you want to measure yourself, it’s best to either have a friend help you or to stand in front of a big mirror. It’s important that the tape measure is completely level and flat around whatever part you are measuring, that is, that it doesn’t dip down, pucker, or squeeze you.
- Height: Measure from the soles of your feet to the top of your head – you can, for example, measure yourself against a doorframe, using a pencil mark.
- Bust: Measure the bust at the fullest part.
- Waist: Measure around the narrowest part of the waist.
- Hips: Measure horizontally around the fullest part of the hips, usually around the seat.
- Side length: Measure from the waist, over the hips, to the soles of the feet.
Usually the seam allowances are already included in the patterns of pattydoo. If this isn't the case, it's clearly written in the patterns and/or in the instructions. Please read the instructions completely before cutting to size.
Some patterns have decorative divisions - the amount of fabric of the respective colour is indicated.
Otherwise it is not possible for us to indicate the fabric requirements for colourfully mixed models separately. You should find out for yourself. To do this, cut out the individual pieces of paper and place them on the desired fabric, taking into account the grain line.
The pieces of our patterns are always arranged as space-saving as possible, but also as clearly arranged as possible. It is particularly important to us that all pieces of the pattern are equally labeled in all sizes.
We recommend, that you always first trace the pattern in the required size and only then cut it out. This way you also have the possibility to sew your cut in several sizes without having to print and glue it each time.
Our instructions are usually written in such a way that even beginners can understand them. On our website you will also find a sewing encyclopedia explaining most of the common technical terms - but only in german.
You have probably already noticed that you do not have one and the same "purchase size" in different shops. The problem is, that each pattern is different and is designed for a particular way of wearing it (e.g. casual-layer or tight-fitting). In addition, there are the various "feel-good widths". The one likes his shirt figure-hugging, the other is important to cover a small belly. The advantage of sewing yourself, is that you can adjust your patterns yourself and sew them the way you like best. For this it is necessary that you take the correct measurements and adapt patterns to your measurements if necessary. Therefore we always recommend to make a test part from a cheap material, but with similar properties. Then you can best see, where the cut needs to be adjusted, if it doesn't fit right away.
With our patterns you always find exact fabric recommendations, which should be kept for the grant of the fit also. Clothing made of fabrics that contain more or less spandex, for example, than specified in the fabric recommendation, can fit completely differently, which may then not meet your expectations. For example, with trousers designed for stretchy fabrics, the flexibility of the fabric is needed, so that you can sit down, for example.
Like all fabrics, cuffs have different extensibilities. You get them in different strengths and qualities. Also when using jersey or sweat fabric as cuffs, it can happen that they do not fit optimally on the neck. You should therefore only see our information in the pattern as a recommendation and adapt it to your chosen fabric if necessary. A few rules should also be observed when attaching the waistband: It is important that you stretch the cuffs well when sewing on, but do not stretch the fabric underneath. However, if you stretch the cuff too much, it can happen that the fabric to be bound throws unattractive folds.
In all patterns you will also find the measurements of the finished garment - the so-called finished measurements. You can easily match this information with an item of clothing that fits you. It is important that the material has similar properties as the one from which your sewing piece is to be made.
Depending on how a cut is designed in terms of fit, it is easier, but also more difficult to offer certain sizes. Sometimes, due to the different distribution possibilities of the body proportions, a few shifts of the lines in the pattern are not enough from a certain clothing size. Often a completely new cut would even have to be designed, so that the garment fits as it should after sewing.
If you have a good eye for the lines, then it is certainly possible to adjust a cut to the next smaller or next larger size. However, this procedure is not recommended over several sizes.