Results of the 2022 Patreon Survey (in detail)
The results of our annual Charm Survey are in, and they surprised us!
Click here for the public blog post that shares the basics, including info about who our audience is, what they love to sew, and what Charm will be focusing on in 2023 as a result of the survey.
How Many Charm & Patreon Patterns Do Patrons Sew a Year?
About half of you sew at least 3 Charm patterns each year. Patrons in the higher tiers sew more patterns, but most people sew 3-10 Patreon & Charm patterns.
We were a little surprised to see that so many of you don't sew any Charm patterns at all! It's totally okay - we love having you around, even if you don't have the time to make all these beautiful creations. After all, just like collecting a stash of fabric, pattern collecting can be its own hobby!
An Easier Way to Access Your Patreon Content
Most patrons access their content through the Patreon website or app, or just use the links in the emails that we send through Patreon. But many of you don't know about (or don't use) the index of Patreon patterns on the Charm website.
As we add more & more patterns to Patreon, it's going to be harder to find the ones you want. Bookmark this page, and you'll have a quick reference guide for and links to every pattern in your Patreon library.
What Our Patrons Love The Most
We asked, "If we added any of the following to your Patreon membership, which would be (or which is) the most valuable to you?"
Honestly, we were a little surprised to see that the Discord channel, live events, Zoom sew-a-longs, and other "community" activities weren't higher up the list!
Those things were more popular in the higher patron tiers (as one would expect, patrons who are more invested become more involved in the community), but it was still shocking to see them ranked so low.
Despite this, we don't intend to change any of the community benefits in 2023. While they might not be the most popular, we value them, and that's important, too. We probably won't be adding more live or Zoom events, but you can still count on at least one per month, just because I love hanging out with you all!
On the flip side, we also asked, "If any of these benefits were to disappear, which would you miss the most?"
This result was shocking for us. We had no idea how much you all valued the monthly tutorial videos. (Honestly! NO IDEA. More about that in this post.)
We were surprised to see how low the community benefits ranked here, too, but we were also surprised by the low showing of the Guest Artist patterns & Fit Clinic videos. (It's not that you don't love those things...but you love other things more).
We asked, "What's your fantasy, if you got to play designer for a month?"
Wow! We were overwhelmed with 2,455 responses (almost all of them different!). You can see every single response here. It just goes to show you how diverse our audience is, and how varied all of our tastes are.
I've gone through that list (more than a few times!) and can tell you that all of our 2023 designs (so far) are represented there. Good luck trying to determine what they are! 😘
Other great ideas from our patrons...
We noted a few other things that we'll work on in 2023...
Adding a test square in centimeters to our pattern pages (done!)
Addressing the Joanns and Spotlight fabric availability (see this month's Christmas-related Patreon-only Crowdcast event for more details)
Having later/earlier/weekend start times for the Crowdcast live events
Doing video tutorials for more Charm Patterns, not just the Patreon ones
There were also dozens of requests for Charm to re-release the Starburst Dress pattern. This was a one-time only gift for early patrons, but maybe there's a way to bring it back temporarily that will please (almost) everyone. Stay tuned!
Charm Love
It's no secret that our patrons are the heart of Charm, and everything we do is done with you in mind.
We were surprised and deeply, deeply touched to see that the love flows both ways. More than one person on the team cried when going over the responses to, "What's the best part about being a Charm patron?"
The most common answers had to do with the patterns - the quality, the fit, and the cup sizes. (No more FBAs, yay!) Many of you mentioned the videos, and how you credit Charm with helping you learn how to sew.
But we were floored by the hundreds and hundreds who mentioned the best parts about Charm were the community, the inclusivity, and Charm's values. We are all working hard to remake this sometimes difficult world we live in, and it's so important to us that you stand side by side in creating this fantasy and turning it into a reality.
Thank you. We just can't say thank you enough for that.
What This Means for Your 2023 Patreon Benefits
Now here's the real question...What's going to change to your Patreon benefits in 2023 as a result of this survey?
I'll release more next week about what is changing exactly, but know that next year's benefits will be heavily influenced by the results to this survey - especially the questions about which membership benefits you value the most, and which you'd miss the most if they went away.
The big things won't change. There will always be a monthly pattern & companion tutorial video, plus all of the great community aspects you love.
We've worked very hard to make sure that you will be receiving more value for your patronage next year than you do now.
Patreon tiers will be changing next year, and we're going to be combining some tiers and adding a new one for those who want even more access to me and the team. As part of this, new patrons in 2023 will see increased prices.
We're on our fourth year on Patreon and we haven't raised our prices since launch. New patrons get access to all four years worth of patterns, sewing tutorial videos, community membership, and they can join for a month, grab everything, and then bounce. It only seems fair that they pay for the library of content, as well as all the current benefits that you receive. We think the incredible amount of content we've released makes slightly higher prices worth it.
This doesn't apply to you, though. If you're a current patron, you'll be grandfathered into our current Patreon prices, and as long as you stay in your tier your price won't change.
More details about the tier and benefit changes will be coming next week so you can make an informed decision and choose the tier that's right for you. If you're thinking of upgrading, I suggest you wait until you learn about the new benefits & tiers next week before making a change. But, if you're thinking of upgrading, please do it before December 31 to lock in these lower rates.
Thank you!
From myself & the team, thank you from the bottomest of our hearts for being a patron, for filling out the survey with such thought and care, and for supporting us in bringing Charm's mission to life. You are the heart of Charm, and we appreciate you!
xoxo,
Gertie
Comments (69)
I am only new to Patreon this month and am glad I chose the tier I am on. I am a plus sized 63yo woman and I love this style of clothing (I do R&R dancing) and the new sizes suit me perfectly. I’ve only checked out the pattern posts from the past 12 months but I look forward to seeing everything including what’s coming. I just wish I had more hours in the day to make clothing but already the Charm circle skirt and Dorothy Bolero made my Xmas dance outfit better than I had expected. (I need the B6412 in the larger range). Peggy is high up my to do list!
I am from The Netherlands. Because I´m making costumes for my kids school musical (All shook up), I was looking for patterns in 50s style. So happy I found Gertie, ordered three books but the patreon site looked so tempting that I just joined. Love the sewing hacks, the tutorials, the inspiration. I showed the kids (they are between 13 and 18 years old) the pattern books and they were so excited. On my to do list: circle skirts, tops, cigarette pants, a wedding dress and many dresses. Meanwhile trying to teach my 22 year old daughter, who has little patience, how to sew. Beautiful patterns add to the fun!
I enjoy the guest patterns as they turn me on to other sewing creators that I might not known about. On the other hand, tho, I'm here for Gertie - her style, her esthetic, her patterns. I'd be excited to have a 'Spotlight' on other sewists she thinks we should know about, in case the guest patterns go away. The 'spotlight' feature could be really fun!
The guest patterns are fun and I am certain they kinda give Gertie a break from her day to day with us so I hope they don't go away!
Oh, I keep coming back with new ideas! If you discontinue the guest patterns, how about a once a month GERTIE THROW BACK to your old original blog! Do a video if not done before, or upgrade a pattern to charm sizing? Or just a video about ALL your books? It's fun to see Gertie in pink & purple short hair! Yes, a THROW BACK!
What an amazing report!!! So very excited and blessed to be apart of charm and everything Gertie does. I’ve learned so much-beyond sewing and crafting- and I am ever so grateful
What an amazing report!!! So very excited and blessed to be apart of charm and everything Gertie does. I’ve learned so much-beyond sewing and crafting- and I am ever so grateful
I would love access to the old starburst skirt pattern
Hello, thank you for the update and all the considerations you're making. I did notice the usage of a word that not everyone may be familiar with the historical context of "Inclusive replacements companies may use instead “grandfathered” include “exempted,” “excused,” “preapproved,” “preauthorized,” or “legacied.”"
https://practicalesg.com/2021/07/say-this-instead-grandfathering/#:~:text=Inclusive%20replacements%20companies%20may%20use,can%20until%20you%20know%20better.
Gertie - You and your Charm team deserve all the love. Seriously. I'm so grateful I found this community, joined Patreon last year, and began this adventure with Charm. I've learned so much, I've been inspired by all of the posts I scroll through on Discord and in the Facebook group, and I've found a "home" in a hobby that I truly love to do. Can't wait to see what 2023 brings us!
As for the Crowdcast Live's, people who miss them can at least reserve their spot in advance, and tap the "Ask A Question" tab. That way they can still communicate a bit with Gertie.
I like the pattern hacks, such as the Dorothy & A League of Their Own. There are great instructions on the charm blog, but I would like them in the printable Patreon format, like the Morticia.
I'm Glad you are All feeling the love, Gertie...yourself and your Team...yous should :-D. Sewing has a Warm Heartedness around it and you all capture and share that. I have been teaching Sewing Classes but will finish them up next week...Then I will be sewing Every Garment at least once...Yayyy!!! It was a time factor (I will have lots more time very soon), and low confidence in Fitting the beautiful fitted styles...But! your Fit Clinics have solved that...! So I'm good to go. I am Relieved that you aren't removing anything. I also believe you would have more Australians involved if the times changed for your Live Streams....that's all that is. I Love All you are doing and am - once again - glad you're all feeling The Love :-D. Cheers! Looking forward to next year...what a wonderful New Years Gift on January 1st (or 2nd here in Australia)!
I have plenty of retirement time to sew but it's only one of my pastimes. I like to have two types of sewing on the go, one is a morning, get serious and do it properly sewing, for example the swing coat, the Liz dress or Day and Night dresses, and then I have the tired, lazy end of the day mini projects, often hand sewing to lounge around with. I re-use and recycle fabric for mini projects and spend money on the careful monthly projects if its in the budget.
I’ve barely sewn anything the last two years. Nursing school sucked up a lot of my time! I just graduated so now I can sew more after I make my cross-country move. For me, 30s through 50s casual/everyday wear. I don’t go to parties or the like, so cocktail dresses are cute but I don’t wear them.
I am one that sew very few in a year depends on my working shifts if am taking holiday time but not going any where I might get 2 or 3 easy patterns out or 1 complicated pattern at the moment I have an etsy pattern and circle skirt being work on on my day off or free time after work.
I'm almost one of the 'none' too! I have done a hair scarf from the youtube video but that's it so far, It's only because i mostly just didn't have the confidence to try to make something which has been a long term problem of mine. I am building that up by watching the tutorial videos and feel like i have learnt so much even from the lockdown informal videos on youtube when all this started. I have been trying to learn to sew since i was 16, i'm now 43, and tried lots of different companies, on and offline, and this has been the only one i feel i've learnt from. I now have the materials for a charlotte beret another hair scarf and a sash, and am building up a bit of cash so i can get started on my gigantic list of Gertie patterns to make next! Long live Charm!
The good instructions together with the monthly videos are the greates plus for me here at patreon. It is something other patterns simply don't have. Take Burda for example. I don't know if Burda US is any better, but the German Burda instructions are terrible. Whenever I started a project I was never sure if would be able to finish it or if I would just give up halfway through the project because the instructions are too complicated. I simply don't have time for that. I am not a professional seamstress, I do something completey different for a living and have maybe one hour per day for sewing. I want to learn as much as possible in that time, but in a way that I can actually understand and follow in that one hour late in the evening, tired after a long day at work. And I also want to be sure that I will be able to finish the project. I ended my Burda subscription and switched to patreon - was the best decision, glad I came here (plus the patterns are waaay cuter and have a much better fit, at least for me).
Oh yes, Burda is terrible haha, their fit is so odd on me, tried it a few times, never again!
I have the discord set up, but I always forget about it because I post mostly in the facebook group. It's very well organised with all the different channels I must say. I love re watching the crowd casts it's like a podcast for me when im working, the lives are to late for me as im in Europe.
Thank you for everything!!...I hate to admit I'm one of the" None" I always think I'm going to sew me something then I don't...I've even went as far as buying fabric for the pattern too.....guess I'm just a hoarder...haha
Hey lovely charm team! I do love your community events, but the time zones never work for a lot of us down under (and there are a lot of Aussie and nz people here).
The Fit Clinics were incredible educational. It is one thing to be able to sew - but another to really fit a pattern specifically to your body quirks ☺️
Thanks for the detailed survey results. I felt like more was asked but couldn't remember. The public one was still interesting though. I am so excited the regular Charm Patterns are getting videos. I've been sewing for years but my skills have grown so much from your videos. I watch every one regardless if I ever plan to make the pattern. Also thank you so very much for giving us an opportunity to get the Starburst dress again. I'm a completionist and I have every Charm Pattern and Patreon pattern and am slowly tracking down every Butterick/Simplicity pattern I can find.
I just want to say thank you. The patterns are spot on and the video tutorials and fit clinics have really helped me to understand more about sewing and patterns, enough to give me the confidence to try and sew things that I'd never dreamed that I could make. Thank you xx
It’s funny, Crowdcasts etc were hard for me, but that was because life etc. I really enjoyed the ones I could make it to or watch later. Discord was different, I had so many issues with the app itself I just gave up. I apparently didn’t log in often enough and it was always asking me for backup codes. I miss being part of the community, but again that’s mostly just to this year being very challenging for me personally and not at all Charm or anyone else. I’m looking forward to hopefully next year being a bit quieter and sewing a few more Patterns. Speaking of which I have some patterns to glue together now…
Hi, thanks for all the content. I saw that we can have an annual charm pattern ? How does it work please ?
Each year Gertie picks a new Charm Pattern that is released to give to Patrons. This year's pattern was the Waterfall Dress. Past years were the Cinch-it Dress and Esther Swimsuit. You just have to be a member during the month where it happens (which we don't know before hand.)
Sure - the Crowdcast lives are fun if you can actually join them live BUT you can always watch the replay AND even enter a question before the live has even started and watch the answer in the replay in case it was answered. Therefore different time zones are no issue I think.
I love everything- the live events, Discord, videos, fit clinics, all the patterns. This is such a great community to be part of.
How do we actually access the discord? I've searched discord in the patreon search but if the answer is there it's getting lost in every post with the word discord. Someone please help a gal out?
I believe you have to go onto a computer, then go to your settings on here and connect to discord
I'm really disappointed. I know you can't please everybody all the time, but the results of the survey really skewed away from my interests.
Love the community events, I think we need those to just touch base with each other. The video tutorials, love that too! Fit clinics, oh yes please! Charm is an amazing thing.....thank you Gertie and Team! Patterns to die for!
Please consider purchasing external RØDE microphone for your videos, your videos are great and I enjoy them but the sound is often on the low side and I can barely hear or understand what you're saying. If that is not possible, maybe use closed captioning for people with hard of hearing or with complete hearing loss so that they can too follow along your videos and chats. The automated closed captioning sometimes don't work correctly and the closed captioning would come in handy when we have to mute the sound to watch the videos. If it's possible to move your crowdcast videos to youtube, that would be great as well. I am not much for live shows, but do enjoy the replay since I like to watch on 2x speed. I think the one of the reason you went to crowdcast is because there were too many trolls commenting on your videos. If you make the live stream private and only members can join, it would greatly reduce the amount of trolls and get more engagement among the viewers. On your older videos, is there a way to convert your vimeo videos to youtube? The ones I'm referring to are from the Rose dressing gown to the Picnic Top before you changed your platform to youtube, which I enjoy very much. Watching the 2x speed saves so much viewing time and even if you don't plan on switching the old videos to youtube format, it would be great if you give us the option of playback speed.
Would also love to have the older vimeo Videos uploaded to Youtube like the Peter Pan Bolero and so on. Vimeo is a pain to handle and it would be amazing to have all videos in one place!
The “fantasy” write in list was such a fun read! My guesses are lots of 40s looks with next year’s theme 👀
I definitely rewatch the lives while I sew!
Thank you so much for the test square in cm! That really helps!
I see several comments about missing the lives and so not watching them at all, I guess I am an odd duck because I catch live when I can, but if I can't I ALWAYS watch the recording! It's so worth it to see the inspiration powerpoint for the monthly pattern, and hear people's questions. It's fun to be live and get to interact but there is still a lot of great info and fun to be had in watching the recording! I feel like people are missing out of they think it's only worth it if you can attend live. Just my thoughts! Give the recorded live a chance, it's perfect background while sewing! ❤️
Yes! I also live in Europe and it's nighttime during the livestreams, but I don't mind too much - I always really enjoy getting to watch them afterwards, learning more about the pattern and its vintage influences, plus I find it to be excellent sewing inspiration in general! :)
I just want some more 60s styles. I’m shocked ppl want 30s, 40s, and 70s.
Yeah, 60s is my mod too!
I cant believe I didn’t know there was a survey
I had a hard time with some of the questions being restricted to only picking three things! I love it all!!! So excited for the new theme/changes/patterns!!
Thank you for the info! I might upgrade after next week when you tell us more. Out of all the people one can follow in sewing, you, your team and the way you reach us are THE BEST. And, most generous. I enjoy your guest patterns too, and hope those don't disappear. It's so great getting 2 patterns a month! Fit clinic is great too. Would be nice if you traveled again for workshops, or had some gatherings in your town. We could all even take a train ride to The Big Apple fabric district!
I actually love seeing the Patreon monthly's on the charm site. I can just see all the patterns in chronological order without all the other Patreon things in between. I was surprised by that low %.
I missed the survey too! I love the video tutorials and I can’t make the live events or discord ever so I never use them
I totally started sewing Gerties patterns at the right time. It was the end of my marriage and it helped me throughout the divorce. The Fit Clinic is absolutely brilliant and the tutorials has helped this adhd brain to actually understand what to do! Love being a Patrion!!
I put discord last and the together chats because I can never get to them in time & I can not for the life of me figure out discord... (grin)
I can't figure out discord either.
I think the lives are so low rated because of time shifts to other countries. I live in Germany and haven't joined ever. If Gertie is online I'm sleeping 😕
Yep and rewatching lives is not fun, unstructured discussions are harder to follow than vlog or interview format
Maybe Discord was placed so low in first question because every tier already has it? For me it's one of the best parts that makes it feel like community
I think it was so hard to choose my favorite resources of what I use the most and what I would miss if they went! I use everything and think I’d be lost without them!
The videos are such a great resource! I also hope the fit clinics stay. Everything makes sense after watching the clinic on sba’s
Honestly if the video tutorials went I think I would cry 🥺 my Adhd brain can not deal with written instructions I even find the illustrations so difficult and it put me off for ages legit having videos was a realy game changer and I like the full length ones cause I can’t make live events so it feels like I have a sewing friend
I am the same way. Ugh. Fingers crossed.
Please let the fit clinics stay 🥺
I missed the survey!!!!! The best feature outside of the patterns for me, is the videos showing step by step. Even if it's a super easy step. I'm not very experienced and the self contained videos that stand alone are what makes me confident to try!
Like the discord.. I use it for gaming, but dunno how to go to charm discord. Would love to join, since I left Facebook for good.
The Discord is a really nice place, come check it out!
The live events are impossible to make it to if you work a 9-5 job. If they were on the weekend or at a time I could attend I would be much more likely to go
Or live across the world ❤️
Seeing the Starburst dress will be great... but what keeps me busy is what fabric is the mint coloured romper and bolero made of?
Silk matka! There's a link in the Ginger Sailor Pants instructions.
I forgot to write in the survey that the waistline on each pattern would be awesome (but I already love them as such!)
Agree, and bust apex markings!!! That would make bust adjustments easier on styles that don't have a traditional waist dart and bust dart.