The craft world needs open source

[spacefem]

My 2011 resolution was to get more of my craft stuff online.  Peddle it on etsy, post photos online, join forums, etc.  I kinda have.  My etsy store has been relatively successful, and I've gleaned lots of helpful tips from just getting to know the general craft blogosphere

Comments

sooo

[kyouteki]

And if you GPL'd your hats, whoever sold hats using your pattern would have to include the pattern and a copy of the GPL! I like the way you think.

[binaryprecision]

I have bought a couple of crochet patterns from Etsy, but they seemed quite complicated to me so I think they were worth it. None of them came with any legal stuff that said I couldn't sell the items though...I could see why they would do that if the pattern author were selling the items themselves, but if they're just selling the pattern then I don't see what the problem is. Some people just are not going to make their own things and want to buy them pre-made.

I like your skirt calculator, that is super nifty! :) I'm going to share it with my sister, our resident seamstress and software engineer. Hee hee

[dwh]

This is one thing I really enjoy about BurdaStyle. There are a whole bunch of free patterns, and the rest are pretty inexpensive as patterns go. It's an extremely creative community, so variations and personal touches are encouraged. Then again, it's populated largely by home sewists, and not by crafters looking to sell a product, so maybe that's the difference.

Even my favourite pattern sellers have a couple of free patterns on their site, and they want to see any and all variations that folks come up with.

I really like the idea of an open source crafting community, though, doubly so if we could get garment sewing in on it, too.

[macoafi]

Technically, all the mumbo jumbo pattern writers say about not selling stuff made from the pattern is...mumbo jumbo. Copyright protects the pattern itself from being copied. It has no application to actual useful items, like the clothes that come from using the pattern.

[jume]

What if it's presented as a license?

[macoafi]

I don't think you can make a license cover more than the copyright did to start with, but a contract would make things interesting.

(IANAL)