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Pattern paper
Plus Size Designs
Pre-print specials
Sales Tax
Order Arrival
Payments
Shipping
Q: Pattern paper What kind of paper are your patterns printed on? A: Our first three patterns BD 1001, 1002, and 1003 were printed by the McCalls pattern company on tissue paper. Our other patterns are printed on heavy paper by local blueprint printers. They are full size patterns on large heavy sheets. This is the best option for us financially and gives you a sturdier product. The biggest drawback is they are sure hard to fit into our plastic bags! We may move up to larger bags when it is time to reorder them. My frugal nature wants to use up our inventory of bags and also likes the size they are as they will fit into pattern boxes with other Big 3 patterns. I'm guessing once the patterns are cut out and the waste paper is discarded the patterns will fit just fine. I'd love to have feedback on this issue. Q: Plus Size Designs Will you ever offer designs specifically for the plus size mother? A: Designing for the plus size figure requires a new set of rules that I have not studied yet. I do not have plans in the near future for expanding my patterns to a line of only plus size patterns. Our patterns currently go up to a 50" bust. Grading beyond that size in a pattern drafted for a regular figure type would result in some distortions and an undesireable fit. For a great book on altering patterns to fit your figure, we recommend Pati Palmer's Fit for Real People. Q: Pre-print specials I like to look for your pre-print specials to save money. Your recent patterns haven't been on special why? A: We started the pre-print specials when we did not have enough cash to have our designs printed. Selling patterns before we had to pay the printer helped us to stay debt free. We have recently changed from using McCalls pattern company to having our patterns printed on heavy paper at local merchants. This allows us to have fewer patterns printed at a time for a lower investment on each new design. And allows us to walk out the door with a new design and arrive home with it printed and ready to ship the same day. It doubled our cost per pattern to do it this way, but we ended up with a nicer product and better control over our inventory. As a result we no longer need to offer pre-print specials, and doing so harms our profitability Our patterns already have a small profit margin to save our customers as much as possible. Q: Sales Tax Will sales tax be added to my order? A: Currently, we only charge sales tax to those living in Missouri. Our sales tax rate is %7.725. Q: Order Arrival How soon can I expect my order to arrive? A: Electronic orders (e-books) will arrive within 24 hours of our receiving your payment. E-checks slow this down quite a bit, while instant payments allow your book to come much faster. Patterns should arrive within 2 weeks of your order. I like to ship them out much sooner, and often do, but with our family situation I need to have 2 weeks to get them to you. Q: Payments What are my payment options. A: You may pay through paypal or with a personal check or money order through the mail. We can only take credit cards via paypal at this time. With paypal you also have the option of paying with a funded payment or an e-check. Paying with an e-check will slow down your order, as we must wait to ship your order until the check clears. This can take up to 7 business days. Funded and credit card payments are instantaneous and your order can ship out much faster. I don't mind personal checks in the mail either, as this saves me some paypal fees. I usually ship our your order as soon as the check arrives. If you do choose to pay through the mail, the mailing address will be at the bottom of your invoice that comes in your e-mail. Q: Shipping How much is shipping? A: Currently shipping for the United States and Canada is 15% of your total purchase price. As shipping prices continue to rise, we may need to increase the percentage amount. Right now this does not cover the cost of shipping one pattern, but is more adequate for larger orders. For those of you living outside North America, please e-mail me for a shipping quote before paying for your order. |