In 2003, 20 years ago, the first version of schnittchen patterns went online. At that time, it was still under the name Schnitt & Stoff, with one of the first rental online shop modules. After a year of preparation, I released eight patterns that could be ordered as prints.
There was no iPhone, no Facebook or Instagram, YouTube had not yet launched, and the options for selling online were so limited that I had to search for an agency that could help me realize the website.
When orders came in, I had to personally go to a plot service in Berlin, which I had found after a long search, to pick up the printed patterns and then ship them myself.
It was not easy, and with my idea to sell patterns online, I was alone in the field.
Now, 20 years later, online shops are part of our shopping routine, social media is an integral part of our lives, and we naturally turn to ChatGPT when we don’t know what to do. In parallel, “DIY”, and especially sewing, has become a movement. Numerous women (and now also men) worldwide sew their clothes themselves, post their creations on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, network, have become well-paid influencers, and bring this wonderful hobby into the mainstream. No trace of “old-fashioned”, stuffy, or “outdated”. Sewing, knitting, crocheting, and embroidering have become a wonderful way to enjoy the creative process, to withdraw, and step by step, to design your own clothes in silence. Aspects such as sustainability and the rejection of “fast fashion” have also come to the forefront.
In these 20 years, schnittchen has continued to grow, evolve and adapt. Now it was time to make a reset and bring everything that has been created over the years – including now over 100 patterns – back together. That’s why schnittchen patterns are starting anew today, with a new website, a new pattern layout, and a new feature, the schnittchen Club.
Gradually, all “old” and new patterns in the new design will move into the shop, and promotions will take place again in the schnittchen sewing blog, with updated photo tutorials and articles posted about the sewing community.
To kick off today and celebrate the last 20 years with you, the Jale Dress & Blouse pattern will be available in the shop, with a video sewing tutorial made by Sara from Sewing Therapy. With her help, even sewing beginners can master this pattern and start the summer with an airy oversize dress or blouse.
I wish you all a lot of fun with the new website and everything that will happen at schnittchen in the next few years. I’m sticking to it – sewing is the most beautiful hobby!
Yours, Silke
First schnittchen Photo Shooting, Münzclub, Berlin
– 2003
I’m hoping more patterns will be offered in bigger sizes as well. I’d love to sew a Lara dress, for example.
Dear Erin, thank you for your note. You are right! The Lara pattern will be released in bigger sizes next mont. As well as the new Jale pattern. xx Silke