Peppermint Sewing Patterns: Some Important News
- Words by Kelley Sheenan
Hi sewing friends!
We have some important news to share. As you know, we’ve been offering most of our patterns for free for many years now. While we wish we could continue to do so, the reality is, it’s come at a significant cost to the business and it’s now reached a point where it’s just not financially possible for us to keep doing this. And so, from today, we’ll be adding a fee to most of these patterns.
It’s been a difficult decision to come to, but ultimately we know it’s the right one to make. We’ve poured our hearts, resources – and finances – into these patterns over the years, and are proud of the fact that we’ve paid over $50,000 to the incredible indie patternmakers we worked with to help bring these free patterns to life. We’re also eternally grateful to the lovely sponsors who made it possible for us to keep the patterns free for our community for such a long time. These patterns have been downloaded more than 500,000 times, which is amazing! But along with that comes an enormous amount of admin work, troubleshooting, IT support, software programs, customer service support – not to mention all the original production work planning, creating, producing, photographing, copywriting, editing and design – all of which costs time and money.
As you know, we’ve had a pay-what-you-can option on all our patterns for a long time now, and we’re incredibly grateful to those who contributed – it’s helped immensely. But the reality is that only approximately 3-5% of all downloads over the years have been paid.
We also want to acknowledge the value of the work, the value in the end product, and of course, the value in our own work also. It’s tough out there at the moment for many of us with small businesses, and it’s so important to recognise the value of creatives, makers, artists and designers as we all navigate this economic crisis. We all need to do what we can to stick around, and to support those bringing art and craft to the world. To that end, we’ve decided to share 10% of the future sales of previously-free patterns with the original patternmakers. While they were all originally paid for their work, we want to show our appreciation and continuous support of these small businesses by including them in these changes.
Some of our earlier patterns will remain free for now – from issue 24 and before. These will continue to have the Pay-What-You-Can option if you’d like to donate (if so – thank you!). We hope to slowly go back through older patterns and update the sizing – when this happens, they will change over to paid only, as it takes a lot of work to update and regrade patterns. But we’d love for the sizing to be more inclusive, so we think it’s a worthwhile endeavour.
We love and appreciate all the support you’ve shown us and the patterns over the years, and we’re so proud of what we’ve achieved. The best part about this change is that it will allow us to continue to do what we do and bring more patterns to you, our beloved sewist community. Trust us, we’ve got plenty of ideas up our me-made sleeves and we can’t wait to share them with you!
Kelley and the team xox
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“My piece of advice for makers and designers? Run your own race… make sure your key decisions stay anchored in your brand’s core beliefs.”
- Bec Bligh
Quick show of hands: who’s opened a water bottle expecting a refreshing sip… and instead been greeted by the unmistakable whiff of uh-oh?
Because for something that follows us everywhere (desk, car, hikes, yoga…), the humble drink bottle is strangely prone to becoming a science experiment. Hard-to-clean corners and gaskets. Mystery smells. Bec Bligh and her husband Tim know it well. A six-month sailing trip along the Queensland coast left them with a lifetime of memories and one stubborn annoyance: mouldy water bottles they couldn’t properly clean.
So they did something about it.
Enter @EverVessel. Thoughtfully designed borosilicate glass and stainless steel bottles that keep things beautifully simple: durable materials, wide openings, easy-to-clean parts and none of the techy gimmicks that tend to age badly. Turns out simplicity, done well, is pretty powerful stuff. (Their many design awards agree!)
And lately they’ve added a little extra delight: the Artist Series, where creatives like Paola Castro, Ben Miners and Martin Thompson transform these everyday companions into tiny travelling artworks. There are more colabs in the works, too: hydration, but make it joyful! 🎨💧
We chatted with Bec about the sailing trip that started it all, the philosophy behind Ever Vessel, and why the most sustainable product is often just the one you keep using.
Tap the link in our bio to read the full conversation. 🚰
#EverVessel #ReusableWaterBottle
Pull up a chair… there’s room at this table!
For the first time, Feast for Freedom is bringing people together for a spectacular long-table dinner as part of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.
A Longer Table is exactly what it sounds like: one beautiful shared table inside the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (@Asrc1), piled with generous dishes inspired by this year’s hero cooks, Noha and Nige.
From 6 to 9pm on Wednesday, 25 March, this is what you can expect:
🍽 A three-course shared feast
🍷 Matched drinks
🎶 Live entertainment
✨ A room full of good humans
Your ticket doesn’t just buy you a delicious dinner. It supports the ASRC’s vital work and helps create a fairer future for people seeking asylum.
Seats are limited, and long tables have a way of filling up quickly – head to @MelbFoodAndWine’s website to book now: feastforfreedom.org.au/mfwf
#FeastForFreedom #MelbourneFoodAndWineFestival #LongTableDinner #FoodForChange
Sew versatile! 🪡
Another great make from Lisa from @SunnySewsEveryday:
My #PeppermintWaratahWrapDress is finished and I’m so proud of it. It has been designed not to flap open and flash your pants in the wind, so I feel confident it will be a great wheelchair or standing dress in English weather.
#PeppermintPatterns #WrapDress #WrapDressPattern
Frame your face with the Peppermint Bucket Hat!
Stay safe and stylish in the sun with your very own self-sewn and self-drafted wide-brimmed bucket hat. This beginner-friendly sew is perfect for a sunny day. Get out your pencils – this pattern is created using equations and maths!
This DIY project was featured in Issue 53 and now you can access it for the lovely low price of only $5.
Sun-safe chic is always in style. ☀️
Find it via the link in our bio!
Photos: @KelleySheenan
#PeppermintPatterns #PeppermintBucketHat #BucketHat #BucketHatPattern #DIY
✨ INSTANT CLASSIC ✨
The Peppermint Myrtle Shift Dress is a beginner-friendly make with a few special details based on the ever-stylish shift shape – the perfect dress you need in your wardrobe right now!
Myrtle cuts above the knee with options to customise the length. Don’t think she’s reserved for hot weather either: try a heavier-weight fabric to turn your Myrtle into a pinafore-style garment for layering.
For our fabrics we chose two from our lovely sewing partner @Karmme_Apparel – the bold Rottnest Stripes in a lightweight, soft-drape cotton, and the quality linen in the handpainted Mexico Collection.
Get making the Myrtle – the only question is, can you stop at just one?
Link in bio 🪡
Fabric: @Karmme_Apparel
Sewist: @Laura_The_Maker
Photos: @KelleySheenan
Models: @SerahSews and @Pins_And_Tonic
Location: @ShareTheDignityAustralia
#PeppermintMyrtleShiftDress #PeppermintPatterns
It’s time to Feast!
Some recipes travel a long way before they land on your table to delight your taste buds. This year’s Feast for Freedom invites us to gather our friends, cook something delectable and raise funds for the incredible work of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (@Asrc1) while we’re at it.
The 2026 Feast features recipes shared by two remarkable cooks: Noha, who brought the flavours of Palestine with her when she arrived in Australia, and Nige, a Sri-Lankan Tamil cook whose journey with food began in the most unexpected of places.
You can host your own Feast up until 30 April – simply register online and get planning! Host a dinner, organise a workplace lunch, or gather your community… However you do it, the idea is simple: cook, connect and celebrate the cultures and stories that shape Australia.
Want to find out more? Head to the link in bio to meet Noha and Nige, learn more about their stories, and discover a delicious recipe to try.
#FeastForFreedom #PeppermintMagazine #FoodForGood #ASRC
