Today, I learned that I was fooled by AI sewing patterns even though I am an experienced sewist and an artist. I left a one-star review on those and will educate my fellow sewing enthusiasts about how to spot AI patterns from now on. Un grand merci venant du Québec ⚜️
Dear Noemie & Francesca, thankyou so much for this video. As AI becomes more sophisticated, it's great to have as much information as possible on how to identify it. Noemie, don't bother making such a pattern. Your time is too precious, & I hate to see influencers spend money on dodgy businesses just to see how bad they are. We've all made bad patterns before!
I fell for some of these patterns when I first bought them. What tipped me off that something was wrong was when two different patterns were identical. The reviews are so good, it was easy to be tricked.
The scammers purchase reviews from companies who specialise in providing fake reviews. I know this is big thing with scammers coming from China, the fake review industry over there is big business.
@ I think that’s for sure part of it. I think it’s also because Etsy has you review items really quickly, so most people don’t have time to try to sew it before they review
I BOUGHT THAT PATTERN! The very first one you highlighted with the beautiful lady in the brown pinafore with the hidden finger. I really wanted to find a specific kind of pinafore dress and that was the best fit I could fund but…oh man such a scam. No I didn’t make it cause the pattern itself was clearly so dodgy, and in the end I bought a completely different one from one of the big four and it worked out fine but man do I feel like a schmo. Also thanks for the coffee shout out and I find it hilarious that it was in a video that spoke directly to me as a recent scam-ee 😂😂😂
Ha ha I promise it wasn’t to single you out 😂😂 imagine « don’t get scammed like this week’s shout out! » I’m sorry you lost some money on that one. Hopefully now, they won’t get you anymore!
Oh no! No shame - I would have fallen for it myself had I seen it before watching this. Did you leave a bad review? And if so, did it stay up or can they be removed?
You're not a schmo, it's AI that is getting better and better, it really nails some pretty difficult stuff, so literally anyone could have fallen for it.
Another tell-tale sign of an AI pattern is that some of the details don't make sense. Like in the blue ruffle skirt with the white peasant top, in the picture where the lady is showing the slit up to her thigh, the ruffle disappears for the width of the thigh, while in other pictures, it's continuous throughout the front edge. This is very common in AI pictures of clothing; seams and features that just disappear or turn into a completely different kind of seam or detail without any transition. Like in the blue polkadot dress here, there's no visible seam or dart to account for how fitted the torso of the garment is, even in the zoom.
Oh yes! I don't know if this still appplies to AI, because it's something I noticed a couple years ago when the scam seemed to be just stealing someone else's photos - but seamlines not making sense was very much a thing then, too - they'd have a photo and a line drawing and the line drawing would not match the photo.
I now only realize how badly I was scammed as I bought about 5 of these patterns together and wondered why they looked so bad. 😩 Thank you for making this video. I will stick to patterns from online companies I know/love or recognize as legitimate businesses. I already have a list of them, so I should stick to the safe route for now lol
I think this is the saddest part because all the ai is making it harder and harder to find good indy pattern makers and I love making indy pattern because I like to wear something no one else really is
Great video! I don't buy patterns online, as I make my own, so I hadn't really noticed this trend. But in my work in fashion, when we look around for inspiration, soooo many photos are clearly generated by ai. And my colleagues in buying, selling, marketing etc just don't see it! ( In general designers see it, because we're trained to "see" clothes and bodies, but it's easy to be fooled. ) The things we're shown online aren't based in reality which also skews our search for inspiration. We are shown images based on our own search history, not what other people actually look for, or wear.
I find the point that it skews what we expect clothes to look like on us, pretty concerning. The fact that the designers see it better really shows that it's partly training then.
Thank you, Noémi and Francesca, for the heads up! It's really a shame, what's happened to Etsy, and this will help us all give our money to real actual human designers.
I also bought one of these recently, my first online pattern, so I wans't really aware of AI patterns. I wanted to make a corset and honestly just wanted something to go off of, I thought the photos looked suspicious but what convinced me tro try it anyway was the reviews, especially the ones with pictures of actual garments made with the pattern. But like you said, experienced sewists can probably just adjust patterns really well and end up with an acceptable product. I'm still gonna try to make something from it but I guess I'm adjusting my expectations, and now I know better for the future. Thanks!
I don't think an experienced sewer can create something useful from it. I have seen videos on yt where experienced makers tried to crochet from AI instructions. Very funny how they turned out.
@@s.f.8867 I think crochet patterns and sewing pattenrs are very different. for sewing, you have the pieces cut out in front of you and can adjust the fit (aka not listen to the part of the instructions that seems weird and do your own thing instead to get a better result), while with crochet (and I'm guessing here, don't know a lot a bout crochet) you kind of have to follow the steps or it would end up as something completely different
I've bought a few patterns from Etsy now, but only after a lot of research - it's nice to try new businesses out, but my concern has always been how well drafted they are and what the instructions are like. I've found that good ones either have many mentions on social media (and you can see the makes by independent sewists), or run a YT channel and offer tutorials, that kind of thing. That's what I look for now - peer testing and peer reviews. I steer away from any shop using AI to generate their advertising pictures, it's fairly straightforward to spot and the reputable indie designers have test sew pictures at a minimum to show. And I guess I am biased - i'm not a skinny hourglass shape so I look for patterns shown on a variety of bodies. Great video and very informative.
Thank you, I needed this! I have been so tempted by the cheap patterns on Etsy because I sew on a budget and sewing patterns are quite expensive. I was looking for a particular type of blouse the other day, and found a beautiful picture of one on Etsy, fortunately I looked at the line drawing, it didn’t match the image, so I didn’t buy it. I was also thinking why is such a complicated pattern only £3.45 or whatever it was. But generally I am awful at spotting AI images, hopefully I will be better now!
To sew on a budget, if you’re comfortable drafting a bit yourself, I would get a reputable free pattern and then modify it. If you don’t feel comfortable drafting, you might need to buy exactly what you want. I think the big 4 often have big sales on and maybe that would be an opportunity to get the pattern you need, if you don’t mind waiting.
It sounds like even if you didn't spot the ai photo, you still figured out it was an AI pattern, so congrats! You're savvy enough to save yourself a lot of frustration
Great video! Like your wife I have a very keen AI radar so I thought everyone could detect these AI patterns, but then I learned this was not the case for many people and it’s so important to give each other tips on how to detect them. I do want to challenge something you said, about how many indie designers can’t build their own websites so they turn to Etsy. Having an Etsy store is incredibly convenient, in an hour your shop can be up and running with access to millions of potential customers. Of course when compared to this making your own site can seem an insurmountable task, but it’s not. It’s like someone who always orders fast food for every meal, compared to that going grocery shopping, meal planning and actual cooking seems impossible, but only because you’re comparing it with the extreme convenience of fast food delivery. There are platforms aimed at people who don’t know anything about web design, designers who specialise in building sites for small businesses and ready made templates where you only have to decide on colours and provide your own photos. A group of indie designers could also come together to build a collective site, collaboration is not the enemy of competition. I just want any new pattern designers to know that Etsy is not your only option! ❤
I think the issue isn’t the difficulty of making your own website, but the exposure associated with it. You can’t make your own website with no following online and expect daily sales, but you can make an Etsy profile and get sales from people who’ve never heard of you. Yes an online following helps either way but the barrier to entry is higher for an indie website.
Just because you managed to do something doesn't mean it's reasonable for others. Doable doesn't necessarily mean that everyone is in the same circumstances you are. But it is good encouragement to put out there.
I learned to draft my own and basically buy patterns for the instructions (and historical clothing research). So I only buy the expensive-ish ones that have really good instructions. 😀
Thank you for posting this! I especially like the points about the positive flags for an Etsy seller - like seeing that all their photos are in the same one or two locations, and they have multiple angles of the product, and if the line drawings match the photo! This is just good pattern-knowledge education, you pointing out the darts missing or the ruffles being too short compared to the photo.
I watched that video on how to spot AI embroidery patterns and was thinking this needs to be done for sewing patterns! So glad you and your wife put this together to help inform people on what to look out for! 👏❤️🍓
I'm dying about you talking about the hands and fingers being wrong in the Ganni-esque vest because I have a genetic disorder and my fingers are weirdly long. I did end up getting them checked out and that's how I found out about my disability lol
@@LaFraiseSews Oh I can't speak for everyone but I felt totally fine with how you spoke! You felt cautious and respectful. You are talking about anomalies and looking for them to discover fake imagery, and in my mind genetic physical conditions are anomalies just real ones. And there is something that still looks fake with AI that a real person with a disability would not look like.
This is a great video. Thank you for making and sharing this. It's so unfair to get scammed by these people/bots. Even worse now is that the AI is learning and getting better very quickly, and it is making it harder and harder to spot fakes. Anyway, at the start of this video it became an adventure of spot the weird things for me. Kind of fun if I'm honest. 🙂 I noticed at 4:44 that the picture had no earrings in one angle and then prominent drop earrings in another. At 7:15, the pic shows long polished nails but none showed on the previous weird left hand. The ankle on the left leg is also weird. These points are all so valuable particularly for those who don't have a lot of money and have to invest in each pattern carefully. Thanks again. Hi to you from a sewist in Kingston, Jamaica. ❤
I've started to find AI pictures in ads for clothing as well. Things like draping that doesn't make sense or the entire weight of the garment hanging from a piece of lace...big clue. Always look for customer photos.
These are fantastic points. I was scammed with a pattern that ticked all of these boxes, and I spent so much money on fabric and zips that I cannot make into a wearable item! Thankfully Etsy closed down this shop when I complained.
Here's another thing I noticed: huge size ranges. xxxs to 11 xl! If you have some experience you will know that patterns that work on petite bodies will not work on very curvy bodies and vice versa.
Thank you so much for this video. I am so shocked to learn that the pattern I just bought on etsy looks to be AI! I had no idea. I was so excited to try sewing a lovely blouse but now I am so hesitant to invest time and resources in a poor quality or inaccurate pattern. Thanks!
I’m glad you made this video. I too fell for one of the Indiepattern patterns - it was late at night and I was scrolling Etsy in bed for pinafore patterns, when one of their patterns came up with a discount that was only available for two more hours. I did think it was annoying the line drawings were missing but it had good reviews with pictures others had made. I feel like normally I would not have fallen for it and had I checked the pattern with fresh eyes in the morning, I would have been more suspicious of it. But it was the late night brain fog and the rush one gets from the idea of a discount (which is obviously a technique they use!!) and I bought it on the spot before thinking about it twice. I did make the dress, but I did have to make adjustments to it and I would have been happier had I paid more and got a real indie pattern that would have worked better.
I was purchasing and making patterns with success until I came across one pattern.... and while I was making it I became more and more confused as to what i was actually making. I left one star on that review to warn others. Now I prefer to go by reviews that have actually claimed to have made the pattern or share a photo with the garment. I cant always post a photo when i review, so I know others may not either. When thats the case I just try to be as detailed as possible so others know what I went through. Ive been very cautious ever since, but I just went through my favorites on etsy and found a couple I recently favorited. Other than a couple, it seems Im getting better at spotting the scammers. Great informative video I havent seen anywhere else! Also super cool of you to shout out the creator who has made a video on this topic.
Another thing to note with patterns and fake clothes like the polka dot dress, is that instead of visible sea lines, you can see that the polka nots just kinda blur and get smaller or bigger or change shape or entirely disappear in different areas, giving it and extra odd, uncanny look that doesn’t really happen in proper repeating fabric patterns, and seems like weird blurring airbrush effects were used to give the illusion of seams instead of actually noticeable seams. And even them, the illusion of seams on the front of the bodice has cups that aren’t there in the line drawing and the vague concept of princess seams that only go from top to end of the cups, a waistband section that is also not there in the line drawing and, and the skirt starts at a different place than the drawing due to the addition of the wide waistband, and kinda seems to poof out more instead of flowing the way the drawing would make it seem it should.
Honestly, so many of the ai generated photos with a line drawing examples are just completely different clothing pieces with the amount of design changes from shape sleeves, necklines, darts, and more.
This video is so handy! I never would have known! I always thought these were companies that had multiple staff working on patterns! I’ve always been careful though to only buy patterns like this with photo reviews so I can see how other people’s items look when made!
Strabismus (eyes going in different directions) and hand abnormalities generally appear different than the errors produced by AI. As well, unless it's a very deliberate choice by a creator to use a disabled model... well, companies typically will not hire visibly disabled models since they want to portray physical "perfection".
This video caught my eye, because one of the pics in the thumbnail (brown pinafore dress) belongs to a pattern I put into my favorites on etsy. I absolutely did not see that some things were wrong with it 😱 Fortunately, that shop doesn't sell anything in my size anyway, so I only saved it in my inspiration folder and didn't plan on ever purchasing it. I hate that I have to scan everything on etsy for ai scams... So thanks for the video!
7:40 I looked at those photos and thought very bad photoshop job. You can see artifacts around her figure that make me think they tried to make her thinner than she is, and just messed up the anatomy.
It's not always an AI generated pattern when the pictures are generated with AI. I discovered other options as well: A. the designer is not a woman but creates patterns for women and doesn't have money for a model to show the clothes. B. The designer doesn't know anything about proper pattern making but is great with computers and 3d software and is able to create drawings that look like patterns, C the designer works in creating digital animation character clothes without knowing how patterns on humans work (this is quite noticable in pants patterns). There's still manual labor in all of those, but in case B and C it's all digital work without proper knowledge. The drawing of the pattern is quickly done with the right software. The testing, the sewing manual, and making the garment, and taking pictures is what takes most of the time.
This is actually super helpful. I was wondering if some of those could have some human work. Where does that place us ethically now? If it's made by a human, but badly... I feel like it's still consciously badly made, that whoever is selling them knows they're not selling a well tested product. Would it be OK if I reference your comment in a follow up video I'll made reviewing one of those patterns?
The mostly likely scenario is the patterns are made in 3d patternmaking soft ware like clo3d, they can make actual patterns from those, while their images are AI generated
Got taken by Indie Patterns too. I'm a SUPER beginner. Ordered two patterns printed by a third party, cut them when they arrived. Neither looked right when I cut them, so I didn't even bother cutting my fabric (thankfully).
This information is very helpful. I would typically focus on the garment and pay less attention to these specifics about the model. Thanks for taking the time to inform us!
Etsy keeps showing me this beautiful medieval dress pattern but the line drawing does not match the picture at all so I definitely won’t buy it. Such a bummer
What you said nearly at the end of the video is actually something I start with when checking if indie seller is real and reliable. Analyzing photos to determine if they are real or generated can be time consuming, but checking if they are on other platforms is quick.
Thanks a lot to both you and your wife! I had some of the patterns from the first store in my cart to buy them next week! You saved me from tons of frustrations!
New pattern maker here. I started selling sewing patterns few months ago and as soon as I looked up other creators, i immediately noticed these AI shops! I studied fashion design and wrote my theoretical bachelor about ai. When I looked at the reviews I was so confused. How can they have so many good reviews? It’s crazy… and they sell for so cheap, it’s super frustrating to see that something like that works
The sewing community needs a unifying platform like Ravelry. For us fiber artists, it consolidates patterns, sources for materials and more. I don’t think AI scam patterns could happen on Ravelry, there are always multiple photos and links to completed projects by testers or regular makers, together with their notes in their project pages. I’m stumped why nobody has mimicked this for the sewing/quilting/ embroidery community.
This is a very helpful video! I never put much thought into it but I will definitely start looking for red flags in pictures now! Unbelievable what ppl do to get money. Thanks so much!
The impression of authenticity is only an impression. The videos make it look real, the photos make it look real, etc. Thank you for helping us detect the impressions so we can be more discerning. Generative AI is going to require us to be more vigilant.
6:39 also look at the backs of both elbows - the right arm in general is much larger than the right arm. This is an excellent video, thank you for putting it out there for us in this greedy world.
If the designer is too lazy to take their own photos that's a huge red flag! 🚩 Not to mention solidarity with the artists who have had their work stolen to generate that image
Thanks! I hadn't fallen for any of these... yet! I just went and deleted some of them from my Etsy wish list. Thank you and your wife so much for the education video
Yes and it's even worst in crochet, as the patterns are text based, so patterns themselves could be made by AI. In sewing, it generally stops at the pictures.
I’m thankful that I’m really good at picking up on ai in photos and videos but it is SO subtle, especially when you’re focused on the garment and not the model. Scary stuff
Thank you so much, I really have to give all the credit to Fran who thought "this needs to be made, Noémie is going to do it" and then helped me compile the tips.
Uff, I've definitely had bad experiences buying patterns from Etsy -- no idea if they were genuine but badly made or if I got AI-scammed, but I'm so glad to have these tips, thanks!
Oh I’m so glad i saw this video. I’m more of a pattern hoarder 😅 and hoping one day I’ll have time to sew. I won’t be buying anymore of these sort of patterns. All of their patterns look the same or similar. Thank you!
I am always amused about the AI generated pictures they use to sell products for your skin and show the before and after with the same background like cars driving on a street. So those product seem to work instantaneously.
Just liked to also add here some of the patterns being sold there are are made in 3D patternmaking software like CLO3D, some really have good 3d renders (simulation) so if their model has consistent poses likely made with 3D patternmaking software, they are perfectly fine but ofcourse they are often not tested in real fabric just relying purely on 3d simulation.
I soooooo got scammed. Probably from the same seller as the first couple of examples in this video. I needed a bustier pattern and I bought the first one I saw on Etsy (cause it was cheap 🙃). Not only was the pattern impossible to put together, no notches or registration marks, but the finished product was super shapeless… literally a cylinder. And yeah, if that’s your body shape that’s fine, but I bought it because it advertised how curvy it was! I should’ve known better… now I do!
Omg this was hilarious I was enjoying so much Noemie defending them "maybe she had surgery as a child!" lol. But yeah totally good points made it is important to take in everything as a whole- do the photos look slightly off? Have any customers bought and made the pattern and posted a pic? Does the person also have a website or instagram or other social media that you can do a double check? I find most of the real designers have a 2nd internet presence somewhere.
One thing regarding real patterns, I know two designers for sewing respectively knitting patterns who have people in other body sizes/shapes who test the smaller and bigger sizes of the pattern before it's released, and so there are be photos of the item on different models in different sizes. They both have Instagram and interact with their customers there so all that tells that you get something real.
Thank you for all the research. I am a very experienced sewist and sewing teacher. One of the first things I look at for any pattern is the line drawing. These drawings can give you so much information about the design lines and construction of a garment. Often, the color, texture, or design of a fabric can obscure how a garment is made. I also get suspicious of how well a PDF pattern is made or graded when the price is really low. Designing, drafting, mocking up, grading, and writing instructions correctly are all time-consuming processes. And, the cost of a well-designed Indie pattern generally reflects that. Btw, some of the oddities on those AI images creep me out!😲
I‘ve got scammed twice. Yes I received a pattern but it wasn’t as shown in the pics. The description was poorly as well. Now I only get patterns if there is an # on Insta and I “know“ the people how had also sewn the garment.
I’m new here! Wow 😮 Thank you ladies for the advice and tips. My favorite brain games are “spot the _____”. Sewing, hand sewing, needle work, crochet, knitting are all in my top favorite things to do. Past hobby for sure. Anyway! Now I’ll be studying everything I see. Too exhausting 😂 Great video!
Thank you this was super helpful! Currently Etsy gives you 100 days after the download to do the review. That's definitely NOT enough time especially if you're knitting or crocheting. I also feel price is a good indicator of a scam-- if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
For me, it is a bit like 'where do you get your news from?' - check your sources. These sites are aimed at those not paying enough attention. It was very interesting and amusing though!
Thank you for this video, I have bought patterns off Etsy and they have been good, also I have bought them and they are rubbish. The bad were cheap so lesson learnt.
😮 After I watched this, I called my hubby and said, “OMG! Do my hands match?” He said they do. I was holding them up in FaceTime. He was at a gig. He said, “Girl, I can’t do this right now. Downbeat is in 9 minutes. I promise. We’ve been married for over three decades. I would have noticed by now if your hands didn’t match. You’re a real girl and I love ya, but I gotta go.” He always tells everything to the whole band and apparently they had yet another laugh at me because they put up AI jokes on my Facebook page. 😂
I also purchased a few of these patterns on Etsy. I did feel something was off because the line drawings were slightly different from the pictures. I haven’t made any of the patterns yet and would absolutely love to see you make one or two for research sake! Thank you for sharing this information! I hate scams! Fortunately the patterns weren’t expensive. But it’s still a scam!
The blouse is the Pimpante from Lise Tailor. The cat fabric is the Nino from Lise Tailor. I don’t think she still sells it, but I see other sellers still do. It’s worth checking to see if one is convenient to you. The viscose was very stable and easy to sew.
People, if you would just purchase patterns, etc. from a real store, these real stores would not be going out of business - JoAnn’s is the one by me who sells fabrics, patterns, etc. and has a big possibility of closing! I sometimes purchase from Etsy but I will not purchase items that I can go buy at a real store (overemphasis on the word “real” is intentional!). With AI getting better by the minute it’s clear to me that we all need to be more careful and hopefully not forget our local and sometimes a little further away shops! I’m a quilter and yes I do purchase from online stores - stores that I know are real people and carry items I will never be able to find locally!
As a pattern designer it is really sad to see where Etsy is heading. Another tip to spot maybe dodgy pattens is to check if there are any pictures of testers. We have 40-50 testers per pattern and have plenty of those. Although some compaines test patterns, but do not use these pictures.
Ugh i definitely bought an AI pattern recently. I kept going back and forth on buying it because I was trying to believe it wasn't AI, I got sucked in by the v neck and darts. I'm currently plus size and pear shaped and I'm having such a hard time finding a woven more fitted top, so many things nowadays are a boxy fit. The sewing instructions included adding a side zip and then a cb zip as well, the seam allowance is 1 cm but the sleeve hem instructions were for a "5/8 inch narrow hem" um okay lol. And the sleeve gathering stitch was for 1/2 and 1/4 inch (wouldn't fit the 1cm sa let alone they are switching between cm and inches..) I debating just giving it a go anyway but its not worth even my mockup material. Oh, and bodice front and sleeve arent cut on the fold so its a huge waste of paper. Going back through their etsy store, the photos actually look pretty good, (like you I'm like oh, just a very beautiful woman..) but I noticed they cropped the hands out of most photos which makes sense now. Well lesson learned 🤷♀️🤦♀️
It can be so disheartening, especially for beginners who wouldn't spot the mistakes you've mentioned here. They might thing they are doing something wrong.
I bought a disappointing pattern on Etsy about a year and a half ago, and now I'm wondering... I saw another possible tell in one of their other patterns: there are three different "sewn" photos, and they all have very different button spacing. I have definitely been scammed by an AI generated cookbook on Amazon. A big part of the problem is fraudulent reviews. The book I bought had 4.5 stars and over 130 reviews, including one with a lot of very fancy photos that don't match any of the recipes in the book.
So helpful! Everything everyone has already said here, along with… did you make your cat blouse?! I love it!! If you did make it, what pattern did you use? Really lovely!
The blouse is the Pimpante from Lise Tailor. The cat fabric is the Nino from Lise Tailor. I don’t think she still sells it, but I see other sellers still do. It’s worth checking to see if one is convenient to you. The viscose was very stable and easy to sew.
I have sewed a pattern from the Ganni vest company. It's a square neck tank and it's a TNT for me. I think that ones with simple design probably work out but the intricate ones are where people have trouble.
A beginner in sewing here, was looking for a pinafore dress pattern and came across the website with the patterns you were reviewing. Though I'm good at spotting ai (due to my profession), at first I was too excited to notice... but something felt off. And then I noticed hands and was hella angry. Now looking only for patterns with real humans attached to them
I too fell for IndiePatterns with a peasant blouse before I learnt about dodgy AI practices. I'm shocking at recognising AI in images. But I'm also terrible with twins. I had twins in my same year level at school, and it took me a year and a half to realise one had long (collar skimming) hair and the other short (like a pixiecut). The whole time I could never tell them apart. Thank-you (and your wife) for breaking down some of the things to look for. The video was definitely one that's needed, and needs to keep being pushed out there as AI images get more and more refined.
Oh, will get a bowl of popcorn & have fun now looking for AI errors now! I was just looking at that brown blouse the other day & pictures seemed real, but noted the same differences with dart vs no dart & sleeve head & didn't bother pressing the button placket & the excess at the top--made me think it was a school project to create the shirt & the listing, but not by someone who cared about quality of either--since couldn't even check if the shirt matched the pattern! (I don't sell garments I make, but I do sell my leather goods on Etsy since it started & know the need for good photos & description, and agree it's so sad it's a for profit business, so a lot more work to find good stuff. But I usually look for reviews here on yT of other websites ...!
I have fallen for some of these. A couple summers ago I was looking for a bathing suit pattern after already having the fabric. There was an Etsy shop that simply flooded the search results. Hundreds of patterns, many of them very cute, but all priced suspiciously cheap. I thought, eh, $2US, if it’s a bust it’s a bust, and I bought a few. The patterns were impossible to piece together and basically nonsense. To their credit the store at least said “pattern only, no instructions” and that was true. I submitted a negative review. The shop went offline last year.
Thanks so much for this video. I have been looking at patternsd on etsy and felt like I could spot AI, but I was wrong. I loved these tips and tricks. The eyes are giving very uncanny Valley. 👁️ 👄 👁️ Yes also do test out an AI pattern! I'm tempted to try one too and might see if I have accidentally bought one
I'm going to see, I've had other comments saying it seems like a waist of time to make a pattern that's just badly made. Which is fair enough. Let us know if you actually have some AI work in your stash!
My husband is an Etsy dealer and refurbishes antique fountain pens. I had no idea you could buy good reviews. We use a specific background and have occasionally seen people stealing the image.
The image at about 7 with the wrap skirt with a ruffle, I was looking at centre of gravity. Her legs weren't supporting her weight, she was going to fall over immediately after the photo was taken.
There's an ad on facebook at the moment that's really annoying me. It's for 'viking' wool jerseys and hoodies, they have amazing patterns on the front but the whole damn lot is AI generated! I sort of want to buy one to see how they actually look but I'm not going to waste my money on something that will most likely be a Celtic pattern printed on t-shirt fabric.
I actually had looked at that particular pinafore pattern, but didn't buy it. 16:53 I thought it was weird it only had buttons in the bottom, I would want it completely buttoned in the front. Also, why make it harder to put on?
Wenn der Schnitthersteller sagt, dass man den Schnitt auch bis 4XL (EU Größe 54 und höher) nähen kann, dann achte ich auch immer darauf, ob es auch Fotos von dem genähten Werk in den großen Größen gibt und wie da die Brustpartie fällt. Wenn es dann nur Bilder von sehr dünnen Models gibt, verzichte ich auf einen Kauf, denn es braucht schon einiges an Änderungen, als nur simples Verschieben der Linien.
I feel bad for genuine sellers on Etsy, it's such a dumpster fire of scams, drop shippers, AI patterns, stolen pictures, I just won't spend any money there ever again. And I feel bad because there are real artists trying to sell their work, but they're just lost in the sea of garbage.
Great video 😄 it's really helpful! I'm not sure about the writing part, because real people also use AI to write things for them when they aren't confident themselves. I work for a science software company in the UK and about 70% of the people I work with are English speakers (many of whom aren't native speakers) who frequently use AI for writing emails, etc. I think it really is the combination of multiple of these signs, or just one obvious sign like a clearly AI photo.
Today, I learned that I was fooled by AI sewing patterns even though I am an experienced sewist and an artist. I left a one-star review on those and will educate my fellow sewing enthusiasts about how to spot AI patterns from now on. Un grand merci venant du Québec ⚜️
Merci beaucoup, I’m glad this could be helpful!
same ((cries))
Dear Noemie & Francesca, thankyou so much for this video. As AI becomes more sophisticated, it's great to have as much information as possible on how to identify it. Noemie, don't bother making such a pattern. Your time is too precious, & I hate to see influencers spend money on dodgy businesses just to see how bad they are. We've all made bad patterns before!
Thank you Fi 🩷
@@fikanera838 I totally agree!
I fell for some of these patterns when I first bought them. What tipped me off that something was wrong was when two different patterns were identical. The reviews are so good, it was easy to be tricked.
Totally, it isn't so easy to spot them.
The scammers purchase reviews from companies who specialise in providing fake reviews. I know this is big thing with scammers coming from China, the fake review industry over there is big business.
It's because the reviews are bots too
@ I think that’s for sure part of it. I think it’s also because Etsy has you review items really quickly, so most people don’t have time to try to sew it before they review
@ agreed, I've seen reporting on this, there are profession level organisations out there who sell positive reviews in bulk.
I'm not actually a sewist and I don't make my own clothes but I'm liking and commenting for the algorithm ❤
Thank you ☺️
I BOUGHT THAT PATTERN! The very first one you highlighted with the beautiful lady in the brown pinafore with the hidden finger. I really wanted to find a specific kind of pinafore dress and that was the best fit I could fund but…oh man such a scam. No I didn’t make it cause the pattern itself was clearly so dodgy, and in the end I bought a completely different one from one of the big four and it worked out fine but man do I feel like a schmo. Also thanks for the coffee shout out and I find it hilarious that it was in a video that spoke directly to me as a recent scam-ee 😂😂😂
Ha ha I promise it wasn’t to single you out 😂😂 imagine « don’t get scammed like this week’s shout out! »
I’m sorry you lost some money on that one. Hopefully now, they won’t get you anymore!
I need to check my patterns because that pinafore was so pretty and I never look at the people, just the outfit
Oh no! No shame - I would have fallen for it myself had I seen it before watching this. Did you leave a bad review? And if so, did it stay up or can they be removed?
Me too, almost bought it.
You're not a schmo, it's AI that is getting better and better, it really nails some pretty difficult stuff, so literally anyone could have fallen for it.
Another tell-tale sign of an AI pattern is that some of the details don't make sense. Like in the blue ruffle skirt with the white peasant top, in the picture where the lady is showing the slit up to her thigh, the ruffle disappears for the width of the thigh, while in other pictures, it's continuous throughout the front edge. This is very common in AI pictures of clothing; seams and features that just disappear or turn into a completely different kind of seam or detail without any transition. Like in the blue polkadot dress here, there's no visible seam or dart to account for how fitted the torso of the garment is, even in the zoom.
Well spotted! I hadn't seen this. I feel like if we keep looking, more points like this will keep appearing.
Oh yes! I don't know if this still appplies to AI, because it's something I noticed a couple years ago when the scam seemed to be just stealing someone else's photos - but seamlines not making sense was very much a thing then, too - they'd have a photo and a line drawing and the line drawing would not match the photo.
I now only realize how badly I was scammed as I bought about 5 of these patterns together and wondered why they looked so bad. 😩 Thank you for making this video. I will stick to patterns from online companies I know/love or recognize as legitimate businesses. I already have a list of them, so I should stick to the safe route for now lol
I mean, it's a shame we can't trust the shop we buy from.
I think this is the saddest part because all the ai is making it harder and harder to find good indy pattern makers and I love making indy pattern because I like to wear something no one else really is
Great video! I don't buy patterns online, as I make my own, so I hadn't really noticed this trend. But in my work in fashion, when we look around for inspiration, soooo many photos are clearly generated by ai. And my colleagues in buying, selling, marketing etc just don't see it! ( In general designers see it, because we're trained to "see" clothes and bodies, but it's easy to be fooled. ) The things we're shown online aren't based in reality which also skews our search for inspiration. We are shown images based on our own search history, not what other people actually look for, or wear.
I find the point that it skews what we expect clothes to look like on us, pretty concerning. The fact that the designers see it better really shows that it's partly training then.
What a wonderful public service you and your wife have done! Thx for pointing out all the subtle clues.
I hope this can be helpful ☺️
Thank you, Noémi and Francesca, for the heads up! It's really a shame, what's happened to Etsy, and this will help us all give our money to real actual human designers.
That’s really what I hope to help with ☺️
I also bought one of these recently, my first online pattern, so I wans't really aware of AI patterns. I wanted to make a corset and honestly just wanted something to go off of, I thought the photos looked suspicious but what convinced me tro try it anyway was the reviews, especially the ones with pictures of actual garments made with the pattern. But like you said, experienced sewists can probably just adjust patterns really well and end up with an acceptable product. I'm still gonna try to make something from it but I guess I'm adjusting my expectations, and now I know better for the future. Thanks!
I'd be very curious as to how it went, once you made it 🙂 I really think experience sewists would be able to make something out of most of them.
I don't think an experienced sewer can create something useful from it. I have seen videos on yt where experienced makers tried to crochet from AI instructions. Very funny how they turned out.
@@s.f.8867 I think crochet patterns and sewing pattenrs are very different. for sewing, you have the pieces cut out in front of you and can adjust the fit (aka not listen to the part of the instructions that seems weird and do your own thing instead to get a better result), while with crochet (and I'm guessing here, don't know a lot a bout crochet) you kind of have to follow the steps or it would end up as something completely different
@@majascha3414 it’s precisely like you said. Results on crochet are kind of hilarious and crazy. With sewing, more like “meh”
I've bought a few patterns from Etsy now, but only after a lot of research - it's nice to try new businesses out, but my concern has always been how well drafted they are and what the instructions are like. I've found that good ones either have many mentions on social media (and you can see the makes by independent sewists), or run a YT channel and offer tutorials, that kind of thing. That's what I look for now - peer testing and peer reviews. I steer away from any shop using AI to generate their advertising pictures, it's fairly straightforward to spot and the reputable indie designers have test sew pictures at a minimum to show. And I guess I am biased - i'm not a skinny hourglass shape so I look for patterns shown on a variety of bodies. Great video and very informative.
The lack of body diversity is also a great point actually!
Thank you, I needed this! I have been so tempted by the cheap patterns on Etsy because I sew on a budget and sewing patterns are quite expensive. I was looking for a particular type of blouse the other day, and found a beautiful picture of one on Etsy, fortunately I looked at the line drawing, it didn’t match the image, so I didn’t buy it. I was also thinking why is such a complicated pattern only £3.45 or whatever it was. But generally I am awful at spotting AI images, hopefully I will be better now!
To sew on a budget, if you’re comfortable drafting a bit yourself, I would get a reputable free pattern and then modify it. If you don’t feel comfortable drafting, you might need to buy exactly what you want. I think the big 4 often have big sales on and maybe that would be an opportunity to get the pattern you need, if you don’t mind waiting.
Yes, there's a whole bunch of patterns that look really nice, but I can't get the line drawing seams to match up with the dress seams!
If you want to show your project on our Discord community, someone might be able to help ☺️
It sounds like even if you didn't spot the ai photo, you still figured out it was an AI pattern, so congrats! You're savvy enough to save yourself a lot of frustration
God this is me.. "Maybe she just has long fingers..." I struggle lol
Great video! Like your wife I have a very keen AI radar so I thought everyone could detect these AI patterns, but then I learned this was not the case for many people and it’s so important to give each other tips on how to detect them.
I do want to challenge something you said, about how many indie designers can’t build their own websites so they turn to Etsy. Having an Etsy store is incredibly convenient, in an hour your shop can be up and running with access to millions of potential customers. Of course when compared to this making your own site can seem an insurmountable task, but it’s not. It’s like someone who always orders fast food for every meal, compared to that going grocery shopping, meal planning and actual cooking seems impossible, but only because you’re comparing it with the extreme convenience of fast food delivery.
There are platforms aimed at people who don’t know anything about web design, designers who specialise in building sites for small businesses and ready made templates where you only have to decide on colours and provide your own photos. A group of indie designers could also come together to build a collective site, collaboration is not the enemy of competition.
I just want any new pattern designers to know that Etsy is not your only option! ❤
@@MayaBell that is a very good point. I mostly want to point out that not having your own website doesn’t make you AI. As many people don’t ☺️
@ of course not, having your own website only proves you have your own website.
I think the issue isn’t the difficulty of making your own website, but the exposure associated with it. You can’t make your own website with no following online and expect daily sales, but you can make an Etsy profile and get sales from people who’ve never heard of you. Yes an online following helps either way but the barrier to entry is higher for an indie website.
Just because you managed to do something doesn't mean it's reasonable for others. Doable doesn't necessarily mean that everyone is in the same circumstances you are. But it is good encouragement to put out there.
@@Seryndipity77 You're right, pointing out there are options is exactly the same as saying everyone must do exactly as I say, my bad.
I believe in paying a fair price for a fair product. I’m not interested in cheap patterns in any way
I learned to draft my own and basically buy patterns for the instructions (and historical clothing research). So I only buy the expensive-ish ones that have really good instructions. 😀
Thank you for posting this! I especially like the points about the positive flags for an Etsy seller - like seeing that all their photos are in the same one or two locations, and they have multiple angles of the product, and if the line drawings match the photo! This is just good pattern-knowledge education, you pointing out the darts missing or the ruffles being too short compared to the photo.
I watched that video on how to spot AI embroidery patterns and was thinking this needs to be done for sewing patterns! So glad you and your wife put this together to help inform people on what to look out for! 👏❤️🍓
I'm dying about you talking about the hands and fingers being wrong in the Ganni-esque vest because I have a genetic disorder and my fingers are weirdly long. I did end up getting them checked out and that's how I found out about my disability lol
I'm actually very curious, does it feel ok the way we talk about hands? I can't help but think "what if you have a disorder affecting your hands??"
@@LaFraiseSews Oh I can't speak for everyone but I felt totally fine with how you spoke! You felt cautious and respectful. You are talking about anomalies and looking for them to discover fake imagery, and in my mind genetic physical conditions are anomalies just real ones. And there is something that still looks fake with AI that a real person with a disability would not look like.
We should practice on those “spot the difference” puzzles!
This is a great video. Thank you for making and sharing this. It's so unfair to get scammed by these people/bots. Even worse now is that the AI is learning and getting better very quickly, and it is making it harder and harder to spot fakes. Anyway, at the start of this video it became an adventure of spot the weird things for me. Kind of fun if I'm honest. 🙂
I noticed at 4:44 that the picture had no earrings in one angle and then prominent drop earrings in another.
At 7:15, the pic shows long polished nails but none showed on the previous weird left hand. The ankle on the left leg is also weird.
These points are all so valuable particularly for those who don't have a lot of money and have to invest in each pattern carefully.
Thanks again. Hi to you from a sewist in Kingston, Jamaica. ❤
Oh, if you like the « spot the weird » game, do come back on Friday !! You’ll love that video 😄
I've started to find AI pictures in ads for clothing as well. Things like draping that doesn't make sense or the entire weight of the garment hanging from a piece of lace...big clue. Always look for customer photos.
I had absolutely no idea anything like this was happening! Thanks for the valuable information.
These are fantastic points. I was scammed with a pattern that ticked all of these boxes, and I spent so much money on fabric and zips that I cannot make into a wearable item! Thankfully Etsy closed down this shop when I complained.
Yes, it's not just the price of the pattern (often cheap), but if you cut your good fabric for something that won't work, it's not great
Here's another thing I noticed: huge size ranges. xxxs to 11 xl! If you have some experience you will know that patterns that work on petite bodies will not work on very curvy bodies and vice versa.
Good point!
Thank you so much for this video. I am so shocked to learn that the pattern I just bought on etsy looks to be AI! I had no idea. I was so excited to try sewing a lovely blouse but now I am so hesitant to invest time and resources in a poor quality or inaccurate pattern. Thanks!
I’m glad you made this video. I too fell for one of the Indiepattern patterns - it was late at night and I was scrolling Etsy in bed for pinafore patterns, when one of their patterns came up with a discount that was only available for two more hours. I did think it was annoying the line drawings were missing but it had good reviews with pictures others had made. I feel like normally I would not have fallen for it and had I checked the pattern with fresh eyes in the morning, I would have been more suspicious of it. But it was the late night brain fog and the rush one gets from the idea of a discount (which is obviously a technique they use!!) and I bought it on the spot before thinking about it twice. I did make the dress, but I did have to make adjustments to it and I would have been happier had I paid more and got a real indie pattern that would have worked better.
I was purchasing and making patterns with success until I came across one pattern.... and while I was making it I became more and more confused as to what i was actually making. I left one star on that review to warn others. Now I prefer to go by reviews that have actually claimed to have made the pattern or share a photo with the garment. I cant always post a photo when i review, so I know others may not either. When thats the case I just try to be as detailed as possible so others know what I went through. Ive been very cautious ever since, but I just went through my favorites on etsy and found a couple I recently favorited. Other than a couple, it seems Im getting better at spotting the scammers. Great informative video I havent seen anywhere else! Also super cool of you to shout out the creator who has made a video on this topic.
Another thing to note with patterns and fake clothes like the polka dot dress, is that instead of visible sea lines, you can see that the polka nots just kinda blur and get smaller or bigger or change shape or entirely disappear in different areas, giving it and extra odd, uncanny look that doesn’t really happen in proper repeating fabric patterns, and seems like weird blurring airbrush effects were used to give the illusion of seams instead of actually noticeable seams. And even them, the illusion of seams on the front of the bodice has cups that aren’t there in the line drawing and the vague concept of princess seams that only go from top to end of the cups, a waistband section that is also not there in the line drawing and, and the skirt starts at a different place than the drawing due to the addition of the wide waistband, and kinda seems to poof out more instead of flowing the way the drawing would make it seem it should.
Honestly, so many of the ai generated photos with a line drawing examples are just completely different clothing pieces with the amount of design changes from shape sleeves, necklines, darts, and more.
At a certain point it really just isn’t the same garment
This video is so handy! I never would have known! I always thought these were companies that had multiple staff working on patterns! I’ve always been careful though to only buy patterns like this with photo reviews so I can see how other people’s items look when made!
Seeing other people's makes is a very good tip actually!
Strabismus (eyes going in different directions) and hand abnormalities generally appear different than the errors produced by AI. As well, unless it's a very deliberate choice by a creator to use a disabled model... well, companies typically will not hire visibly disabled models since they want to portray physical "perfection".
This video caught my eye, because one of the pics in the thumbnail (brown pinafore dress) belongs to a pattern I put into my favorites on etsy. I absolutely did not see that some things were wrong with it 😱 Fortunately, that shop doesn't sell anything in my size anyway, so I only saved it in my inspiration folder and didn't plan on ever purchasing it. I hate that I have to scan everything on etsy for ai scams... So thanks for the video!
7:40 I looked at those photos and thought very bad photoshop job. You can see artifacts around her figure that make me think they tried to make her thinner than she is, and just messed up the anatomy.
That is what I was thinking. Perhaps the generative tool (AI) is trained on old MySpace photos?
@@Akkaliamaybe. The skirt could have also been photoshopped onto an AI model. Idk, it definitely looks altered, not just generated.
Wow. I had no idea that was even a thing. Haven't purchased a PDF pattern in a while. Thanks for the warning 👍🏻
It's not always an AI generated pattern when the pictures are generated with AI. I discovered other options as well: A. the designer is not a woman but creates patterns for women and doesn't have money for a model to show the clothes. B. The designer doesn't know anything about proper pattern making but is great with computers and 3d software and is able to create drawings that look like patterns, C the designer works in creating digital animation character clothes without knowing how patterns on humans work (this is quite noticable in pants patterns). There's still manual labor in all of those, but in case B and C it's all digital work without proper knowledge. The drawing of the pattern is quickly done with the right software. The testing, the sewing manual, and making the garment, and taking pictures is what takes most of the time.
This is actually super helpful. I was wondering if some of those could have some human work. Where does that place us ethically now? If it's made by a human, but badly... I feel like it's still consciously badly made, that whoever is selling them knows they're not selling a well tested product.
Would it be OK if I reference your comment in a follow up video I'll made reviewing one of those patterns?
The mostly likely scenario is the patterns are made in 3d patternmaking soft ware like clo3d, they can make actual patterns from those, while their images are AI generated
Got taken by Indie Patterns too. I'm a SUPER beginner. Ordered two patterns printed by a third party, cut them when they arrived. Neither looked right when I cut them, so I didn't even bother cutting my fabric (thankfully).
This information is very helpful. I would typically focus on the garment and pay less attention to these specifics about the model. Thanks for taking the time to inform us!
You're very welcome, I hope this helps.
Etsy keeps showing me this beautiful medieval dress pattern but the line drawing does not match the picture at all so I definitely won’t buy it. Such a bummer
Yes, really unattainable expectations 🥲
What you said nearly at the end of the video is actually something I start with when checking if indie seller is real and reliable. Analyzing photos to determine if they are real or generated can be time consuming, but checking if they are on other platforms is quick.
Thanks a lot to both you and your wife! I had some of the patterns from the first store in my cart to buy them next week! You saved me from tons of frustrations!
I'm glad it could help!
Yup! Bought one pattern, just checked and it had all the red flags you mentioned! Thank you soooooo much for these tips!
I’m glad it could be helpful ☺️
New pattern maker here. I started selling sewing patterns few months ago and as soon as I looked up other creators, i immediately noticed these AI shops! I studied fashion design and wrote my theoretical bachelor about ai. When I looked at the reviews I was so confused. How can they have so many good reviews? It’s crazy… and they sell for so cheap, it’s super frustrating to see that something like that works
Is your bachelor thesis online to read anywhere? I'd find it super interesting to read! It must be so frustrating as a pattern designer...
How can they have so many good reviews? Easy, they buy them. The reviews are bots and auto-generated/AI created.
The sewing community needs a unifying platform like Ravelry. For us fiber artists, it consolidates patterns, sources for materials and more. I don’t think AI scam patterns could happen on Ravelry, there are always multiple photos and links to completed projects by testers or regular makers, together with their notes in their project pages.
I’m stumped why nobody has mimicked this for the sewing/quilting/ embroidery community.
The Fold Line used to be like that, but they said that the social aspect never really took off.
This is a very helpful video! I never put much thought into it but I will definitely start looking for red flags in pictures now! Unbelievable what ppl do to get money. Thanks so much!
The impression of authenticity is only an impression. The videos make it look real, the photos make it look real, etc. Thank you for helping us detect the impressions so we can be more discerning. Generative AI is going to require us to be more vigilant.
6:39 also look at the backs of both elbows - the right arm in general is much larger than the right arm.
This is an excellent video, thank you for putting it out there for us in this greedy world.
If the designer is too lazy to take their own photos that's a huge red flag! 🚩
Not to mention solidarity with the artists who have had their work stolen to generate that image
Preach!
Thanks! I hadn't fallen for any of these... yet! I just went and deleted some of them from my Etsy wish list. Thank you and your wife so much for the education video
AI crochet images on crochet patterns are also a serious thing to look for.
Yes and it's even worst in crochet, as the patterns are text based, so patterns themselves could be made by AI. In sewing, it generally stops at the pictures.
I’m thankful that I’m really good at picking up on ai in photos and videos but it is SO subtle, especially when you’re focused on the garment and not the model. Scary stuff
Very useful video!
No, seriously, I haven't seen such an in-depth, kort&krachtig video on spotting AI scammers yet! ❤
Thank you so much, I really have to give all the credit to Fran who thought "this needs to be made, Noémie is going to do it" and then helped me compile the tips.
great video ladies! I have learnt a lot and it was a good fun to watch.
I’m very glad you enjoyed it!
Uff, I've definitely had bad experiences buying patterns from Etsy -- no idea if they were genuine but badly made or if I got AI-scammed, but I'm so glad to have these tips, thanks!
Oh I’m so glad i saw this video. I’m more of a pattern hoarder 😅 and hoping one day I’ll have time to sew. I won’t be buying anymore of these sort of patterns. All of their patterns look the same or similar. Thank you!
I am always amused about the AI generated pictures they use to sell products for your skin and show the before and after with the same background like cars driving on a street. So those product seem to work instantaneously.
Just liked to also add here some of the patterns being sold there are are made in 3D patternmaking software like CLO3D, some really have good 3d renders (simulation) so if their model has consistent poses likely made with 3D patternmaking software, they are perfectly fine but ofcourse they are often not tested in real fabric just relying purely on 3d simulation.
This is super interesting, thank you for sharing this!
I soooooo got scammed. Probably from the same seller as the first couple of examples in this video. I needed a bustier pattern and I bought the first one I saw on Etsy (cause it was cheap 🙃). Not only was the pattern impossible to put together, no notches or registration marks, but the finished product was super shapeless… literally a cylinder. And yeah, if that’s your body shape that’s fine, but I bought it because it advertised how curvy it was! I should’ve known better… now I do!
Omg this was hilarious I was enjoying so much Noemie defending them "maybe she had surgery as a child!" lol. But yeah totally good points made it is important to take in everything as a whole- do the photos look slightly off? Have any customers bought and made the pattern and posted a pic? Does the person also have a website or instagram or other social media that you can do a double check? I find most of the real designers have a 2nd internet presence somewhere.
One thing regarding real patterns, I know two designers for sewing respectively knitting patterns who have people in other body sizes/shapes who test the smaller and bigger sizes of the pattern before it's released, and so there are be photos of the item on different models in different sizes.
They both have Instagram and interact with their customers there so all that tells that you get something real.
Thank you for all the research. I am a very experienced sewist and sewing teacher. One of the first things I look at for any pattern is the line drawing. These drawings can give you so much information about the design lines and construction of a garment. Often, the color, texture, or design of a fabric can obscure how a garment is made. I also get suspicious of how well a PDF pattern is made or graded when the price is really low. Designing, drafting, mocking up, grading, and writing instructions correctly are all time-consuming processes. And, the cost of a well-designed Indie pattern generally reflects that. Btw, some of the oddities on those AI images creep me out!😲
I‘ve got scammed twice. Yes I received a pattern but it wasn’t as shown in the pics. The description was poorly as well. Now I only get patterns if there is an # on Insta and I “know“ the people how had also sewn the garment.
Really helpful! Thank you both for this !
Glad it was helpful!
Wow, I had no idea this was going on, crazy! I now know to look at hands!
I’m new here! Wow 😮 Thank you ladies for the advice and tips. My favorite brain games are “spot the _____”. Sewing, hand sewing, needle work, crochet, knitting are all in my top favorite things to do. Past hobby for sure. Anyway! Now I’ll be studying everything I see. Too exhausting 😂 Great video!
Ha ha, if you like spotting mistakes, go to the second video we did, you'll have a field day 😄
Thank you this was super helpful! Currently Etsy gives you 100 days after the download to do the review. That's definitely NOT enough time especially if you're knitting or crocheting.
I also feel price is a good indicator of a scam-- if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Hadn't realised this was happening, thanks for the heads up.
Fabulous information (just popped up on my feed and I thought I’d have a look) but the highlight was when I heard the Aussie accent BRILLIANT
Thank you so much 🌟 (The Aussie accent is definitely the highlight of my day he he)
For me, it is a bit like 'where do you get your news from?' - check your sources. These sites are aimed at those not paying enough attention. It was very interesting and amusing though!
I think many fall in the trap because the allure of a cheap pattern is too strong.
@@LaFraiseSews Well, you know that phrase - you get what you pay for...
Thank you for this video, I have bought patterns off Etsy and they have been good, also I have bought them and they are rubbish. The bad were cheap so lesson learnt.
😮 After I watched this, I called my hubby and said, “OMG! Do my hands match?” He said they do.
I was holding them up in FaceTime. He was at a gig. He said, “Girl, I can’t do this right now. Downbeat is in 9 minutes. I promise. We’ve been married for over three decades. I would have noticed by now if your hands didn’t match. You’re a real girl and I love ya, but I gotta go.”
He always tells everything to the whole band and apparently they had yet another laugh at me because they put up AI jokes on my Facebook page. 😂
Great information. This is useful beyond just patterns on Etsy. Thanks so much!
I also purchased a few of these patterns on Etsy. I did feel something was off because the line drawings were slightly different from the pictures. I haven’t made any of the patterns yet and would absolutely love to see you make one or two for research sake! Thank you for sharing this information! I hate scams! Fortunately the patterns weren’t expensive. But it’s still a scam!
I probably won't make them, but I got my hands on a couple and I'm preparing a deep dive!
This video should go viral.
Thank you 🥹
That was really useful, thank you. Also, the cat fabric for your blouse, and the blouse itself, are stunning. Is it still available anywhere?
The blouse is the Pimpante from Lise Tailor. The cat fabric is the Nino from Lise Tailor. I don’t think she still sells it, but I see other sellers still do. It’s worth checking to see if one is convenient to you. The viscose was very stable and easy to sew.
@LaFraiseSews thank you SO much xx
Thank you! My new fun thing to do is peruse Etsy to 'find the mistakes'. First pattern I saw the woman had six fingers.
A new game for hours of fun!
I find that there are so many AI sewing patterns on Etsy now, that it is no use looking at any of them.
People, if you would just purchase patterns, etc. from a real store, these real stores would not be going out of business - JoAnn’s is the one by me who sells fabrics, patterns, etc. and has a big possibility of closing! I sometimes purchase from Etsy but I will not purchase items that I can go buy at a real store (overemphasis on the word “real” is intentional!). With AI getting better by the minute it’s clear to me that we all need to be more careful and hopefully not forget our local and sometimes a little further away shops! I’m a quilter and yes I do purchase from online stores - stores that I know are real people and carry items I will never be able to find locally!
As a pattern designer it is really sad to see where Etsy is heading. Another tip to spot maybe dodgy pattens is to check if there are any pictures of testers. We have 40-50 testers per pattern and have plenty of those. Although some compaines test patterns, but do not use these pictures.
Ugh i definitely bought an AI pattern recently. I kept going back and forth on buying it because I was trying to believe it wasn't AI, I got sucked in by the v neck and darts. I'm currently plus size and pear shaped and I'm having such a hard time finding a woven more fitted top, so many things nowadays are a boxy fit. The sewing instructions included adding a side zip and then a cb zip as well, the seam allowance is 1 cm but the sleeve hem instructions were for a "5/8 inch narrow hem" um okay lol. And the sleeve gathering stitch was for 1/2 and 1/4 inch (wouldn't fit the 1cm sa let alone they are switching between cm and inches..) I debating just giving it a go anyway but its not worth even my mockup material. Oh, and bodice front and sleeve arent cut on the fold so its a huge waste of paper. Going back through their etsy store, the photos actually look pretty good, (like you I'm like oh, just a very beautiful woman..) but I noticed they cropped the hands out of most photos which makes sense now. Well lesson learned 🤷♀️🤦♀️
It can be so disheartening, especially for beginners who wouldn't spot the mistakes you've mentioned here. They might thing they are doing something wrong.
I bought a disappointing pattern on Etsy about a year and a half ago, and now I'm wondering... I saw another possible tell in one of their other patterns: there are three different "sewn" photos, and they all have very different button spacing.
I have definitely been scammed by an AI generated cookbook on Amazon. A big part of the problem is fraudulent reviews. The book I bought had 4.5 stars and over 130 reviews, including one with a lot of very fancy photos that don't match any of the recipes in the book.
Yes, that's already impressive if they had 3 photos! Now having them well done, that's another challenge.
So helpful! Everything everyone has already said here, along with… did you make your cat blouse?! I love it!! If you did make it, what pattern did you use? Really lovely!
The blouse is the Pimpante from Lise Tailor. The cat fabric is the Nino from Lise Tailor. I don’t think she still sells it, but I see other sellers still do. It’s worth checking to see if one is convenient to you. The viscose was very stable and easy to sew.
I have sewed a pattern from the Ganni vest company. It's a square neck tank and it's a TNT for me. I think that ones with simple design probably work out but the intricate ones are where people have trouble.
A beginner in sewing here, was looking for a pinafore dress pattern and came across the website with the patterns you were reviewing. Though I'm good at spotting ai (due to my profession), at first I was too excited to notice... but something felt off. And then I noticed hands and was hella angry. Now looking only for patterns with real humans attached to them
What a great video! Thank you both for this. 🤗
I too fell for IndiePatterns with a peasant blouse before I learnt about dodgy AI practices. I'm shocking at recognising AI in images. But I'm also terrible with twins. I had twins in my same year level at school, and it took me a year and a half to realise one had long (collar skimming) hair and the other short (like a pixiecut). The whole time I could never tell them apart.
Thank-you (and your wife) for breaking down some of the things to look for. The video was definitely one that's needed, and needs to keep being pushed out there as AI images get more and more refined.
It’s definitely not easy to spot!
The AI hands look creepy. Thank you so much for highlighting this issue. I've learned a lot here!
I’m glad to hear! Thanks for your comment ☺️
Oh, will get a bowl of popcorn & have fun now looking for AI errors now! I was just looking at that brown blouse the other day & pictures seemed real, but noted the same differences with dart vs no dart & sleeve head & didn't bother pressing the button placket & the excess at the top--made me think it was a school project to create the shirt & the listing, but not by someone who cared about quality of either--since couldn't even check if the shirt matched the pattern! (I don't sell garments I make, but I do sell my leather goods on Etsy since it started & know the need for good photos & description, and agree it's so sad it's a for profit business, so a lot more work to find good stuff. But I usually look for reviews here on yT of other websites ...!
I hope your Etsy store isn't hurt too much by activities like these!
I have fallen for some of these. A couple summers ago I was looking for a bathing suit pattern after already having the fabric. There was an Etsy shop that simply flooded the search results. Hundreds of patterns, many of them very cute, but all priced suspiciously cheap. I thought, eh, $2US, if it’s a bust it’s a bust, and I bought a few. The patterns were impossible to piece together and basically nonsense. To their credit the store at least said “pattern only, no instructions” and that was true. I submitted a negative review. The shop went offline last year.
Thanks so much for this video. I have been looking at patternsd on etsy and felt like I could spot AI, but I was wrong. I loved these tips and tricks. The eyes are giving very uncanny Valley. 👁️ 👄 👁️
Yes also do test out an AI pattern! I'm tempted to try one too and might see if I have accidentally bought one
I'm going to see, I've had other comments saying it seems like a waist of time to make a pattern that's just badly made. Which is fair enough.
Let us know if you actually have some AI work in your stash!
My husband is an Etsy dealer and refurbishes antique fountain pens. I had no idea you could buy good reviews. We use a specific background and have occasionally seen people stealing the image.
That must feel infuriating to see your photos stolen.
Wow, this is fascinating. Thank you so much!!
The image at about 7 with the wrap skirt with a ruffle, I was looking at centre of gravity. Her legs weren't supporting her weight, she was going to fall over immediately after the photo was taken.
Aren't models capable of anything? Ha ha, you're right, I hope she didn't break her ankle 🥹
There's an ad on facebook at the moment that's really annoying me. It's for 'viking' wool jerseys and hoodies, they have amazing patterns on the front but the whole damn lot is AI generated! I sort of want to buy one to see how they actually look but I'm not going to waste my money on something that will most likely be a Celtic pattern printed on t-shirt fabric.
🥲
I actually had looked at that particular pinafore pattern, but didn't buy it. 16:53
I thought it was weird it only had buttons in the bottom, I would want it completely buttoned in the front. Also, why make it harder to put on?
Such valuable information, thank you for educating us.
This was incredibly helpful and educational.
Thank you so much!
Wenn der Schnitthersteller sagt, dass man den Schnitt auch bis 4XL (EU Größe 54 und höher) nähen kann, dann achte ich auch immer darauf, ob es auch Fotos von dem genähten Werk in den großen Größen gibt und wie da die Brustpartie fällt. Wenn es dann nur Bilder von sehr dünnen Models gibt, verzichte ich auf einen Kauf, denn es braucht schon einiges an Änderungen, als nur simples Verschieben der Linien.
I feel bad for genuine sellers on Etsy, it's such a dumpster fire of scams, drop shippers, AI patterns, stolen pictures, I just won't spend any money there ever again. And I feel bad because there are real artists trying to sell their work, but they're just lost in the sea of garbage.
thanks for covering this!!! so disappointing that etsy allows ai products like this on the website
Great video 😄 it's really helpful! I'm not sure about the writing part, because real people also use AI to write things for them when they aren't confident themselves. I work for a science software company in the UK and about 70% of the people I work with are English speakers (many of whom aren't native speakers) who frequently use AI for writing emails, etc. I think it really is the combination of multiple of these signs, or just one obvious sign like a clearly AI photo.
Totally, one point in isolation doesn't make anyone a scam!