At The Fold Line we are passionate about championing independent sewing pattern designers and this was recognised by Mollie Makes, who awarded us the Handmade Champion prize for promoting and supporting independent businesses. With us you can learn all about independent sewing pattern designers, their designs and what inspires them. Indie designers are a really creative bunch, producing a wide range of patterns for the sewing community.
Welcome to The Fold Line
WE ARE AN AWARD-WINNING ONLINE SEWING PATTERN SHOP
Founded in 2015 we are the home for people who love sewing and making their own clothes. With more than 10 years of experience working with independent designers, we are the sewing pattern experts. Based in the UK we offer an extensive range of paper and digital PDF sewing patterns plus copy shop printing services, shipping worldwide.
Hello, we are Kate + Rachel
LET US TAKE YOU ON A SEWING ADVENTURE…
We created The Fold Line in 2015 to make it easier to find sewing patterns. As avid makers, we were struggling to keep up with all the new releases from independent designers. We are now on a mission to inspire you to create a handmade wardrobe you love and provide a platform for independent designers to get discovered. It’s been amazing to see all the new indie designers launch over the last few years; there are now over 200 worldwide.
We are so thankful for all the support of our loyal customers. This has enabled our business to grow and with the help of our brilliant team champion even more designers, alongside supporting initiatives in the sewing community and donating to charities each month. We are proud to share our curated collection of modern sewing patterns with you. Whether you’re a beginner or sewing pro, you are sure to find a sewing pattern you love from our collection of over 7,000 designs!
Our sewing mission
WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU FIND THE PERFECT PROJECT AND SEW A HANDMADE WARDROBE YOU LOVE
Let us inspire your next make with our weekly blogs and videos where we match sewing patterns to the latest high street trends, find sewing patterns from films and TV and keep you updated with all the latest news from the sewing community.
We champion independent designers from around the world and you can use our pattern finder tool to search over 7,000 patterns and sewing pattern reviews from the community. We offer an extensive range of paper and digital PDF sewing patterns, shipping worldwide. We also offer a sewing pattern copy shop printing service, which is the best of both worlds! You receive a PDF sewing pattern immediately, and the large scale A0 sheet version of the pattern is printed out by us and posted to you the next working day. Alternatively you can upload a PDF pattern you have purchased elsewhere and we will print it for you.
We also love chatting about sewing. Sign up to our newsletter and follow us on social media for all the latest sewing pattern releases, and join our friendly Facebook group to get advice. Be inspired to create a wardrobe you love.
Our values
brands
Championing independent designers
giving back
Charity
Each month we make a donation from our profits to a different charity. You can find details of the charities we will be supporting in our weekly newsletter. In 2020 we held our first Online Sewing Weekender, donating 100% of the profits equally to the charities NHS Charities Together, the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, Black Lives Matter and Mind. With 1,941 tickets being sold, attendees from 37 countries helped to raise £23,610 for the four charities. We are always looking to support charities. If you volunteer for or manage a charity we can help promote please contact us at hello@thefoldline.com.
community
Inclusion
We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive sewing community for all. One of the most wonderful things about sewing is all the possibilities of what we can make, from the choice of fabric to being able to fit clothes to our unique body shapes. A very important part of this is sewing patterns being accessible to everyone in the sewing community and seeing ourselves reflected in the designs being created. We want everyone to feel represented, included and inspired. We do understand how important this is and we are always striving to be as inclusive as possible. To find out more, read our diversity policy.
impact
Sustainability
We always look to work with, support and promote other small businesses with the same values as us. We have long-standing relationships with the small businesses who help us to provide the services needed to run The Fold Line. When sourcing supplies and services we make sustainable choices. To find out more, read about our sustainability practices.
Meet our team
We have a talented team who help us to bring you new sewing pattern releases, create exciting content, develop our website and send you parcels of goodies. Whether you are looking for advice, sewing pattern recommendations or inspiration for your next project, we are here to help. With more than 10 years of experience working with pattern designers, we are the industry experts.
We are proud to have been accredited as a Living Wage Employer. This means that all our employees are paid at least the London Living Wage. The real Living Wage is the only UK wage rate that is voluntarily paid by nearly 6,000 UK businesses who believe their staff deserve a fair day’s pay for a hard day’s work. Find out more from the Living Wage Foundation. Our employees also work flexitime. This is a flexible way of working which allows members of our team to fit their working hours around their personal circumstances.
director
Kate
Having worked as a knitwear designer, Kate missed using her hands and decided to retrain as a milliner. After a very happy few years knee-deep in sequins and feathers, she stumbled across the indie sewing world and has never looked back. She then worked freelance doing social media consultancy for small creative businesses. As a founder of The Fold Line, she is the creative mind behind our social media and content. Outside of work you’ll find her chasing her badly behaved dog around the park and hunting out London’s best gin martini.
director
Rachel
Rachel worked as a science researcher before having a change of career. She went on to manage wholesale and pattern production for a sewing business alongside freelance pattern-cutting and product design for creative businesses. As a founder of The Fold Line, she oversees business operations, finance and compliance. When she’s not working you will find her growing vegetables at her allotment, listening to podcasts and visiting exhibitions.
independent patterns
Kristina
Kristina works with our independent designers to add all the new pattern releases to our online shop each week. She also adds new designers and keeps existing patterns up to date. If you’ve purchased a pattern from us before you may well have received an update from Kristina. Her hobbies (other than sewing!) include reading and knitting socks.
social media and content
Louise
Louise manages all our social media platforms, creates our weekly newsletters and writes our blog posts, coming up with lots of ideas to inspire your next make. You can also find her hanging out in our Facebook group where she can help with your sewing queries. Her hobbies include blogging at One Cut Pair and having cuddles with her cat Maisie.
Operations + Customer service
Mel
Mel is responsible for looking after all our customers and helping them with any queries they have. She also oversees our operations at the warehouse, ordering products and putting stock in the online shop. When she’s not sewing garments and quilts (Mint Button blog), she can usually be found playing hockey or badminton or pottering in the garden. She also spends a lot of time thinking about food and loves baking treats and travelling around the South East with her husband to find the best tea and cake.
commercial patterns
Helen
Helen works on our range of commercial pattern brands including Vogue Patterns, McCalls, Simplicity, Butterick and New Look. She adds all the new pattern collections when they are released and keeps the online shop up to date when designs go out of print. She also works on other projects including changes we are making so that our online shop is more accessible. When Helen isn’t working she enjoys spending time outdoors gardening and has a passion for nature and wildlife. She enjoys long distance coastal path walking including the South West Coast Path. In her previous job she worked on family history projects and is passionate about researching her own family tree. She also likes crosswords and sudoku.
warehouse
Sammy
Sammy is responsible for packing all our customer orders and printing copy shop patterns using our large copy shop A0 printer (called Brenda!). She also receives deliveries of all our paper patterns and keeps the warehouse where we store all the designs in order. When Sammy isn’t working she enjoys spending time cooking for her family and looking after a growing number of stray cats that have taken up residence in her garden!
