French and Dutch Translations plus Facebook and Pinterest, too!

Boy is this a whopper of an update post today! Truth be told, I intended to split it up into two posts as both things are big news but life got in the way of writing this week and I didn’t want to make you all wait any longer…

FehrTrade Patterns – in French and Dutch!


I’ve been wanting to offer translations of my pattern instructions pretty much from the day we launched, but I needed to get a bunch of the admin side of things in order to make it a reality. I started putting feelers out this summer to find out which of my patterns had the biggest demand, and for which languages (since at this point in time I can’t afford to offer translations for all my patterns in every language!).

It turned out that there was a lot of demand for my XYT Workout Top to be translated, since a lot of the advice on power mesh and stretch didn’t really come across visually. So I’m pleased to report that instructions for the XYT Workout Top are now available in both French and Dutch in addition to English! These translations were both done by native speakers who also sew, so they should make sewing your own activewear a lot easier if your English is a little rusty.

Furthermore, I was able to translate a further two more patterns into French, so les couturières francophones can also enjoy instructions for the Duathlon Shorts and Steeplechase Leggings, too!

Boy is this a whopper of an update post today! Truth be told, I intended to split it up into two posts as both things are big news but life got in the way of writing this week and I didn’t want to make you all wait any longer…

FehrTrade Patterns – in French and Dutch!

I’ve been wanting to offer translations of my pattern instructions pretty much from the day we launched, but I needed to get a bunch of the admin side of things in order to make it a reality. I started putting feelers out this summer to find out which of my patterns had the biggest demand, and for which languages (since at this point in time I can’t afford to offer translations for all my patterns in every language!).

It turned out that there was a lot of demand for my XYT Workout Top to be translated, since a lot of the advice on power mesh and stretch didn’t really come across visually. So I’m pleased to report that instructions for the XYT Workout Top are now available in both French and Dutch in addition to English! These translations were both done by native speakers who also sew, so they should make sewing your own activewear a lot easier if your English is a little rusty.

Furthermore, I was able to translate a further two more patterns into French, so les couturières francophones can also enjoy instructions for the Duathlon Shorts and Steeplechase Leggings, too!

All of the translated instructions are available to download for free, but do not contain the pattern pieces themselves. So you must buy the full pattern, and add on the free French or Dutch instructions to your order. This allows customers who’ve previously bought my patterns anywhere to now grab the translated instructions without any further payment, but also allows me to gauge demand for further translations (which I couldn’t have done if I’d bundled all the languages together).

But if you don’t speak French or Dutch, I’ve also now updated the illustrations for the XYT Workout Top (now v3) and Duathlon Shorts (now v3) patterns, much like I did for the PB Jam Leggings last week, so they’re a lot clearer and more in line with my more recent drawing style. The pattern pieces themselves have not changed (apart from adding French and Dutch translations) so if you’ve already printed them, there’s no point in printing again. (The Steeplechase Leggings pattern has been updated to v2, but the only change was to add the French translation to the pattern pieces – the illustrations were already super clear here!)

If you’ve previously purchased from my own shop, then you can just re-download the files again using the Download link from your original order email (or if you’ve lost it, or ordered from Pattern Review, Etsy, or Kollabora, drop me an email with your transaction details)

We’re on Facebook and Pinterest!

This feels like it’s been a long time coming, too, but you can now keep in touch with us on Facebook and Pinterest!

I’ve always been of the feeling that there’s nothing worse than a company on your favourite social network who don’t really use it – yes, I’m looking at those whose only tweets are from their Facebook page and don’t respond to messages – and I didn’t want to go down that road myself. But I know so many of you love using Pinterest and Facebook so I’ve hired the lovely Claire to help keep you all up to date and answer and questions you might have, as well as gather together lots of inspirational makes from my different patterns.

So please go on and give us a follow and a like! And do please introduce yourself on Facebook and let us know what you think of the patterns, as well as any wishes for future designs.

The sale continues!

And yes, in case you’d forgotten, our second birthday sale is in full swing, and runs until New Year’s Eve. It’s a great chance to grab any patterns you may have missed the first time around!

For the entire month of December you can save 20% off all purchases at shop.fehrtrade.com by using the code “2NDBIRTHDAY” (Paypal users note that you’ll go quite far through the process before the coupon box is shown).

1 Comment

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  1. 1
    CHANTAL LAPOINTE

    Bonjour Melissa! I’m a native French speaker, a French and English technical writer, a runner and a sewist! I think that your patterns are awesome. If you ever need another tester for your patterns or a technical translator for the instructions, feel free to get in touch. In the meantime, you can check my modest blog where I chronicle my life-long love of sewing!

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