Inspiration

Pre-Order my Book to Get a Free Bonus Pattern!

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Sew Your Own Activewear cover

Things are starting to ramp up with my upcoming “Sew Your Own Activewear” book now that the final, final (no really, FINAL!) edits are finished, print and digital pattern versions have been polished, layered, and updated with the spiffy new book fonts, and the marketing ladies at my publishers have been devising plans for the new year’s launch fun!

I’d like to thank every single one of you who’ve gone and pre-ordered the book already, either from me directly, or on Amazon – I’m truly blown away by how many of you cannot wait to get your hands on this!! It’s about to get even better though, because on top of all the thirteen designs I created for the book, I also created a little bonus pattern at the same time to reward everyone’s who’s waiting patiently for their pre-order!

Sew Your Own Activewear bonus Pocket Belt pattern

This Pocket Belt is a soft and stretchy belt you can make with wicking jerseys and stretch binding or FOE and features infinitely customisable pocket sizes the whole way around. It’s cleverly constructed so that your contents stay safe without any need for zippers or other closures, and it’s drafted from your own measurements so you can make one for the whole family (easy stash-busting Christmas present alert!!).

Want a FREE copy of my “Pocket Belt” pattern?

(Offer valid until 28/03/18)

If you pre-order my book on Amazon, it’s yours with my thanks! Here’s how to get it:

  1. Preorder Sew Your Own Activewear on Amazon UK or Amazon US or Amazon CA or Amazon DE.
  2. After you have placed your order, go here to receive your free bonus project (you’ll need to input your order number, so have that handy).
  3. Enjoy your free pattern!

Sew Your Own Activewear cover

A few notes on this offer…

  • Will there be a digital edition? At the moment you can only get the paperback on Amazon, however there will definitely be a digital edition (ie: Kindle-friendly edition with the additional pdf Print at Home and Copy Shop/A0 patterns!) which will also be eligible for the free Pocket Belt pattern offer. So if you’d prefer digital books, hold off on pre-ordering for the time being.
  • But what if I’ve already pre-ordered a signed copy? Great news, because you can also get the free Pocket Belt pattern, woohoo! I’ve added the digital download to my shop entry, so anyone ordering the book from here on out will be able to download the free Pocket Belt pattern immediately after purchase. I’ll be emailing out those who’ve already ordered with the free pattern, but there are a LOT of you to get through so please bear with me! Edit: The presale for signed copies has now closed, so please pre-order through Amazon.
  • Wait, why am I seeing a March release date? The release date for the UK is 26 January 2018, but due to some very dull administrative and business reasons, the US release date is now 30 March 2018. I know it’s disappointing for those of you who’ve been waiting very patiently since my first announcement, so if you really don’t want to wait an extra 8 weeks, I’d recommend either pre-ordering from Amazon UK or ordering directly from me, as both those options will be shipping in January. But it really will be worth the wait, as this will enable the full weight of the US team’s marketing expertise to get my book into the hands of SO many more eager people!

Also note that I will be closing my own pre-orders for signed copies in a week or two, so don’t wait around if you want a signed copy from me. After that’s closed I’ll be redirecting everyone towards Amazon for pre-ordering so I can spend my time sewing up some more samples to show you in the leadup to launch day!

And since I’ve got your attention, you may not have noticed that I’ve finally started a Sew Your Own Activewear Facebook group! So please come and join the fun – feel free to post any questions about any of my patterns or the book, share activewear fabric suppliers and bargains, or share photos of your own makes, too!

19 Comments

Add Yours
  2. 2
    Helga
    Reply

    Hi Melissa
    Is it possible to preorder via the Book Depository and qualify for the free belt pattern?
    I live in Australia and ordering from Amazon in either the US or UK costs a fortune in delivery.
    I could not see how much your delivery charges are.
    Helga

    • 4
      Liz
      Reply

      I’ve preordered through book depository, because I’m Australian too! I preordered a while ago before I knew about this free pattern. Does our preordered not count?

      • 5
        melissa
        Reply

        Hi Liz. Of course your pre-order counts! I just replied to Helga as well, but I think sellers outside of Amazon weren’t included just because there’s no easy and automated way to verify that you’ve bought it and deliver the free pattern to you. I find it odd that it’s not listed on Australian Amazon (especially because isn’t BD owned by Amazon now?), but I’ve not got any control over what happens in the Amazon listings! If you’ve already pre-ordered elsewhere, if you email me me some proof of your order I can send you the free pattern, no worries. Just be aware that I’m only a human holding down two jobs and lots of social activities and my laptop is often left in the office overnight so it may take me a few days to send it to you!

        • 6
          Liz
          Reply

          Thank you Melissa – I shall email you with proof 🙂 Australian amazon is quite new, and quite frankly, pointless. The book depository seems to be the default book buying place for Aussies.

    • 7
      melissa
      Reply

      Hi Helga. I think sellers outside of Amazon weren’t included just because there’s no easy and automated way to verify that you’ve bought it and deliver the free pattern to you. I find it odd that it’s not listed on Australian Amazon (especially because isn’t BD owned by Amazon now?), but I’ve not got any control over what happens in the Amazon listings! If you’ve already pre-ordered elsewhere, if you email me me some proof of your order I can send you the free pattern, no worries. Just be aware that I’m only a human holding down two jobs and lots of social activities and my laptop is often left in the office overnight so it may take me a few days to send it to you!

  3. 8
    Susan
    Reply

    My birthday is 30 March, and I would have waited that long to get your book(as a present to myself). But as a long time follower of your blog, I have to have a signed copy! I ordered my copy from you the other day. I will just consider it a late Christmas present to myself. I’m really excited and can’t wait to get it in my hands!

    • 12
      melissa
      Reply

      Great question, Dawn! I’ve got a series of posts planned for the new year that will talk through each of the designs in detail, showing off the versions in the book as well as ones I’ve made myself over the past year, too, some of the special features built into them, my inspiration for the design, and ways you can change it up, too.

      I’ve given a few peeks at some of the designs online already though: You can see parts of the Active Jacket, Cycling Top, Split Shorts, Crop Top, Yoga Bottoms, Active Leggings, Hoodie, Warm Up Bottoms, and Winter Base Layer on the book’s page in my shop. And you can see the Vest Top and Yoga Bottoms on the book’s cover, too! So that only leaves out the Cycling Shorts and Raglan Top, which, as it turns out, I’ve made for myself and shared online in the for of the Kitties & Bunnies Raglan Tee and a post on my Portuguese trail race where I wore one of my Cycling Shorts (minus the padding and grippy elastic hem). Additionally, I also recently shared some photos of an Active Jacket I made myself and a quilted Hoodie over on Instagram, too.

  6. 13
    Susan Perzanowski
    Reply

    Melissa- I hope you will allow me to post a brief comment about Nancy Zeiman. I just learned that she has died after a battle with cancer.
    I learned to sew in junior high. I didn’t do much with this skill until I discovered Sewing with Nancy in my early twenties. She was an inspiration and an impetus to return to sewing. She always featured a wide range of topics on her show. I always watched even when she featured quilting(not one of my favorite subjects). I consider her one of my “Sewing Goddesses”.
    I was pleased and excited for you when I learned you had written a book! I consider you one of my “Sewing Goddesses”, too. I was really hoping, crossing my fingers, that you would be a guest on her show. I believe she had the best sewing show and I could envision you doing a couple episodes with her. Hopefully she will be like Bob Ross…Create TV will keep her show on their schedule and new sewers will be inspired by her for a long time.
    Thank you for allowing me this indulgence.

    • 15
      melissa
      Reply

      Oh no! It definitely should be working – can you describe what’s happening? Are you getting an error message? What browser are you using? The more info you can give, the better chance I can get SewAndSew to fix it for you!

  8. 16
    Kathleen
    Reply

    Hi Melissa – the link is also not working for me. I’ve waited a day to keep retrying in case there was some sort of lag time in my Amazon order registering. I’m using Chrome, and yes, I am getting an error message.

    • 17
      melissa
      Reply

      So are you getting an error message when you input your email address & order number? Or does it not redirect after hitting submit? Are you ticking the Recaptcha box? Or is the problem with actually downloading the file on the resulting page?

      The page itself seems to be loading fine so I’m trying to determine where the problem is occurring.

  9. 18
    Accordion3
    Reply

    Confused!

    I ordered and paid via your website in November. I’m also in Australia and am curious as to which release date we get our books? Late Jan or late March?

    Just made up the Surf-Summit top and it is an awesome fit on me! So looking forward to either date as the crop top looks terrific.

    • 19
      melissa
      Reply

      Hiya. I’m not sure where the confusion comes from – on the shop entry for the signed pre-sales it says that all signed pre-orders will ship in late January. This means ALL, regardless of where you live. Hope it clears things up!

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