Results of the 2023 Charm Survey (Patreon)

The results of our annual Charm Survey are in, and they surprised us!

Over 2,000 patrons and email subscribers responded to the survey, and we learned so much from your answers. 

Click here for the public blog post that shares the basics, including info about who our audience is and what Charm will be focusing on in 2024 as a result of the survey.

But...the most important data is located here, just for our patrons. I wanted to share this with you since you're such an important part of Charm and of our 2024 plans.

We asked our favorite question, "What's your fantasy, if you got to play designer for a month?" and received over 2,000 great ideas.

Many people also recommended pattern ideas to the question, “If there was ONE thing that would knock your socks off next year, it would be…” so we combined all of the ideas and put them into one enormous list, with over 3,200 pattern desires. You can see every single pattern wishlist response here.

The team and I have gone through that list and can tell you that we’re already working on a few of the ideas! (And we’ve just released the Rosie Jumpsuit, so whoever wished for a “Rosie Boilersuit. Pleasepleasepleasepleaaaaaaase!????” - you’re welcome! 😘)

There were some other interesting results. Behind the scenes in the studio, we are usually “production sewists” who need to create garments fast. Because of this, there’s been some discussion about teaching more modern and quick sewing techniques, so we asked, “What types of sewing techniques are you most interested in?”

Approximately 36% of patrons prefer the modern sewing techniques that emphasize speed and limit hand sewing, but 64% of you prefer most time-consuming vintage and couture techniques. Next year will be a fun mix of both styles of techniques in our instructions and videos, so we should have something to please everyone!

We were also super curious about the common fit adjustments that you make when you sew using Charm and Patreon patterns. Approximately 15% of patrons say they make no fit adjustments or the only adjustment is grading between sizes. The most common adjustments were shortening the bodice or lower body, doing swayback adjustments, or changing the shoulder or upper back area. We’ll keep these in mind as we plan future fit clinics or pattern hacking tutorials!

About 135 Inner Circle members are interested in attending the 2024 sewing retreats in Newburgh, NY. We only have 30 spots available, so please mark your calendars for February 9, 2024 when tickets will go on sale at 12 noon ET. Because there are so few spots available, I know we’ll be disappointing many of you, so we are working on ways of expanding our in-person events for future years.

Other great ideas from our patrons...

We have about three pages worth of notes about tiny tweaks & fixes we can do to improve your experience. Here’s just a few that we'll work on in 2024…

• Include lengthen/shorten lines on all patterns above & below the waist, if it’s not obvious. To quote one response, “body positivity and inclusivity is not only about width.” Since more than 50% of you either lengthen or shorten the bodice or lower body pattern pieces, these lines should help!
• Give alternatives for more details, like tucks, color blocking, alternative necklines, pleat options, etc. Whoever recommended this is going to LOVE our Patreon theme next year!
• Include the charmpatterns.com/patreon index on each Patreon release post. Great idea! There’s so many patterns, it’s hard to find them all. We’re going to do a better job of organizing everything for you.
• Create a 5-piece capsule wardrobe collection in a future issue of Vintage by Gertie magazine. How fun! I can’t wait to play around with this idea, and we are so excited to be continuing the magazine in 2024.

Charm Love

We asked a few questions on the survey that we knew would bring in the love: "What's the best part about being a Charm patron?" and ”What do you love most about Charm?”

You overwhelmed us with your kind words, and more than one team member teared up reading your responses. We actually created a Binder of Love, so we'll always have your support and kinds words at hand at all times!

You love the patterns, of course, especially the quality, the fit, and the cup sizes. Everyone on the team works very hard to make the patterns as perfect as possible, so it was wonderful to hear!

You also love the videos, and many of you credit the videos with helping you learn how to sew or improve your skills.

But more than anything else, you love the community, the inclusivity, and Charm's values. And you love being part of something that connects people of similar interests and values around the world. We do, too. Thank you. We just can't say thank you enough for being a part of such an amazing community.

What This Means for Your 2024 Patreon Benefits

Now here's the real question...What's going to change to your Patreon benefits in 2024 as a result of this survey?

The answer is…pretty much nothing. 

Nothing will be changing to the core benefits on Patreon next year, and there will only be minor changes to the “secondary” benefits, like live events, hacks, and behind-the-scenes videos. All prices will stay the same.

As a team, we’ve always been crazy ambitious, and I committed us to doing more than we could accomplish in 2023. Everyone on the team hates the idea of letting you down, and we worked so hard to reach some very lofty goals. It was painful to come to the end of the year, trying to get patterns, hacks, videos, and releases done to satisfy our commitments to you, knowing it was pushing everyone to their limits. We did it, but we exhausted ourselves and our creativity a bit in the process.

I love you all, but I also love my team, and I want to make Charm as much fun for them as it is for you. In 2024, Charm will be publicly committing to doing less, so that we can focus on delivering the patterns and videos you love, while also having fun ourselves.

This means we will re-dedicate ourselves to the core of what we do at Charm (creating top-tier vintage-inspired patterns in inclusive sizes and educational sewing content), while eliminating some of the extras that seem to get lost in the shuffle of endless digital content. Of course, we still have a few ambitious surprises up our sleeves, so you can expect incredible things in 2024 - but I’ll keep those a secret until they are released!

Thank you for your support of Charm, and thank you to everyone who filled out the survey. We appreciate each and every one of you! 

xoxo,
Gertie