Wow, who would have thought that making a video could be so complicated!
When I first started my website we made our video in what is called ‘Flash’ format because it was the format that was popular at the time and it worked just fine. Then Apple introduced their IPad and IPhone and ‘Flash’ could not play on these electronic devices without using a specially designed App which meant many people who found my website could not view my videos unless they had this special App or …..bla, bla, bla.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, my husband has been very busy converting all my videos over to a format that can be viewed on almost all browsers and operating systems without the need for a special App which means that whether you are using a tablet, smart phone, IPad, IPhone, IPod or your desktop computer you will be able to view and enjoy all my videos instantly.
So I would like to dedicate this blog to my wonderful husband and to publicly thank him for the many hours he has spent on the weekend and at night after work converting and reloading the hundreds of videos onto my website. Thank you Brad, I love you.
Now, I would like to ask you all a favor. Please let me know if you find something not working as you think it should because, although we (he) has done heaps of testing there is always the possibility that something has been missed. Thanks heaps.
Now back to what I love best….sewing!
Happy Sewing
Love the picture of you wiping off your husband’s forehead after all his hard work. Great job, Brad! And Rosie, you’re the best. Congratulations on your great success.
Thanks Ann. We try to have a little fun in amongst all the hard work!
What would we do with out them Rosie!!!!!!!!!
Yes, life would be a little more difficult and boring 🙂
Awesome job Brad and keep up the great work Rosie. I am one who couldn’t get things on my IPad and couldn’t figure out why. Now I won’t have to worry. Thanks a heap for all the toil and the mopping of brows.
Hi Dianne, Glad we’ve solved your problem.
If you come across videos on other websites that you can’t view on your iPad, there is an app called Puffin that works really well converting flash video into a format that you can view on Apple products.
Happy sewing
Rosie
Hi Rosie, My videos arrived today and stayed up til 2:00 am. Love them and can’t wait to get started. I have a MacProBook lap top and a ipad. Is there a way I can put the information from the video laptop to my ipad? You sure make it easy to make doll clothes… I will send pictures as soon as I can. Thanks for getting me back to sewing….Betty Ann Orman
Hi Betty Ann, It’s great to hear that you are enjoying my How To Make Doll Clothes DVDs. Unfortunately the IPad doesn’t have a DVD drive so you need my online course if you want to view it on your IPad. I have sent you an email to see if we can work something out so that you can keep sewing with your IPad beside you if you Lap top isn’t working. Looking forward to receiving your photos 🙂
Way to go Brad… not only does Rosie appreciate all your hard work be we all do as well. Thank you 🙂
Thanks Chris, Brad says he’s happy to be of service 🙂
This sounds awesome and a huge thanks for Brad for his hard work and both of you for the idea! I have an iPhone but imagine I’ll get an iPad someday.
One thing I was wondering, when I first saw the email subject I was a little excited thinking “Oh she’s going to sell her videos as apps at the iStore!” Which led me to wonder that you know how the videos expire after a year? Well ::embarrassed face here:: sometimes I buy patterns (from lots of places this happens) but don’t get around to trying them for maybe that long. What if you sold your single pattern videos for say $1.99 at iTunes and we could download them to our phones or iPads. It would be awesome to have them right there on the phone or iPad to sew along with when it’s a video that’s expired but we have purchased the ability to use it by getting it on iTunes.
Or, the fact that he’s converted your videos does this mean that they no longer expire after a year? Like if we get a pattern from you, will the video now always be available to view? I’ve found I just don’t want to proceed on a project without looking at your videos they’re so helpful!
Thanks, sorry this got so long just some ideas! 🙂
Hi Tari, thanks for your comments. Just thought I should clarify that you have access to my patterns and videos on your iPhone and iPad right now, there’s no need for a special app. Simply go to my website, purchase the pattern you want, log in with the membership details that are emailed to you and the patterns are right there for you to download and the videos are ready to be viewed. Developing a special app and selling the patterns and videos for $1.99 is cost prohibitive at this stage, we would need to be selling thousands of patterns per month to make this viable.
Regarding the videos expiring after 12 months, please see the reply I sent to Peggy.
Thanks again for your feedback it has certainly given us something to strive for in the future.
I’m not sure I understand what Tari is talking about. Will the patterns and videos I have purchased disappear after a year? Or will they last as long as you keep up this web site? Does my membership expire after a year and will I have to pay again to maintain it?
Peggy
Hi Peggy, I’m sorry that you are a little confused. When you purchase a pattern or my online course you receive membership to my website for 12 months. You can instantly download the pattern pieces and written instructions and save them to your computer so you have them forever. However access to the videos does expire after 12 months.
We had to set the site up as a membership site so that when you purchased a pattern you could view the videos (something no other doll clothes pattern websites has at this stage) and there were a number of things we had to consider. Do we charge a membership fee per year that had to be paid regardless of how many pattern the customer purchased? How do we best service the variety of customers we have? – those that just want the pdf pattern and written instructions without the video, those that watch the video once and then don’t need to see it again, and then there are the customers who love to see the videos each time they make the doll clothes pattern up. And of course we had to find a balance between the cost of producing the videos and running the website and what we thought the customers would pay for the patterns and videos.
In the end we thought that it would be best to have no additional membership fee, keep the cost of the patterns and videos to a minimum and go with the ‘User Pays’ method believing that if a customer finds the videos invaluable and they want to view them after the initial 12 months, they would be happy to pay the nominal cost and purchase that pattern again, in effect renewing their membership for a further 12 months.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this and feedback from others is also welcome so that I can get a clearer indication of how to move forward with the website in the future.
Hi Peggy, when you purchase one of Rosie’s patterns, from what I understand, access to the video of it lasts for 12 months. I’m in my account right now and I have no links for videos because it’s been longer than a year since I got my last pattern. I still have my pattern files that I downloaded and when I got the course, I got it on DVD so I can just watch the DVD at my sewing machine on my little TV. I would love to see Rosie sell video access via iTunes to anyone who has already purchased a particular pattern but who (like me) had it expire on them before they really watched the video enough. Rosie will probably see the replies soon and comment. 🙂
Hi again Tari. You added this comment just as I was answering Peggy and your earlier comment. Hope the replies make sense.
That is cool! i am sure that will REALLY help some people!!
Hi Rosie,
I had to read your email a couple of times to fully understand all the implications. It does sound reasonable to me now. I know you can get copies of the course on DVD and that is good for someone who needs this service. Have you considered selling dvd copies of the videos for the pattern items that aren’t shown as part of the course? Maybe some sort of Itunes purchase would work. I don’t know enough about that sort of thing to understand how it works.
Does this one year expiry also include the 6 weeks of course material online? I have watched bits and pieces of it here and there but have not had the need to follow it through as a learning tool.
As far as the pattern videos are concerned, I normally have no need to watch the video but there have been a couple of times when the written instructions were not clear enough for me to understand without watching it being done.
I realize your instructions and videos are designed to teach beginner level sewers every minute detail and they definitely have done that. I can fully appreciate that as they are so thoroughly well done. Personally I know enough to be able to skim through a lot of that extra detailed instructions and save time. However, I have laughed at myself a few times because some things I thought I knew how to do, were done much more simply in your video. Kudos to you. I can imagine how difficult it must be at times when you want to whip through an item but you must show meticulously and carefully how to do it for the novice beginner. I guess you definitely have much more patience that I do.
Anyway, you are doing a fine job and I will think about purchasing the course dvd’s for my granddaughters. They each have their own machines now but since I am not with them most of the year they will need to have a good learning experience and I know you will be the best one to give it to them.
Thanks and keep up the good work,
Peggy
Hi Peggy, I have thought about selling the individual patterns with video instructions on DVD however the initial cost to produce the original DVD, have copies made and then the additional cost of postage and handling would make the sale price much more than purchasing the online version several times (at least at this stage with the quantities of each pattern that I am selling). Perhaps sometime in the future this will be a possibility 🙂
With the online course you also have 12 months membership.
I’m sure your granddaughters love the special times that you have sewing together even if it is not all year round.
Thanks again for all the feedback.
Happy sewing
Rosie
Hi Rosie, yes your reply totally makes sense, read all of them as well as the one to Peggy. I am one also who didn’t realize the cost involved with making the videos into videos that could be downloaded through iTunes. So I just went ahead and purchased a pattern last night that I didn’t have and now I’ll have access to it for a whole year.
The one pattern I was concerned over, turns out it’s on my DVD course so I have that forever and can watch it again to refresh myself on how to make it. Like Peggy, I’m definitely not a beginner but some of your methods are just so easy and make more sense than what I’m used to when I see them done, I’m like “why haven’t I been doing that particular technique all these years?” LOL
Thanks so much, Rosie, you and your hubby are awesome! It does not bother me in the least to buy or re-buy a pattern for video access if I really feel like I need to consult one of the videos again. I am very glad I chose the DVD versions though! I have a small TV sitting right near my sewing machine so it’s very easy to pop a DVD into the player and actually do the steps while I sew. Some day I’ll get an iPad and will be able to do the same from the other videos thanks to now being able to view them. And with being able to view them on my iPhone, I can show my mom when I am at her house but most likely don’t have my DVDs with me or maybe didn’t take the laptop along. Thanks again! 😀
Ooops another quick question: Remember all those little freebie videos you sent out about 2 years ago? I’m not sure if they were with the course on DVD but some things were just tips etc. (like the not cutting elastic tip, simply brilliant, I’ve used that one ever since I watched the idea)–I was wondering if those older videos are also available on the site when we have purchased access. Thanks will go exploring now!
Hi Tari, I’m glad you purchased the DVD set as all those tips you are referring to are all in my course so you can look at them whenever you need to.
For those that haven’t done my course online or purchased the DVD set, you can view these secret tips and get a taste of what is in my course by simply going to the following page, scroll down a little and fill out your name and email address in the boxes provided. You will then be sent an email with a link to my #1 secret. The other secrets will follow in the next few days. So click here now.
Rosie/Tari,
There is a special tip for cutting elastic? Do tell, please. It would be nice if you could share this special tip again and any others you might have for those of us who missed them two years ago.
Thanks,
Peggy
Peggy, the elastic tip that Tari is talking about is in week 5 of the course under ‘Cool Tips When Working with Elastic’ so make sure you have a peak at that one before your membership expires.