Is the Sew What Subscription Box Worth it? | Discussing my thoughts from the last 6 months.

[@susanowen1709]

I'm going to try really hard to get through an hour long video in less than six hours, LOL! First off, I'm really glad you did a thorough overview of the company, including a reminder on what projects you received. It's hard to remember six months down the line what came in the first box, so that was very helpful. The little coin wallet must have made an impression on my subconcious, though, because I recently bought a fat quarter of that very fabric. (I must say that while yes, it's all from JoAnn and yes, there were too many repeats, they did at least choose *pretty* prints. I did think that you put a rather **pointed** emphasis on the phrase "bird fabric" but thought it might be my imagination since, well, you know. So I played it back for my other half and after listening he said, "She's not sure about the bird fabric..." LOL). Seeing all the finished pieces together like this also made it obvious that you definitely got a good variety of projects, which I hadn't really noticed seeing them month by month. (Time check: 15 minutes of video has taken me 38 minutes of watching, pausing, discussing with my other half, and typing. Hmmmm.) There really does seem to be a lot of good things about this subscription: the thorough tutorials, the different skill sets, the variety in the type of projects they send. From what I've seen in your earlier videos combined with this more thorough overview, it seems like their greatest flaw is that the company is OK with sending out kits that are, well, just OK. The wallet is nice, but when you folded up the edge I went, "OH! That IS a lot nicer!" The baskets would be just a little better if they'd included a stiffer interfacing. And, well, you already know my opinion on the precuts that aren't cut to the correct size so I won't say anything more about that. (Time check: 29 and half minutes in, 1 hour 27 minutes watching/pausing etc. Hmmmmmmmm.) (OH! Sidenote, I made some baskets recently similar to these, and the calculation for length of the side piece is: (D * 3.14159) rounded to the nearest 1/8", where D is the diameter of the base minus twice the seam allowance. Yeah, I made myself a cheat sheet so I don't have to calculate it every time.) Ouch on the "gift" offers! My pet peeve is when a company says "free gift!" because it's redundant. But claiming something you have to *purchase* is a gift is outrageous. That isn't just bad marketing, it's deceptive. The fake unboxing would annoy me, too. I was a little surprised in the beginning when you said there would be a section comparing the box to Sewers Club, because hoo boy that seems unfair. Man, talk about comparing apples to oranges! But then I thought, they're about the same price for the same basic type of product (ie a project kit) so maybe it's not such an unfair thing to do after all. And then you mentioned that Sew What has been around longer than SC, so yeah. It is fair to compare the two. You did a good job on that, no need for my comments (is there ever a need for my long-winded comments? Probably not) other than to say yeah, that is a HUGE difference in quality. Thank you for posting the overview. I think you did a good job being honest & unbiased in covering both the good and the bad, and in explaining what you felt could be done to correct the issues. Overall, I'm in agreement with your assessment: it's a great idea that was poorly done. Time check: I'm at the end of the one-hour video, and it only took me ::looks at clock:: two hours and nineteen minutes. To be fair, I did also look something up for my other half ("Since you're online anyway....") and took a quick break to brush my teeth, LOL.

[@fredmakesthings]

I'm really happy you made it through the entire video, I was actually thinking of you when I saw I hit an hour. I was worried you would lose your entire day to it. I didn't realize that I had such a variety of projects until I started compiling them and comparing them. I'm glad I took notes, I think it helped me see some of the positives. I do like the bird fabric, but if I'm honest, I'm just tired of looking at it 😁 As for SC, they do have a similar product and price point, so I think it is fair to compare them, but I did think twice about including it because I didn't want it to seem that I was doubling down on the box. In the end, I did have similar projects, so I thought I would share it, especially since I gear so much of my content to Sewers Club. Thank you for watching and writing, I enjoy reading your essays. Sometimes it takes a minute to respond, but I appreciate how well thought out they always are. ❤️

[@sandratowey8169]

Thank you for the review! I agree with the points that you made, and if I were to subscribe to one, I believe I would choose Sewer's Club.

[@fredmakesthings]

Thank you for watching ❤️ I’m glad you found my video informative 😊 Sewers Club is a great company

[@lms2379]

Very helpful!

[@fredmakesthings]

Glad you think so!

[@virginiagonzalesaguilar]

Took tooo long. I got bored so I took a nap.

[@marianacary425]

Those massive leaps is due to the lack of sewing skills from owner / person who makes tutorials. You can tell from samples how wonky they are. Pre cut pieces are not accurate. Why pay extra for them , just teach how to cut them

[@fredmakesthings]

I never thought of it that way, but you may have a point. It did seem weird to be so specific with some steps while completely skipping over other, more complicated ones.