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

As we try to do every year, in November 2023, we sent separate survey questions to our email subscribers and to each of our four current Patreon tiers. We were overwhelmed with responses (792 email subscribers and 1790 patrons!) and now we want to share the most interesting bits with you. For comparison, here’s the survey results from last year.

It’s no surprise that Charm has the best patrons and supporters!

“What size range do you usually use?”

80% of you sew in our 2-20 size range and 20% sew in the 18-34 size range.

There is no other vintage-inspired sewing company that serves such a wide range of sizes and we’re so pleased to be able to provide sewing patterns to everyone in our audience!

These numbers are almost exactly the same as last year. We’ve noticed that slightly more of our upper tier patrons (Princesses & Inner Circle members) sew in the 18-34 range than the average, but we didn’t collect any info on why that might be. Do you have any ideas?

“What file format do you prefer?”

Only about 6% of you are using projector sewing files, but this is double from last year! We’re keeping an eye on this number, although most people still prefer the tiled (print-at-home) or A0 (copy shop) PDF files.

About 60% of you prefer the print-at-home tiled files to the A0 copy shop files. If you hate taping those tiled files together, did you know we keep a list of international A0 printers who have been recommended by our patrons?

What Surprised Us The Most

Most of the responses were very similar to last year’s survey. Nothing stood out as extremely unusual except your responses to one question.

(It’s actually two questions, but our take-aways were the same!)

We asked, “What was the first Charm (or Patreon) pattern you sewed?” and “What was your favorite Charm or Patreon pattern, hack, or other release this year?”

While our oldest pattern, the Rita Blouse, stood out for the first answer, and the Society Dress stood out as a (slight) favorite for 2023, what really surprised us was the diversity of your answers!

There’s no clear favorite pattern, and no winner when it comes to the first Charm pattern you sewed, either.

This means we’ll continue doing what we have been doing: creating a mix of fancy dresses and separates, in knits and woven fabrics, from a range of different eras and for a variety of different lifestyles, events, and uses. Basically, we’ll let Gertie follow her muse, as this is the best way to keep creating things that you love!

“What’s your fantasy?”

There were over two thousand answers to the question, “If you got to play designer for a month, what’s your fantasy?” and everyone had a different idea!

We also asked patrons, “If there was ONE thing that would knock your socks off next year, it would be…” and there were some outstanding ideas!

Of course, we read them all. And there’s a number of ideas on your fantasy list that are already in the works! We love it when we can make one of your sewing dreams a reality!

What This Means Going Forward

We were floored (literally in puddles of tears on the floor) over the kindness, love, and positive testimonials you shared. You love Charm, and we aren’t interested in changing anything about that!

When it comes to what we do and how we do it, not much will change in 2024, although we’re going to try to do a better job of under-promising and over-delivering. We got a bit ahead of ourselves in 2023, so we’ll be scaling back slightly on live events and casual behind-the-scenes stuff. This will give us more time to spend on what you really love: the gorgeous patterns and useful tutorial videos!

We have a new Patreon theme releasing on January 1, and everyone at Team Charm is excited to share it with you.

Thank you to everyone who filled out the survey! We were overwhelmed and touched by your thoughtful comments and ideas. The Charm community is truly the best, and we appreciate you all!