By Katie, Co‑Founder at Winslet’s Patterns
If you run a sewing pattern business—or you’re a sewist wondering how people really shop for digital sewing patterns—this case study offers a rare behind-the-scenes look.
This month (Jan 2026), we analyzed anonymized 2025 Winslet’s order data to understand not just what customers bought, but how and why they made those decisions. What we uncovered challenged common ecommerce assumptions and reinforced something we’ve always believed at Winslet’s : sewists don’t buy impulsively - they plan projects, invest in progress, and look for long-term value.
This post breaks down what our data revealed and how it reshaped the way we design patterns, bundles, and memberships. (also available as slides)
Why Revenue Totals Don’t Tell the Full Story
The first thing we realized is that revenue totals hide intent.
If you only look at averages—average order value, average items per order—you end up designing your store, offers, and messaging for outliers. A small group of high‑intent customers can inflate averages, making it easy to misunderstand what most sewists actually need.
Instead, we started looking at behavioral signals:
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How many items customers bought together
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When larger baskets appeared
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How first‑time and returning customers behaved differently
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Which products drove trust versus long‑term value
That shift—from “how much” to “how”—made everything clearer.
Sewists Don’t Shop Impulsively. They Shop Project‑First.
One of the most consistent patterns we saw was basket size.
In 2025, the average order contained 2.6 items. More importantly, during high‑intent periods, basket sizes grew by over 30% above the annual average—not randomly, but in predictable planning windows.
That tells us something important: sewists aren’t browsing for entertainment. They’re planning projects.
When someone buys three or four patterns together, it’s rarely an impulse upsell. It’s a signal that they’re thinking through:
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What they want to make
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How pieces work together
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What skills or variations they want to practice
Bundles and cross‑sells work not because they increase AOV, but because they mirror how sewists naturally think.
Designing for Averages Means Designing for the Wrong Customer
When we compared Average Order Value (AOV) to median order behavior, the gap was striking.
Median orders were meaningfully lower than the AOV. A relatively small group of high‑intent buyers consistently lifted the average.
If we optimized purely around AOV, we would:
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Overprice entry products
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Push bundles too early
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Introduce memberships before trust is built
Instead, we made a deliberate decision at Winslet’s: design for the median sewist, while creating clear upgrade paths for high‑intent customers.
That principle now guides how we structure pricing, product pages, and recommendations.
Single Patterns Bring People In. Bundles and Membership Create Value.
Another misconception we had early on was treating all products as equal contributors to growth.
The data made the distinction obvious:
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Single patterns account for the vast majority of units sold
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Bundles and memberships drive the majority of revenue
This doesn’t mean bundles should replace single patterns. Quite the opposite.
Single patterns are confidence builders. They lower the barrier to entry and give sewists a quick win.
Bundles accelerate outcomes. Memberships deepen trust.
Confusing these roles—or pushing value products too early—creates friction instead of growth.
The First Order Is the Most Important Moment
One of the most surprising findings was that 70% of our annual orders came from first‑time customers.
Even more interesting: new‑customer orders, on average, were higher value than returning ones.
This tells us two things:
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The first purchase often happens during a high‑intent moment
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Trust is built immediately—or not at all
That first experience has to do more than convert. It needs to:
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Explain how our patterns work
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Set expectations clearly
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Show a pathway forward (not just a receipt)
We now treat the first order as our highest‑leverage moment to introduce long‑term value.
Seasonality Changes Basket Size, Not Just Sales Volume
Seasonality showed up in a way we didn’t expect.
Yes, Q2 and Q4 accounted for over 60% of annual orders. But September stood out—not for volume, but for exceptionally large baskets.
That month reflected a “project planning” mindset before the holidays.
The takeaway for us wasn’t to run more discounts. It was to align bigger offers—capsule bundles, wardrobe planning tools—with moments when sewists are already thinking ahead.
Timing matters more than urgency.
A Global Brand With a Clear Core Audience
Winslet’s customers come from all over the world, but nearly 78% of our orders came from the US and UK.
This validated a strategy we had been leaning toward: focus deeply on serving our core English‑speaking audience exceptionally well—through clear instructions, sizing guidance, and education—rather than fragmenting the experience.
Serving a global audience doesn’t mean diluting clarity.
From Selling Items to Supporting Progress
All of this led us to rethink how we organize our catalog.
We no longer think in terms of products alone. We think in terms of roles:
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Single Patterns: Confidence builders
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Bundles: Project accelerators
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Membership: Trust engine
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Discounts: Strategic levers, used intentionally
Our goal is to guide sewists from confidence → acceleration → trust, without rushing any step.
The Bigger Lesson
The biggest takeaway from this analysis is simple:
Customers don’t buy patterns. They buy progress.
If you sell tools for making—whether sewing patterns, craft supplies, or education—your customers are planning outcomes. Your data already shows this.
You just have to look beyond the vanity metrics.
A Note for Sewists and Pattern Founders
If you’re a sewist, I hope this post reassures you that planning ahead—buying multiple patterns, thinking in outfits or capsules, and investing in learning—isn’t overbuying. It’s how most successful sewing projects actually begin.
And if you run a sewing or craft business, I hope this encourages you to look beyond revenue totals and start designing experiences that support progress instead of pressure.
At Winslet’s, everything we create—from individual sewing patterns to curated bundles and our Gold Membership—is designed to meet sewists where they are in their journey and help them move forward with confidence.
If you’re exploring Winslet’s for the first time:
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Start with a single pattern when you want a quick, confidence-building project
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Choose a bundle when you’re planning a full outfit or wardrobe refresh
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Explore the Gold Membership if sewing is a regular part of your creative life and you want long-term value
Thank you for sewing thoughtfully and for being part of this community.
— Katie
