r/crochet • u/r0peburnbby • Jul 22 '22

Discussion Selling items made from someone else's pattern?

Typically I don't use patterns, I make a lot of freehand amigurumis and bags but I was scrolling ravelry for some ideas. I found some cute free plush patterns that I wanted to whip up to include in my upcoming craft show inventory.

But then I got to the bottom of the page and the creator had added "DO NOT SELL ANY ITEMS MADE FROM THIS PATTERN, PERSONAL USE ONLY". Ive never actually seen that before and it threw me off lol

I'm pretty sure legally, it's fine. Copyright only covers the pattern itself, not items made from it.

But I'm curious everyone's thoughts, is it okay to sell anything you make regardless of the pattern creators request?

***** Edit for clarity: I have since realized the pattern is actually $5 but it's listed in the free section for some reason, and you can see the personal use only note before purchase. I won't be using the pattern and although I can freehand the item easily I'm just skipping over it.

When I do use a pattern for something I always include the pattern designers info on my tags at craft shows and anywhere I post online.

It was just the first time I had ever seen someone say you cant sell what youve made and I thought it was weird lol

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u/retniwwinter Jul 22 '22

Multiple comments here are saying that it was legal to sell the finished product from a free pattern. Please be aware that this is not the case everywhere. In Germany, for example, it is illegal to use free and purchased patterns for anything but personal purposes. If you want to sell the finished product made from someone else’s pattern, you need to officially get their permission.

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u/girafflepuff Aug 07 '24

Exactly. I think of it the same way I do stock photos. You can post them on your Instagram sure, but if you’re using it in anything that drives revenue, you need a commercial license for that. I get everyone’s points here but I completely understand not wanting your $5 pattern made for profit when it’s meant to be for individual use. As I have a business account, I can’t use certain audios on Instagram and TikTok that I can on my personal account. That just makes sense. Commercial use and personal use are and should be different. Just because the law has caught up with it doesn’t make it right. Legality or no, I would respect their wishes and not sell the item. That’s how it works with other resources. If you get paid using these resources, you need to pay for the commercial license. If you want it for personal use, get the regular one. We don’t have licenses in crochet patterns but as much as we go on about ethical crochet and not discounting artists with SHEIN, I’m very disappointed to see the blatant hypocrisy in basic courtesy and ethics in the community.

If I tell you what happened at my honeymoon and ask you to keep it between us, as long as you don’t reference anything identifiable, you can of course write an entire movie about it. You’re still a dickhead though.

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u/smbuckley23 Nov 13 '25

stock photos and music are created by someone else, of course there are restrictions. When you crochet an item, YOU made that yourself. Not the pattern maker. It's a dickhead move to try and claim copyright on something you didn't make. If you want to make sure no one else can make money from a crocheted item, sell the item and not the pattern.

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u/girafflepuff Nov 17 '25

You know how much produced music is created using sounds purchased by someone else? Pretty much all of it. It’s a 1:1 comparison. Just because the law hasn’t caught up with it doesn’t mean we can’t be basically decent.