AI has snuck into sewing; let’s talk about it. As people are getting sick from the hugely energy intensive data centres being built to power AI software, we’ve been seeing AI sneak into more and more facets of our lives without our consent. We have been keeping an eye on the AI situation as it pertains to sewing and knitting patterns, and we are concerned by the rapid increase in AI generated patterns on sites like Etsy.
AI generated images and patterns are not of real, usable products. The images are created by inputting a series of prompts, where a Large Language Model collates a huge amount of data (which uses incredible amounts of energy to achieve) to create what it believes to be a close approximation of what is requested. When you purchase an AI sewing pattern, you have no way of knowing if the pattern pieces you get will create the item pictured, or if the instructions will be comprehensible. With the recent liquidation of the “big 4” sewing pattern brands, many beginners will be led to spend their money on AI products, and we would hate to see any of you disappointed by a sewing project because of AI.
In advance of our Garment Making course, we wanted to give some tips on what to look out for if you suspect a sewing pattern might be AI:
- If the Etsy shop has a wide range of hundreds of patterns for low prices, it might be AI
- If the product images are AI, don’t trust the pattern.
- If the Etsy page has links to other social media, that’s a sign they were more likely created by an independent pattern maker. They usually have an Instagram, Tiktok, or website.
- Look out for weird or unusual wording that may have been created by a large language model, not a real person.
- Check the reviews, especially ones with photos of the finished garment.
- Check out a pattern review site like Sewing Pattern Review.
If in doubt, we have a blog post with our favourite beginner sewing patterns listed with pictures, from both Big 4 and independent designers.
Garment Making Weekender runs on 22nd-23rd November, and we can’t wait to facilitate the making of human creativity powered clothes!
