Update on the idiot issue: eagle-eyed reader Tassadit pointed out that the idiot who’s trying to sell my sewing patterns on eBay, lorriange, actually has a website where she sells patterns- lots and lots of patterns! That’s right, she’s actually trying to sell the Coffee Date Dress pattern, as well as my Breakfast at Tiffany’s-inspired pattern for £10! Yep- wander on over to her online store so you can buy what everyone else gets for free! I see she’s removed the images of me (perhaps after getting my nasty message) but not the patterns.
But even more fun, I’ve been browsing around her project pages, and this idiot, who has the ballz to call herself a “designer” (all she’s designed are some dumb polls in the sidebar of her very 2003-looking website), has stolen a bunch of other patterns from other people and put them up on her website for sale!
Made by Rae's Itty Bitty Baby Dress pattern - stolen!!
The only one I identified upon sight is the adorable Itty Bitty Baby Dress from Made by Rae (get the original FREE and properly credited here), but I know I’ve seen a bunch of the other designs on BurdaStyle and other places. The inconsistent and sometimes low-quality photos (as though one only had access to a thumbnail-sized photo and tried to blow it up) suggest to me that these images and patterns have been scavenged from a number of sources. I wouldn’t even be surprised if the ones with the consistent color illustrations are just from some pattern company CD.
Anyway, let’s play a game! Poke around the Lorriange.com website and tell us if you recognize any of the patterns! What other stolen goodies are on there, credited as one of her “custom designs”? Maybe you’ll even see one of your own!
I’ve given her a piece of my mind (no idle threats considering how many lawyer friends I have), but if she’s also selling something of yours (or you just think she’s an idiot who ought to be ashamed of herself and want to let her know), here’s her info (all publicly available on the website- I haven’t done any stalking or posting any private data):
Lorrie Holtom, “Designer” (I added those quotes in myself)
Tel: +44 (0) 1179396913, Mobile: +44 (0) 7765182366
Email: info@lorriange.com
Okay, so back to that game, so far we know that the Coffee Date Dress, the Audrey Hepburn dress, and the Itty Bitty Baby Dress are being sold on the site– anyone recognize any other pilfered work?
UPDATE: Yay! My patterns have been removed, as have two of the yourstylerocks.com patterns, and quite a few of the kids’ patterns. Great sleuthing, everyone. And if your patterns have been filched, make a stink- it seems to be working!! Thanks, everyone!
UPDATE #2: And as of 7:32PM EDT it appears the site is offline. Hoping it stays that way, thus restoring a tiny bit of confidence to those of us who wanted to share our patterns with the online sewing world for free without being exploited or profited off of. Thanks, everyone, for looking out for me and for each other.
The Selfish Seamstress 
79 comments
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March 24, 2012 at 12:08 pm
SuzySewing
What an absolute idiot, amazing how people do these things and try to get away with it.
March 24, 2012 at 12:09 pm
SuzySewing
She is the idiot obviously, not you.
March 24, 2012 at 12:09 pm
Lucy
She picked the wrong person to mess with, however. How many people read this blog?!
March 24, 2012 at 12:11 pm
Lucy
Oh, and a lot of the images look distinctly Lekala to me.
March 24, 2012 at 12:11 pm
Lucy
(Also known as ‘Modern Sewing Patterns’)
March 24, 2012 at 1:00 pm
selfishseamstress
Thanks, Lucy! I wrote to them to let them know that a lot of their free patterns are being used on the site.
March 24, 2012 at 2:07 pm
Claire S
I thought I recognized some of them as Lekala !
March 24, 2012 at 12:18 pm
laurence
011, D026 and S005 were stolen from “http://yourstylerocks.com/”
March 24, 2012 at 12:20 pm
selfishseamstress
Awesome, Laurence! I think I’m going to send an email to the good folks at yourstylerocks.com right now. :)
March 24, 2012 at 12:20 pm
oonaballoona
she’s got at least two free “your style rocks” patterns, the red dress and ruffled dress on the lie redheaded model halfway down the page. what a jackass.
March 24, 2012 at 12:21 pm
Mary in FL
I agree with Lucy. All the drawings that I saw look like Lekala, or whatever they are calling themselves now. I don’t see your stuff on that site now.
March 24, 2012 at 12:26 pm
selfishseamstress
They’re all the way at the bottom of the Designer Collection (a.k.a. I went around the internet and “collected” the work of other designers), but there are no images, just descriptions and the item numbers for sale. I don’t know much about Lekala- is it patterns or software for drafting your own patterns?
March 24, 2012 at 12:55 pm
Tanit-Isis
Lekala is a russian company that sells online custom-fitted patterns—you put in your measurements, they send you the pattern, for a cost of around $1/pattern (depending on how many codes you buy at once). There is also a software, I think if you buy that you can buy the pattern and size it however you want, but I’m not sure—haven’t investigated that end. Some of the stuff is available free in fixed sizes from Modern Sewing, I’m not sure what the connection there is. Wow, what a freaky site! (Lorriange, that is)
March 24, 2012 at 12:28 pm
Sarah AJ
The one under the Itty Bitty Dress is http://thecottagehome.blogspot.com/2011/01/party-dress-printable-pattern-and.html
March 24, 2012 at 12:39 pm
selfishseamstress
Thanks, Sarah AJ! I’ve emailed Lindsay to let her know :)
March 24, 2012 at 6:13 pm
Lindsay Wilkes - The Cottage Mama
Thank you SO much! Don’t know what is wrong with people these days :(
March 24, 2012 at 12:32 pm
milchstern
Pattern no 011 I recognized as I repinned on Pinterest. And the link is to another source: Everywear Tails
March 24, 2012 at 12:40 pm
selfishseamstress
Thanks! I emailed the yourstylerocks.com peeps :)
March 24, 2012 at 12:58 pm
verypurpleperson
*gritting my teeth*
A lot of images in her ‘Victorian/American Civil War inspired collection’ are taken from Greater Bay Area Costumers Guild site: http://www.gbacg.org/great-pattern-review/truly-victorian.html
Or, uh, maybe she designed for them… -_-
PS: Oh, I used Tineye to reverse image search extension on Chrome to find if there’s similar image in other sites. Really helpful!
March 24, 2012 at 1:02 pm
Tanit-Isis
LMAO they have the Modern Sewing/Lekala kids’ coat pattern I made for my daughter the other year. Wow, I really want to watch Her Selfishness PUT THIS SITE DOWN. :)
March 24, 2012 at 1:16 pm
Amanda
Wow, that’s seriously annoying! That would be awesome if you could shut them down.
March 24, 2012 at 1:17 pm
Lucy
I believe that this is a beautiful example of karma.
March 24, 2012 at 1:17 pm
beckyMc
ALL the “special occasion” patterns are STOLEN from Lekala.
March 24, 2012 at 1:21 pm
Susan
The bag near the end of the Victorian section (the blue fabric one) is from Lazy Girl designs. At the original site it’s called the Noriko Handbag. I downloaded it as a free pattern years ago.
March 24, 2012 at 1:26 pm
Melanie
I know I’ve seen the vest 011 in the Designer section before. Drive me nuts not to remember where, but I know for sure it wasn’t on Loriange’s site…
March 24, 2012 at 1:27 pm
Melanie
nevermind milchern had already identified it :)
March 24, 2012 at 1:38 pm
andreahg
The “three piece traveling suit” is Simplicity 2172.
March 24, 2012 at 1:40 pm
andreahg
“Victorian/Civil War walking out suit” is Simplicity 2207
March 24, 2012 at 1:42 pm
andreahg
The Victorian boleros are from Butterick 5232
March 24, 2012 at 1:46 pm
andreahg
Almost all the rest of the Victorian/Civil War patterns are from http://www.trulyvictorian.net
March 24, 2012 at 1:51 pm
selfishseamstress
You are AMAZING. You’re like a detective. You must have a whole collection of needles you found in haystacks. Thanks!
March 24, 2012 at 2:40 pm
Elle C
She is also selling a Simplicity pattern as hers. I emailed Simplicity. Everyone should email the pattern companies involved.
March 24, 2012 at 2:49 pm
K
The first pattern listed under Children’s Designer Collection is mine, from my (now inactive) blog http://fiddlehead.blogspot.com – it’s my Beach Party Top & Dress pattern. I thought it would be fun to go sleuth around her site and then I saw my pattern! It’s items CH001, CH002, and CH003. What a classy lady.
March 24, 2012 at 2:51 pm
Saffi
She’s also tried selling this free pattern from the V&A museum on her ebay store.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130666335916&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:GB:1123
http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1486_couture/create.php
March 24, 2012 at 3:46 pm
Elle C
I don’t know if you contacted ebay, so I reported her for selling copywrited material. She is one to keep an eye on.
March 24, 2012 at 2:58 pm
Amy
Too bad it doesn’t really make sense to stake her out and serve her papers. I know a nice couple with experience ;-)
March 24, 2012 at 5:30 pm
selfishseamstress
Sigh, so do I. And I miss them.
March 24, 2012 at 3:20 pm
Nik
If you google the telephone number it comes up as Geft Consultancy Services in Bristol, United Kingdom. The General Manager, one Geraldine Fulcher.
March 24, 2012 at 4:13 pm
Lucy
Amusingly, they offer web design services.
March 24, 2012 at 3:30 pm
KristenMakes
Wow, I love how the sewing community comes together to protect their own! This lady is out of control, and I hope this ridiculousness ends! Well done detectives!
March 24, 2012 at 4:00 pm
K
I don’t think Lorrie Holtom is a real person. The only hit from Google is the lorriange.com reference and your site.
March 24, 2012 at 7:48 pm
selfishseamstress
I’m pretty sure you’re right about this. Some folks have submitted comments with info about what seems to be the real person behind the website, and I haven’t approved the comments because there’s a little too much information about her personal life being divulged in them. But yeah, pretty sure it’s a pseudonym.
March 24, 2012 at 4:03 pm
Arlene
You can also write her webhost….their terms state they will not host a site that infringes on copyright, etc.
http://www.hostexcellence.com/terms-of-service#q3d
If they are an honest webhost, they will take her site down.
March 24, 2012 at 4:25 pm
Kathleen
I sell patterns for a living-it’s my business…and never in a million years would I have even considered selling someone else’s “free” pattern. Just because it is free doesn’t mean it isn’t copyrighted material. They’re stealing ! I have had to send sternly worded emails to people who “borrowed” my pictures, but this is beyond borrowing.
March 24, 2012 at 4:39 pm
Lisa T
The ‘lace edged mini bustle skirt’ in the steampunk section is from cutoutandkeep.net
March 24, 2012 at 4:39 pm
Geodyne
Said person is also trying to fleece gullible students with software to write lab reports: http://labwriteup.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=55&Itemid=66
Bristol phone number, would-be “internet entrepreneur”.
March 24, 2012 at 5:06 pm
sdBev
Hope I don’t get a bunch of hate mail from this, but she could have legally claimed these as her own patterns, had she made minimum design changes wrote her own instructions and taken her own photos. lorraigne really is a very big idiot.
I don’t know what the minimum in design changes is. It can’t be much because season after season I see nearly identical patterns on the Big4 pattern sites.
Lorraign is an idiot.
March 24, 2012 at 5:25 pm
selfishseamstress
Heehee- relax, sdBev :) No hate mail from me at least. I’d much rather see people make a decision after considering all possible angles on an issue than rush to grab their torches without thinking. That being said, I think you have to make significant alterations to a copyrighted pattern in order to claim it as your own- certainly enough that you can’t use the same image (and she shouldn’t be using other people’s images anyway). Considering how lazy the website is, I can’t imagine this person is actually going through the trouble of downloading free patterns and then redrafting them- that certainly would be a tedious way of making what’s probably not much money :)
The Big4 certainly draw from designer and RTW, but I think if they’re redrafting from scratch there’s no actual technical copyright infringement? That I’m not 100% sure about, but I think that you currently can’t copyright the *design* of a dress. The pattern and envelope art is another story though.
No worries, no hate mail, and thanks for thinking about this from both sides :)
March 19, 2013 at 12:14 pm
B Jones
I have enjoyed reading the comments and it is in deed really surprising that someone would sell another person’s patterns verbatim with even the same photos. As far as design goes, there are really no viable property rights to the design of a garment. Garments are literally made up of various combinations of about 32 basic design elements that are used over and over again. The basic cut of most garments we see today have been used for centuries. No one is re inventing a cut or design of a garment, The creativity lies in the details and embellishments, but anything that someone makes has pretty much already been done at some point. So no one can claim that another person has copied their design, because its already a copy of someone else’s design.
That being said Copyrights extent to printed material, sketches and photos. The person who put the images and words and pattern lines on paper owns them as they are printed. Directly selling another persons words and images on paper or in print is an infringement of copyright. Selling them is a crime. However, looking at a picture another person has drawn and redrawing it from scratch in your own hand with Any Minor change to Any element of the design, cut or content is not a violation of copyright laws.
Tracing is not a terribly creative way to “design” something, but is a gray area because it is difficult to prove. If any changes are made and the image was hand drawn and not traced, it is not a violation. Copyright law only protects what is on the paper, and it does not protect anything that is implied. To protect a design a person would need a design patent which protects distinguishing elements of appearance, such as shape, color, etc in a specific order on a specific product, they also protect formulas or the way that something is made. Utility Patents protect the function or purpose of something generally a tangible item. It is not typical in the garment industry to apply for a design patent as any small change to the garment or pattern would immediately make it a new design. Also in order for a design to be granted a design patent is would have to be proven that the design never before existed in the form of an actual garment or in print on paper at any time in history.
The woman selling the exact pattern written and photographed by another designer is not only inconsiderate, but she is also a criminal and should be reported for selling copyrighted material. As designers, our creations and ideas themselves are not protected, nor should they be, its the fashion industry. I mean where would we be if someone owned the rights to princess cut seams or the Peter Pan Collar? We are all inspired creatively and fed by the designs and visions of other designers. The fun part of design is having a vision and creating something from it with your own hands. The only protection for design creation in terms of ownership, credit and source of income is the actual written and printed material itself. Copyright for what you have written and photographed is worth protecting because it is our only right to credit for our work in the fashion and garment industry. But if you run across the work of another person and it appears to be similar in design to something you or someone else has created, it isn’t cause for alarm or accusation, nor is it illegal in any way. Its just a person finding inspiration in another person’s design and creating something from it, like the Selfish Seamstress has done in her
Breakfast at Tiffani’s dress and other knockoff designs.
March 24, 2012 at 5:25 pm
mariannasew2pro
A harsh lesson and one that I hope doesn’t put you off sharing your future creations.
I discovered your site very recently and this ugly episode has introduced me to your wonderful back catalogue (I’d love to make the coffee date dress!). The hard work you’ve put in is obvious so yes, all the more reason to feel livid. But if it’s any consolation, I don’t think you’ll ever run out of ideas whereas What’s-her-name already has, and sooner or later, everyone will find her out to be a fraud.
.
March 24, 2012 at 6:24 pm
Gorgeous Things
What a beyotch! I hope karma comes and bites her in her lazy ass. I had an experience where someone lifted a post (including all the photos) I wrote for Taunton Press’ website. This was a sewing school!!!! And they claimed it as their own. I notified Taunton and they sic’d their legal beagles on them.
March 24, 2012 at 6:36 pm
sewpink
Her pj pants are a free download from Simplicity.
March 24, 2012 at 6:39 pm
Sandi S
I know someone else caught it, but there are definitely Lekala patterns in the children section. The first outfit on this page: http://leko-mail.net/mod-e.php?t=3&a=0&n=5 is listed as “Girls layered skirt” on lorriange’s site. Apparent Lorriange is not just a thief, but incapable of using the possessive apostrople correctly, too.
March 24, 2012 at 7:00 pm
selfishseamstress
If you think the apostrophe thing is bad, get this:
A reader wrote to me to say that the preemie pajamas pattern is a free download from a charitable website for prematurely born babies in the neonatal intensive care unit. I haven’t been able to find the site or the pattern elsewhere, but all other things considered, it doesn’t seem like this business owner is above taking things from charitable websites and trying to use them to make a buck. If it’s the case, it’s utterly shameless.
March 24, 2012 at 7:25 pm
Danielle Castley
I found it …… the pdf link takes you to
http://www.touchinglittlelives.org/prsleeper.html
However the link is listed on a free site that I visit quite heavily.
http://www.angelfire.com/planet/mcshelpsite/sewingstuff/freepatterns.html/#charity
I am going to email the website and let them know their stuff is being lifted.
March 24, 2012 at 9:45 pm
Sandi
Shameless – may the gods of sewing and copyright karma pierce her fingers with a #18 needle…
March 24, 2012 at 7:41 pm
niceheart
Interesting. I just tried to check on the website and found that it has gone down for maintenance. Wanna bet that it shows up elsewhere with a different name?
Honestly though, are any of us really “shocked! Absolutely shocked!” that bad things happen on the internet? When I go to a small-scale seller on the internet, my prime worry is that it’s a scam to rip off my credit card number.
March 24, 2012 at 7:43 pm
Kimster
Her site is now down for maintainance…
March 24, 2012 at 8:24 pm
Weaverbec
I love it when honest sewers come together. Karma rules!
March 25, 2012 at 8:18 am
Katy
Wow mission accomplished! Good work everyone. I’m seriously impressed that everyone has rallied around here and found the true owners of these patterns. Amazing! (The thief would have to be a fellow Brit though!).
March 25, 2012 at 7:34 pm
Neeno
The site is “down for maintenence” haha!
What an absolute phoney… so mad for you and the other ppl whose designs have been stolen!
March 25, 2012 at 9:41 pm
Lisa Lewis
I just love your blog. I laughed out loud at the stupidity of this person.Good for you for making her sweat.
March 26, 2012 at 10:10 am
AJW
This has been an interesting topic to follow — kudos to everyone for working together from all parts of the sewing world to get to the bottom of this in such a short period of time.
Dear Selfish — dare I point out that it was your most unselfish act of concern that started it all?
March 26, 2012 at 1:56 pm
Brookie
I had no idea people were so unscrupulous in their practices. Great eye opener for me! I’ve recently begun sewing for my little one, using a lot of these same patterns. I’d hate for the original creators to stop offering freebies because they were worried about losers like this person seems to be.
What a great community to be a part of! I’m so glad you’re all here to watch out for one another. So grateful for this blog!
March 26, 2012 at 4:01 pm
symondezyn
Looks like you got her to take her site down for good…. yay you!! :D Internet karma wins the battle of justice! *hi fives*
March 27, 2012 at 12:40 am
violet
I hope the FBI stamp down on her, as much as they intend to for copyright-breakers of Hollywood movies.
March 29, 2012 at 9:38 pm
kathyh
Forgot to add: If Missy Lorriange is shipping her (stolen) products or there is a ownership issue involved, scam, etc, you can also submit everything to the postal inspectors.
March 30, 2012 at 6:56 am
Heidi
what a horrible person!
April 1, 2012 at 6:51 pm
StephC
Way to go, smashing her site! This feels like a *win*. Why can’t people do their own creative work?
April 2, 2012 at 2:46 am
Anne-Marie
Good for you Elaine. There’s someone else whose scanned an Australian 1950’s drafting book of fashions LIke the Lutterloh system and selling the patterns inidividually on Etsy and Craftsy for inflated prices. The book is still undercopyright. As someone who has trained as a librarian over 30 years ago we were always warned about copyright inspectors, to the extent many of us were nervous using photocopiers. I’ve never met a copyright inspector. Sounds like we need an army of them. Good girl! Glad your efforts helped shut down her site. If you can’t earn money from your own creativity get an honest job packing shelves or something but don’t steal anyone elses work.
April 10, 2012 at 9:36 am
Shana
I saw them on craftsy and couldnt believe how expensive they were selling them for! There is actually two people selling patterns from 50s books, I think one says that the book is out of copyright. Its annoying that this person is selling someones work at such high prices just because she knows how to use a scanner!
May 30, 2012 at 8:06 am
magentasmusings
Is that embonpoint?
September 9, 2012 at 5:28 am
bessiec
The phone numbers listed for Lorrie Holtom look like they are in Switzerland (country code 44). Neither number actually works…digits are wrong. You would never reach a real person by calling either of the numbers. This person is a crook and scam artist.
September 9, 2012 at 6:30 am
bessiec
Sorry…I need to correct myself. The numbers are British, and the fixed line one is associated with a company called LabWriteUp.
February 21, 2013 at 7:19 am
thisblogisnotforyou
Wow, that’s annoying! But you should definitely think about watermarking your pictures and having a copyright note on the bottom of your page!
February 27, 2013 at 3:42 am
ZoeB
For info: she’s selling on eBay.co.uk. And her eBay ‘business’ details are listed, including her real name and address. I cross-referenced that on a phone number checker and her middle initial is L – Lorraine possibly? Incidentally, Lorriange isn’t a registered company with Companies House and I’d hazard a guess it’s not paying tax either… Anyone want to make a complaint to HMRC?
janice holtom
magnolia cottage
bannuttree lane
ross on wye
Herefordshire
hr9 6aj
United Kingdom
Phone:441989562194
Fax:441989562194
Email:info@lorriange.com
January 11, 2014 at 3:07 pm
Anonymous
I have fallen victim to Lorriange it seems. She now goes by the name Lorrie Fulcher but Janice Holtom is the name on her PayPal account.
I have paid her over £1000 (USD 1700). For clothes since July. She has made many claims of why she forgot to send things and for delays. Often contradictory now I look back over them. Every order has some received and some missing so to claim my money back legally is not straight forward. Also, I am autistic (diagnosed Asperger Syndrome) and feel the stress involved is beyond what I could cope with.
I hadn’t seen this blog when I bought from her. I have tried to resolve the matter by asking her to either complete my order (and listing all the items as she seems to either not read or forget she has read and replied to emails). She has screamed at me on the phone and I had to end the call as she was hysterical. After that she has promised to reply to my email and hasn’t done it…so far.
I am gutted. I had no idea she used a number of aliases and was involved in other kinds of what I would consider to be dishonest activity at the least.
I don’t know if this was a deliberate attempt to defraud me or not at this stage. But I will say, she is very convincing at times. At others she seemed to hardly know what she was saying and kept contradicting me. That coupled with four claims she has made about not receiving emails from me that she replied to and even contradicting herself during a conversation makes me concerned that there may be more to Lorriange’s problems than stealing patterns, smoking (and then telling me the smell I thought was cigarettes was in fact starch), and stealing money from customers.
I admit she may have strung me along longer than she could have someone else. My autism makes me tend to be more trusting. But after six months she still owes me £400’s worth of clothes.
Now she is ignoring all attempts I make to contact her.
Her details are as per the previous posts. Her email is still info@lorriange.com – on Facebook she goes by the name Lorrie Fulcher and she still has an eBay shop.
I am not sure what I will do if I don’t hear from her. I wondered if anyone had any information on whether this has been done to anyone else?
January 21, 2014 at 6:42 am
Charlotte
As an ebay buyer you have the right to a full refund if you used Paypal. File a claim with ebay and follow all their instructions. They have really been pushing the fact that you must be 100% satsfied or you get your money back. You may also be protected if you used a credit card-check with the bank that issued yours. I’ve been a seller on ebay since the beginning and these are the sellers that give all of us a bad name. I’m so sorry this happened to you but you do have a few options to get your money back. I hope you work it out!
January 11, 2014 at 3:08 pm
Anonymous
I have just posted a message about what she did to me the last 6 months.