As my inventory grew, I realized that I accidentally purchased the same fabric twice. Yep, same length too. Most times, I order duplicate notions but buttons and zippers don’t bother me as much as laying out money for fabric that I forgot that I have at home. I longed for a mobile application that would allow me to store EVERYTHING on my device but could not find one that suit my taste. Low and behold, one evening during the Christmas Holidays, I read about SewingKit HD by Vesta Software (@VestaSoftLLC). Vesta is a maker of several mobile applications and this is a Partnership with McCalls.
SewingKit HD is a $9 paid offering (Sewing Kit is free) that is their only utility. I know what you are thinking… NINE DOLLARS??? Yeah a whopping nine dollars but after reading my review, you’ll know why I didn’t mind. Keep in mind, that I used the free utility for weeks and realized, the paid version was the way to go.
SewingKit HD allows me to inventory the following:
- Patterns
- Fabric
- People (their measurements)
- Projects (each piece you make)
- Threads
- Books
- Notions
- Equipment (such as walking foot, specialty serger feet, etc.)
- Inspirations (I use this to save photos of prints or garments that inspire me)
- Trim
I won’t go into every feature, but I will provide a good overview of the product and my honest opinion. For instance, the Patterns table allows you to scan the barcode and will match your entry against Vesta Software’s database of various pattern makers and add the stock photos, yardage details, etc. to your iPhone or Android device. If the barcode does not match, you can manually enter it. The disadvantage: manual entry of everything. For me this occurred on 5 out of 66 patters. (I can live with that)
So let’s assume that you entered patterns. This is how it would appear in the Patterns list:
To view details such as yardage needed per width and size you simply touch the picture to expand details and select “view yardage details”:
That’s not all. You can associate pictures of fabric swatches (Fabrics) and include details regarding the fabric (width, length purchased, fabric color, type, etc) or an entire outfit and store the photo under “Projects” . You can store notes and more.
Here’s the extra mile Vesta Software went: They thought as far as “what if I upgrade or lose my device? Do I need to re-enter the information on the new device?” Actually, you don’t have to. SewingKit HD allows you to backup your database to Dropbox over WiFi. The great things is for those of us who have multiple devices, you can use the larger device such as your iPad to work from (data entry, photos, backup) and your smaller device such as your Phone to refer to when you are shopping or showing off the items that you made to your co-workers at work or friends over mimosas on a Friday night.
Disadvantages:
- The more data that you enter, the longer it takes back up to Dropbox. At the time of this writing, backup to iCloud is not possible.
- You cannot create additional Store Names when entering data. There are a number of “common” stores such as Target (why???), Walmart, JoAnn Fabrics, Amazon, AC Moore. Wawak and Hancock Fabrics were recently added. I guess they grew tired of my email messages but that’s a sign that they are paying attention to customer needs.
Overall, I didn’t mind paying $9 versus, keeping a notepad pad of everything I have.
Feel free to comment, I would love to hear if you experienced competitor applets
