SewingKit HD App Reviews

App worked well initially but now crashes every time I scan a UPC code. Also limited number of patterns populate automatically. When I was able to scan the UPC many patterns from the top three pattern manufacturers did not have the info available and had to be added manually.

Wow, according to the website there was an upgrade to this program now to be called SewingKit HD Plus? But, its not in the App Store and you were supposed to get a Free upgrade code if you owned this version of the program, but you can only get to the Pro version with subscription fees. I registered through this program as indicated on website, but never received any upgrade code? Maybe because it doesnt exist? I tried the Pro version but it has some major flaws at this time. The website freezes quite a bit also. This program used to be great, and I dont believe in the new SAS software model that many companies are going to where you keep paying forever. Guess Ill go back to using HandiBase. No problems there ever and you can set your own fields!

Easy to keep patterns, etc. synced via Dropbox between my phone and iPad. So I can look up yardage, owned patterns, etc. while at the store. Really useful when there is a $1 pattern sale or you finally see a material youd like for a project on the back burner. Loading images and yardage from the main vendors seems improved, only took a few seconds to download the images and yardage on three new patterns I entered today. I dont think some other reviewers realize you can edit and customize all of the lookup values. Theres a big lookup button on the main page. Uploading to Dropbox could be faster if it realized it doesnt need to re-upload hundreds of images that have been saved before.

I put all my patterns and books on this app but when I needed them they were all gone. Even after categorizing them it was a waste of time. Ridiculous. With all these BAD reviews, why are you still selling this app? Wont take my review huh?

This app had amazing possibilities as a basic sewing organizational tool. I really need a place to organize my patterns, threads and projects. I only wish there were not so many technical problems. It appears to me the developers are only interested in creating more expensive versions instead of improving this product. I do not want to change to the Pro version. I want to be able to use this one without bugs. I get it that McCalls has some ownership here and I have to enter Simplicity pattern details and pictures manually - a very tedious chore. However, entering details manually is problematic. The screen rolls out of view when you type, making it difficult to enter data. When entering thread details, you cannot get below the third or fourth line. When you attempt to enter "thread type" the keyboard screen covers everything. If you hit done or the key to lower the keyboard screen, you are stuck in that screen. Rebooting the device is the only way out. This makes it kind of useless.

New version with a new look, but really disappointed! After upgrade, no more datas inside,dissapear like wind all my recorded items. Developer make joke !

Superb application, many interesting functions, but crashes all the time ! Needs improvement.

Keeps crashing... would be great if could work properly. Using iPad2. Please fix.

I really love the idea of this app and I hope for$8.99 that the developer will consider some suggestions. 1. Crashes every time I scan a Burda pattern. 2. When adding a fabric, the plus icon is mostly hidden under the title bar making it very difficult to touch. 3. In the yardage edit there is no decimal point to use with metric (or did I miss something here?) 4. My biggest pet peeve is adding my own photos. When more than one photo is present (ie photo of front and back), there does not seem to be a way to choose which one you would like as a "cover" photo on the main pattern list. It keeps putting the photo of the back as a cover photo. I am a visual person and I identify the pattern I am looking for with a picture of the front of the pattern package. When I am at the store picking fabric, I want to find my pattern quickly by seeing it. Anyhow, the app looks nicer with pictures of the front.

There are many good inventory apps on iTunes (books, movies, CDs, comics, and more), so why should those who sew settle for something this bad? A friend recommended it, but clearly thats only because theres nothing else. The good things about it are: * it provides you with the cover of the pattern (some old patterns have new patterns allocated to the old number, so sometimes it gets that wrong but thats not the apps fault) * You can add in categories, subcategories, and fabrics which is nice-- especially since they left out some obvious ones (chiffon, taffeta) My complaints are: 1) it crashes. A lot. 2) Theres no back pattern image included, so you have to take pictures and upload your own. As a result, theres no way to include yardage, if you want multiple sizes, or have lining or contrast fabric). Which really doesnt save you much time! 3) You cant rearrange the pattern pictures (it says you can, but it wont) 4) Its really hard to figure out how to delete pictures! (in picture edit mode, click on the square in middle and youll get "no entry" like symbols next to the pictures. Click on one of those, and youll get a delete button). 5) It should be a pick list for sizes, so that you can sort on size. Instead, it takes the sizes as a string so almost every pattern has different size ranges meaning you cant sort through sizes 6) You cant add fields, nor do you have control over which fields it sorts on. So I cant search for summer clothes, or long-sleeved items, or dresses or work-appropriate wear or which patterns work with double knits (I can add those categories to the "sub category" button). And it includes fields which are useless to me (price, store purchased, brand as well as company) 7) the home page layout isnt very good for a quick hunt for what a fabric is useful for... or a selection of patterns that I want to make and thus need to find a suitable fabric. 8) theres no way to note the notions you need ("elastic", "zipper", etc arent very helpful! Again, this is where the pattern back is useful... because Im not going to take the time to type that in for hundreds of patterns) 9) its very, very time consuming to upload each pattern detail. Fine if you bought this with your very first pattern and go from there... not so good when you have been sewing for decades and have the pattern collection to match! Truly, this product is only good for keeping track of which patterns you have, so that you dont buy them again... but I could have downloaded an Excel spreadsheet from my computer to a different app for that; it would be faster, easier to review, and cheaper. This pattern is of no use for having pattern details with you for when you get seduced by fabric in a store and youre wondering (a) which pattern would this work with, and (b) how many meters do I need to buy. And if you know which pattern you want to make, youd just bring the envelopes to the store (and hope they have the fabric you dream of). Im now going to look at one of those database apps that let you include pictures. This is useless, so Im not taking the time to add in everything...

I wanted to like this so bad that I turned a blind eye to some of red flags in the free version: 1) Despite telling us we can "try out all the features" in the free version, we cant. There is no scanner, for ex. 2) It was strange that a $4.99 app would be upgraded & then SOLD SEPARATELY for $8.99 Why not upgrade the existing customers? I assumed btw, for $8.99 that there had been RADICAL improvements. 3) A few naming details & weird interface issues spelled amateur to me, like there was some customer research missing. I even put that down to rough 1st drafts. But I bought it anyway, and guess what: It not only takes forever to load online data, it freezes & crashes constantly - about 2x/entry, on average. Some patterns have crashed on me up to SIX times. When restarted it says its reloading/initializing all the programs features. At the moment, (a mere few hours since I got it), its been completely seized after I hit save on a record. I feel ripped off. Like some arrogant rookie programmer decided he had what it takes to be a designer and charge huge amts of money for rubbish. And to do a few upgrades and double the cost w/o upgrading the people who paid $4.99? Come off it. Thats unacceptable! For $8.99, get it together, folks!!

I was pleasantly surprised to actually have the designer contact me during the development stage of the last update. Unfortunately he has completely failed to respond to my last 3 emails and the app is still not much better than it was. I have ended up using Bento to design my own system of forms that is fast, easy to search, and contains all of the information I need. Ive completely abandoned Sewing Kit HD and I would not recommend it to anyone.

Its the best out there *when* it works. On the ipad in particular it doesnt scan barcodes well and even with mcall partner the info it enters automatically is scant. Wish it filed it in correct categories by auto. Most annoying is that unlike every other app you cant easily have stuff show up in both ipad and iphone without Dropbox - INSANELY ANNOYING! Its why I gave it so few stars. Its easier to scan with phone but browse on ipad. Would be nice if it easily showed up on both without Dropbox. Also a quick function to scan auto without "do you want to add this" because if youre doing your whole collection this adds hours! Yes I want to add it! I dont scan them for fun!

This app is much improved with the update. Now I can coordinate my phone and iPad and I get better pattern info. Would like to see more complete database for patterns but expect this will improve soon. I dont find Dropbox a problem. Love the ability to save peoples measurements. I sent in questions and got answers promptly, so they seem to care. I want them to improve the threads part next.

Helps you organized your pattern collection... IF it will scan and IF it is in their database. All the rest is pretty useless and it is WAY over priced for what you get. App crashes continually and you have to keep restarting. Dropbox is mega invasive, hard to use, and slower than watching paint dry - and you are stuck having it. Would have been nice to be able to upload photos.

Didnt have any problems with crashing until the next day and now I cant even do anything with it as it crashes on start up. Database needs to be updated and expanded. I have patterns that I bought in the last year that dont bring up any info. Will be a huge pain to add in photos. More sort and search options would be nice. I should be able to search a fabric type and see which patterns work for it, so it would be nice to have a place where this shows up in the pattern info. Sizes should be individual selections so theyre searchable and sortable. Theres so much that could be improved. For $8.99 Im a little disappointed.

While some of the bugs like crashes when viewing full screen photos and at other random times and inability to actually save a copy to Dropbox have been fixed, I had other problems. Like the fact that only the first of my projects, notions, thread, books, and fabric imported and the rest was lost. That was a substantial list of items some of which can only be recreated from memory like the projects. At least it so far appears that the patterns have imported. The additional entries I made for the lists imported but were totally jumbled into the wrong lists and had to be all corrected. I dont like the way you now have to exit a screen to add another item to the lists. And while the lists show up in alpha order when viewing in edit mode, when you pull it up to make a selection they appear in no particular order. You also cant select more than one category like tops and dreses - youre limited to one category only. One of the key features I liked in the previous version was the yardage charts which are now too minuscule to view. To see them you have to increase the size and then you have to keep scrolling around to look at anything. Very cumbersome interface. I have to actually write down the info if I need to look at more than one part of it or I will forget it. Completely ruins the usefulness of having it. I might as well dig into my filing cabinet which is what I was trying to avoid by using this app. Overall, some improvements but some of the changes have reduced the efficiency and utility of using the app.

I see a reference to McCalls Partnership on the app. Very disappointed with McCalls if this is true. Have been suspicious that weve been suckered into paying for this app to manage patterns weve been buying for decades and now we are paying for some hack to learn how to write an app.Worst app ever. Biggest time sucker. Have the original version and recently it has been kicking me out every time I try to upload official images. Thought I would upgrade to this HD version. Big mistake. Hangs when uploading patterns from LT. After hours of reinstalling many times I have it on my iPhone. Have wasted more time trying to get it all on my iPad now. Dropbox does not work at all.

Since the update the app does not work properly. The screens freeze and it does update from McCalls

Terrible app. I cant believe I shelled out $9.00 for this piece of crap. Must have been developed by people who are still using MS DOS. Not the least bit intuitive. Incredibly slow or crashes. Oh - and to "save", you click on a floppy disk icon. Seriously. I had to restart my phone just to get back to the home screen. I want my money back.