MACHINE EMBROIDERY
FREE DESIGNS

Allowed & Forbidden

Why are we doing this?

When we bought our first (used) sewing machine with an embroidery module we were absolutely thrilled about the new possibilities to create little decorations for our home and little presents for friends and family. We eagerly surfed the net to find embroidery designs but were soon shocked by the associated costs. The money needed for the machine, the threads and the fabrics left us with little resources to spend on this wonderful hobby. Luckily there were rare highlights - sites which provided their work for free - but in general there were not enough free designs of sufficient quality. In particular free standing lace designs were very rare, and hunting for them was a tedious task in itself.

As a result we started to create our own designs with the software which luckily was part of the second-hand deal. Hours were spent both on the computer and with stitching before our first satisfying designs where created. Delighted with our newly found hobby we remembered our own beginnings and decided to help others in similar situation. It is our strong believe that a great, creative and productive hobby like machine embroidery is worth supporting, and that it is already on the expensive side without the additional costs for designs. Of course, we also liked to proudly show our own work and receive comments of like-minded fellow-stitchers.

When we launched our site we were overwhelmed by the massive feedback we soon had received, and ever since we have enjoyed the thought of our designs brightening other people's life all over the planet. We were particularly proud that so many of our angels have found their way to people in need. Receiving feedback and seeing our designs put to good use encourages us to keep this homepage active, despite the considerable resources (both in time and money) it takes away from the embroidery hobby itself. While it is not the purpose of our site to earn money, we have opened a PayPal account for donations to support our efforts. You can check the results in the webpage statistics section.

This page is not about money and we generally don't sell designs or stitched-out products. It is about sharing a common hobby and as with all best things in the world: It is for free. However, as we spent many hours of work and quite a bit of money to put new designs here, we also do not like the idea of other people earning their money with our work without gaining any benefit from it ourselves. It is thus that we generally prohibit any commercial use of our freebie designs.

What am I allowed to do with freebies and what is forbidden?

You may use the digital design files for any kind of personal embroidery project as long as it is not used to earn money with it. For this purpose you may alter and combine designs to your needs or convert the files to a suitable format. (Altered or converted designs are still considered under the term "our design" in the remaining text below.)

You may take pictures of your stitched-out work and used these pictures for any purpose as long as it is not used to earn money with. This includes publishing the pictures in print or online. If you publish the pictures we would like you to state the origin of the design - our web site - at a suitable position, and we would very much like to be informed about the publication.

You must not sell any product created or improved directly or indirectly by the use of our designs without our explicit written permission. However, if products are sold for charity, we generally give this permission free of charge. Please contact us first!

You must not distribute the design files in any way without our explicit written permission. This includes distribution/storage on online archives or your own websites as well as distribution on any data storage medium like CDs, DVDs and the like. This also applies for altered or converted designs. Note, that this restriction also applies for usage of our designs during courses or workshops.

You must not link directly to the downloadable files (the design files in ZIP format) from any other website or provide those direct-link URLs (e.g. on internet forums or blogs). Please always provide links to the pages (HTML files) of our site or even better to the main site link: http:\\design.tavernmaker.de

You must not download/mirror complete copies of our site or its design files using 'harvesting' software or robots for downloading. This has caused unnecessary high web-traffic on our web server in the past and the associated costs nearly forced the closure of the site.

You may always contact us to clarify these statements or negotiate specific needs. In short, however, they could be summarized: As long as it is for your personal joy or for charity, it is allowed. The moment personal gain is involved, please check!

Can I anyhow use the designs commercially ?

In the past we have received several requests from people who would like to sell stitched-out products created or improved with our designs. While this is generally prohibited by the rules listed above, we have decided to open this possibility by selling the right-of- commercial-use for our designs. We will issue a written permission for selling products created with the designs but retain all copyrights to the original design files. Generally, these permission are not sold exclusively to one party alone, but this could be negotiated.

In the past, we have also received requests for partially charity-work. People wanted to sell products and donate a share of the income to charity. Please note that this does not fulfil the conditions for freebie-use outlined above. However, we may give a reduced price for the permit under such circumstances.

Please note that it is not the intention of this site to sell anything or earn money in any way, but that we purely made this option available to deal fairly with increased demand rather than giving a categorical refusal.

For details and prices please refer to the list of offered designs. (PDF)