National Sewing Circle Review
If you’ve googled sewing anything within the past year I’m sure you’re getting ads for a $2 membership to the National Sewing Circle.
I wanted to put a screenshot of the ads, but try to get an ad to come up when you want it. Impossible.
They tend to start with “you are chosen for a special membership price….” The ads… don’t look professional. One features a women sewing with a machine that doesn’t have the foot pedal plugged in… I’ve seen ones that just have a giant word art-esque $2.
I’m a curious person, so I decided to give it a shot. If you can’t tell by the tone so far, I was majorly underwhelmed.
I think NSC was going for a kind of Craftsy/Bluprint style…. well…
Alright, I think it’s a bit of a scam.
What you actually get from their “premium” membership is videos. There’s not much in the way of project videos- a lot of it is single technique based- darts, seam finishes, piping, etc. The projects they do feature are things like a shirred skirt, pyjama pants, baby shoes… The one I find the most offensive is a dress made with fabric that has a few rows pre-shirred so all you do is sew up a side seam.
The video production isn’t too bad. The camera is held steady and the microphones work?
Look, I get that it was only $2, so I shouldn’t feel ripped off, but yet I do. You can find better videos of everything they’re doing on YouTube. Also, since the site layout leaves so much to be desired a searching on YouTube would probably be quicker.
I know that low production value and just overall not good-ness isn’t enough to call something a scam. I get that the company is new and that they may figure out some of the kinks. The reason why I think it’s a scam is that despite the fact that I’m a premium member, I get an email every day telling me they have a “special price” for me to upgrade to premium. The entire site just has that feel of, “buy more! Spend more!”
Maybe they’ll get better, but I just don’t anticipate them putting the effort in because it doesn’t feel like producing quality content is their goal.
Update
This has weirdly become my most read post, so I thought I’d do a little update. It’s still not my favourite in terms of layout, but they seem to have fancied it up a bit.
They’ve added a few new videos, but again, it’s nothing you couldn’t find on youtube with an easier browse function. The search is… not it.
I can’t ignore that they seem to have put some effort into the site, so it appears they might be trying?
They also did a collaboration with Seamwork, who I tend to put in a reputable box in my head, so I’m a bit confused as to why they would attach themselves to National Sewing Circle.
The biggest irk I have is the constant emails. They literally send multiple emails a day trying to get me to sign up for their premium content… that I’m already signed up for. That alone keeps the scammy feeling going for me.
And those are just the ones I haven’t deleted.
I get that they’re a business and they make money from premium subscribers and it’s good to create a sense of urgency, but it just seem desperate. Also, when there’s a sense of urgency every day it ruins the illusion.
So, especially now with Bluprint closing, it’s kind of extra topical because I’m looking for a replacement, and this?
This just isn’t it.
Further Update
The comments on this post are amazing, and I hadn’t even thought about the auto renewal so I decided to cancel now just to be safe because, well, I don’t trust them not charge me the full price.
To enhance the scammy nature of NSC, you can’t cancel online. you have to call. To be fair, they were very polite about the cancellation. I was expecting a kind of strong arm-trying-to-quit-the-gym-in-friends like tactic, but there ya go.
My National Sewing Circle nightmare is over.
But honestly, who does phone cancellations? It’s 2020.
Update…
The nightmare is not over. For the past week, I’ve unsubscribed from their email list every day.
My preferences say that I’m not to receive any emails.
They say death and taxes are the only things that are certain. Clearly they haven’t encountered the National Sewing Circle email list.
Video Update!
I love when you guys comment. It turns out that NSC has been misrepresenting themselves as Craftsy. I tried to get the ad, but I don’t think they’re running it in Europe. I decided to give this whole video thing a try and made a video review of my experience with NSC.
A further update, January 2021
I just logged on to one of the sites I use for affiliate programs and noticed NSC has now officially opened up one.
I get a lot of comments and emails telling me I'm the only review up there, but I expect there to be a flood of amazing, super positive reviews.
A big part of me hopes NSC simply did better and is trying to provide people with the service they've advertised. I really do hope that people who bought the program will get the kind of service they wanted.
I’ll admit I'm also curious.
I'd be tempted to try them again, but I literally just got the emails to stop, so…
