FAQ

First, click the little cart icon in the top right corner of the screen. That will bring up your shopping cart and show you what’s in it.

Next, click the “Checkout” button. That will bring up a screen that looks something like this.

If you have your info saved with any of those express checkout options on the left, most (or all) of the info on that side will already be filled in.

The arrow on the right points to the field where you enter your discount code.

If you’re using a mobile device, the layout of this page may look very different (depending on your screen size and orientation) but the place to enter the discount code will still be near the area that shows your total.

Once you click “Apply” it will show you the new, discounted total so you know it was accepted.

It’s super easy – you just need to click on the button that says “download” and it should automatically download to your computer. If you have more questions (Where do I save it? How do I back it up?) or you just want to actually see what all that looks like, here’s a video showing the process – with LOTS of explanation.

You should receive your patterns within a few minutes of completing any order. If you use a POP account for your email it’s possible that it could take up to an hour, depending on how frequently your system checks for new mail.

Are you checking the right email address?

Are you checking the email address you used for your order? If you have a different email address that you use for Paypal, for example, it could be going there. Check any email address you may have used when you placed your order.

Did it go to spam?

If you checked all your email addresses and didn’t find it, check your spam/junk/trash folder. That’s where we almost always find missing orders. 🙂 If you find it there, please mark it “not spam” so that future orders don’t go there.

Please check your spam folder even if you normally receive emails from me with no problem. The emails with your download links are automatically generated and some spam filter systems treat those different from other emails.

Do you use Gmail?

If you use Gmail, be sure to check your Promotions tab.

I checked everything.

Sometimes emails just plain disappear. It’s rare, but it does happen once in a while. If that happens, log in to your account and click View My Downloads. Your purchase should show up there.

If you don’t have an account yet, you can create one on the spot. As long as you’re using the same email address you used to place the order, the system will pull that order into your new account. There’s more info about creating an account below.

If you didn’t get the email and you don’t want to have an account, just email me at smile@shinyhappyworld.com and let me know what happened. I’ll resend the email with the download links as soon as possible.

Yep. Sometimes things just go wrong and I’m always happy to help – but I need more info than, “It didn’t work.”

In this video I talk about some of the most common problems people run into when having trouble downloading their patterns – and one easy thing that fixes a whole ton of weird and unexpected problems.

Here’s a little bit of timestamp info. . .

1:10 – If you’re clicking the download button and it just seems like nothing is happening, it’s probably downloading and you just don’t know where to find it. This happens on a lot of different systems, but it’s a special problem for iPads. The video has some tips for how to find your downloads folder on just about any system, and this article will help you if you have an iPad.

2:30 – If you’re looking at your download and it’s only showing the first page, you’re probably using Safari. The video explains how to get the full file.

3:24 – Addresses some of the random and very weird issues that can happen when your browser is out of date.

Here’s the link for that awesome browser site. www.whatismybrowser.com.

If you try these fixes and still have problems opening your pattern, just get in touch and I’ll help you out. Please let me know how long ago you bought your pattern (Roughly. Has it been minutes? Hours? Days? Years?), what’s happening when you try to download, details about any error message you may be getting, and what browser (and version of that browser) you’re using. There’s a link to a contact form in the top menu bar on every page or you can email me at smile@shinyhappyworld.com.

Etsy has a help article here.

This post has some good general info about what a PDF is.

This post has a bunch of additional helpful info for you, including how to download and save a digital pattern, the importance of backing it up, and how to print it. It also includes a link for help with some common printer troubleshooting.

You can still work with digital patterns! This post has several tips for how to do that.

If you haven’t downloaded it yet – then yes. You can return it. Just contact me at smile@shinyhappyworld.com (include the order number if you have it) and I’ll disable the download and issue you a refund.

If you have downloaded your pattern, then I’m sorry but it’s not returnable. There’s no way to un-download a file.

No. With the exception of a couple of books (How to Embroider Almost Everything and Creature Camp) I only sell digital patterns.

I don’t require an account to make purchases at Shiny Happy World, or to access any of the free patterns and tutorials. It’s possible you have made many purchases, been a longtime member of the Funny Faces Club, and receive the weekly newsletter – all without having an account. So first, let’s see if you have one!

Look for the My Account or Log In link in the top right corner of this page (in the lighter purple stripe), or click here.

If You Have an Account

If that click takes you to a screen that looks something like this – yay!

That means you already have an account AND you’re already logged in. (Aren’t cookies wonderful?)

See that block of pink text under my name? Those are all links.

Manage Subscriptions is all about the payment part of your club membership. It’s where you can see when your next payment will be, update your credit card info, or cancel your subscription.

View My Downloads is where you’ll find the current club pattern AND a library of your purchased patterns (not previous club patterns) with links to download them.

View My Courses is where you’ll find a link to enter the Funny Faces Clubhouse, as well as any of the longer video classes and workshops you’re signed up for.

View Wishlist lets you see what you’ve added to your wishlist.

If You Don’t Have an Account or You’re Not Logged In

If clicking on that My Account link takes you to a screen that looks like this. . .

. . . that means we have a little bit more to do.

You might have an account, but you’re not logged in, or you might not have an account. It’s ok if you don’t know which!

First – try logging in.

Enter your email address and your password (if you know it) and click Sign In.

If you don’t remember your password, use the Forgot your Password link right above the Sign In button. It will ask you to enter your email address and then it will send you a link to reset your password. Reset your password and you’re in!

If you don’t have an account using that email address, you’ll get a message saying that. No problem. That means you just need to set one up. 🙂

Go back to the login page and click Create a New Account.

It will ask you to enter your name, email address, and a password, then click Create Account.

One more step! What you have done so far will create the shell of an account at Shiny Happy World. The system will send you an email asking you to confirm that account. Click the button in the email and that completes the account set-up.

Yay!

Now you can login and access all the links I listed above in the If You Have an Account section of this page. 🙂

Troubleshooting

Sometimes things don’t go as smoothly as we’d like. 🙄

Here are a couple of common errors and how to fix them.

I signed up for X and logged into my Shiny Happy World account, but X isn’t listed on the View My Courses page.

Chances are, you used one email to set up your account and a different email to sign up for the club or workshop. One of those emails may simply have a typo in it. Your email address is your username at Shiny Happy World and everything for you needs to be under the same email address. Please email me at smile@shinyhappyworld.com and we’ll figure out what’s going on and get things consolidated.

When I tried to recover my forgotten password it told me there was no account under that email address, but when I tried to sign up for an account it said that email address was already in use. I’m going in circles!

Usually this happens when someone started to set up an account, but never clicked the button in that confirmation email. No problem! Send me an email (smile@shinyhappyworld.com) and I’ll re-send you the account invitation so you can complete that process.

Whew!

If you run into any other issues, please just get in touch and we’ll get it sorted out. 🙂

You need an account to access all classes, workshops, and clubs. If you’re not sure if you have an account, or how to login, see the question above.

Once you’re logged in, you’ll see a screen like this.

Click on the link that says Clubs and Courses.

That will take you to a page that looks like this.

Click the Enter button for the class or club you want and you’re in!

You can change your shipping address by logging into your account page and then clicking the link to View/Change Address. It’s right below your address.

Your email address is also your username and connects all your account into, so that’s something I need to change myself. Just send me an email (smile@shinyhappyworld.com) telling me your old email address and what you want me to change it to. I’ll change it as soon as possible.

To change your email address for the newsletter, just wait until the next newsletter arrives (every Monday) and unsubscribe. There’s a link in the footer at the bottom of every newsletter. Sign up here with your new email address.

The Funny Faces Quilt Block of the Month Club has moved to the main Shiny Happy World website. Yay! That makes it even easier to access. Just login to your account using my My Account link in the top right corner of any page, or this direct link.

Once you’re logged in, you’ll see a list of links below your name on the left side of the screen.

The first link is Manage Subscriptions. That’s where you can update your payment info, or unsubscribe from the club.

The second link is View My Downloads. That’s where you’ll find a download library of your previously purchased patterns from Shiny Happy World, and the current club pattern. The current club pattern is always at the top of this page.

The third link is Clubs and Courses. Use this link to enter the clubhouse to view tutorials, find links to free patterns, etc.

Login to your account and click on Manage Subscriptions. The screen defaults to showing you when your next renewal will be.

To update payment info. . .

There are several tabs across the top of the Subscriptions section. Look all the way to the right and click on “Payment Methods.”

Choose the method of payment you want to update and click the little down arrow to the right to open it up.

Click the button that says “Edit Payment Method.”

Click the button that says “Send Update Email” and you’ll receive a secure link to change that info.

To Unsubscribe. . .

On the Manage Subscriptions page, click on the Edit button next to the Funny Faces Quilt Block of the Month Club. That will take you to the details for your subscription. Scroll to the bottom of the left sidebar and you’ll find a Cancel Subscription button.

Yes! I’ll send orders anywhere the US Postal Service ships to.

The cost is based on the weight of your order. The best way to get the cost is to add the items you’re interested in to your cart and start the checkout process. The system will calculate the shipping charges for your order and let you know what they are before you need to enter any payment info, so you can easily back out if it’s too expensive.

All my patterns are digital PDF files delivered by email, so there are no shipping charges for them

This is the most common question I get. 🙂 I wrote a post about the durability of my quilts here, showing photos of a quilt that had been in constant use (by a child) for over a year.

All my tutorials are now organized by topic (instead of in chronological order) making them MUCH easier to find. You can find a table of contents for all the lessons and tutorials here.

The search box in the top right corner of every page is also a good way to find something specific. It’s not great at finding things in the shop, but it’s pretty good at finding tutorials. Just try to use fairly specific terms. For example – searching for “quilting” is going to be pretty useless, but searching “outline eyes” will bring back lots of very helpful results.

There are two places to find patterns from me – and you can find both of them in the banner at the top of every page.

All the shop categories are the link links right below the Shiny Happy World logo. That’s where you’ll find all the patterns for sale, plus all the tools and supplies I sell.

But don’t forget about free patterns! A lot of times if you can’t find something in the shop – it’s because it’s free. Yay! The Free Patterns link is in the light purple stripe just above the Shiny Happy World logo at the top of the page. Here’s the direct link to all the free patterns.

One handy little thing a lot of people don’t know about is the search feature in the right sidebar of all the blog pages. Scroll down to where it says Shop Categories (it’s the last thing in the sidebar) and choose from the drop-down menu. There are categories for all the major holidays and most of the animals I have patterns for. So if you choose “elephant” it will pull up all the elephant patterns and products – quilting, stuffed animal, embroidery, felt – plus fabric, notebooks, posters, tote bags, etc. It’ll grab them all into one collection for you.

I have a long list of ideas that I want to make into patterns – and I’m always adding more! Please send me an email (smile@shinyhappyworld.com) for what you’re looking for and I’ll add it to the list – but I can tell you right now that it won’t be soon. Except for the Funny Faces Club, I usually plan my projects pretty far out.

Sorry – my long project list means I don’t have time for individual commissions.

Some of my patterns include SVG files for use with cutting machines. To find out if the pattern you’re considering has those files, look at the “You Get” section of the pattern description in the shop. If it includes SVG files it will always say it in that section.

I’m working on updating all my old patterns to include SVG files, but it’s a very slow process and will probably take me all of 2022 and into 2023.

Sorry – I don’t take commissions and I almost never sell my samples. But I do raffle them off sometimes, usually to benefit UNICEF. If you want to be sure to know about an upcoming raffle, sign up for the newsletter.

My current machine is a Bernina 710. (It’s been discontinued, so you can only buy it used now.) I wrote here about the features that I find especially useful – that may be helpful to you in choosing your own machine.

I also have a post here about choosing a sewing machine for a beginner.

I modified my basic dress design to make the construction much easier, so that pattern you see Emily wearing has been discontinued. These are the closest substitutes. . .
Baking Day – almost identical, but with rickrack decoration added to the bodice instead of the hem
Fly a Kite – has a slightly dropped waistline and is designed to work with directional prints on fabric
Rainy Day – same silhouette, but the bodice snaps up the front instead of the back
Frozen Fancies – same construction, but with a dropped waist, fuller skirt, longer sleeve, and fastens in front.
The construction on all of these is very similar and they all come with different accessories – so I recommend picking the one with the additional accessories you like best. 🙂

Stacey designed this sock pattern for knitters who were familiar with basic knitting techniques (knitting, purling, increasing, decreasing, picking up stitches and working on double point needles), but were interested in giving socks a try. She made the pattern available for free so that everyone could join in the sock-love.  

Since its release, tens of thousands of knitters have downloaded the pattern and successfully used it to knit a pair of socks. As I’m sure you can understand, we cannot provide personalized help to each and every person. 🙁

If you are unfamiliar with some of the terms used, or how to execute a technique, then I highly recommend the site http://www.knittinghelp.com/. It’s a site which has videos that walk you through a number of techniques.

If you are ending up with the wrong number of stitches on the heel turn, then you are most likely not doing the ‘ssk’ decrease properly. Check http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/decreasesto watch a video of how to knit this decrease.

If you are confused about the decreases for the toe & placing your markers, the decreases should occur at the sides of the foot.

You may find it helpful to read the Ravelry forum posts that are existing about this pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/easy-peasy-socks-for-first-timers/threads

If you are a visual learner, and this pattern isn’t working for you, then I recommend that you take a video class on sock knitting, like this one on Craftsy.

I usually quilt first, then applique over the quilting. Both methods work, but I think that way is easier, faster, and more fun. 🙂

Some people choose to applique first, then do the quilting – especially if they’re worried about the quilting lines showing through the applique. I find that that’s not usually a problem unless your applique fabric is a solid or a very light color – neither of which I use very often in my own work.

Doing the applique before the quilting can make the quilting a little tricker – so sometimes I demonstrate that method in my videos, especially if it’s a quilting design where I want to show some tricks for working around the applique without too much stopping and starting. 🙂

Yes! As long as you are making them yourself. If you’re paying someone to make them with you or for you, please contact me and we’ll work out a fair licensing agreement.

Sure! Just link back to me please. Ideally, your reference should include two links – one to the original post that the photo came from and one to the Shiny Happy World home page. For example: “This cute bunny block [link to original post] was originally posted by Shiny Happy World [link to home page].”

Please do not repost entire tutorials! A photo of the project and a link back to Shiny Happy World for the instructions is great.

Sorry – we don’t have any guest posting on Shiny Happy World. We also don’t do any link swaps or sponsored posts.

There are no ads or sponsored posts on Shiny Happy World, and I’m not interesting in adding them.

If your order is very flat, I’ll often add a packing peanut for one of two reasons.

1. If your order has something small and hard in it (maybe some plastic eyes?) we don’t want the post office to mistake it for a flat and send it through a sorting machine. That will destroy the envelope – and possibly what’s inside. Putting in a puffy peanut is more effective than writing “please hand sort” on the envelope.
2. If your order is truly flat (like a single package of fusible adhesive) I add a packing peanut to make it less expensive to ship. A three-ounce package (with tracking) less than 1/4 inch thick costs a few dollars more to ship than a three-ounce package (with tracking) that’s over 1/4 inch thick. It’s a quirk of the US post office, and adding a single packing peanut fixes the problem. 😄