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OTTOBRE design®

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FAQ

Here you’ll find answers to frequently asked questions. However, if your question is not amongst them, please contact our Customer Care.

GENERAL ABOUT OTTOBRE design® MAGAZINE

OTTOBRE design® is a periodical magazine, distributed worldwide, that specializes in sewing patterns for children and women.

In the year 2024 OTTOBRE design® will be published three times. The children’s pattern magazine, OTTOBRE design® kids, is published in January and May (spring and summer issues). The women’s pattern magazine, OTTOBRE design® woman, is published in March (spring/summer issue). Check out the publication schedule of the magazine.

PUBLICATION SCHEDULE

no. 1: kids spring in late January
no. 2: woman spring/summer in mid-March
no. 3: kids summer in mid-May

OTTOBRE design® magazine is published in the following languages: Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Spanish and Swedish.

You can buy single issues of OTTOBRE design® magazine at newsstands and well-stocked fabric stores worldwide. However, you can also order any issue directly at our webshop.

You can also take out an annual subscription, and the magazine issues will be mailed directly to your address as soon as they are published. Note that we deliver annual subscriptions postage-free everywhere in the world!

OTTOBRE design® magazine is aimed at anybody interested in fashion, sewing and handicrafts, including people working in these fields. Each issue contains designs for both beginners and more experienced sewers. We introduce professional techniques and the latest materials in the magazine, which makes it an excellent source also for teachers and fabric retailers.

OTTOBRE is the Italian word for October. We chose it as the name of the magazine because of its graphic beauty. Moreover, since October in Finland is often grey and rainy, we wanted our magazine to give “October” more cheerful vibes. To begin with, OTTOBRE was the name of our lovely brick-and-mortar store, and when we ventured into publishing a magazine, it was an obvious choice of a name for that too.

The last part of the name – design – is a word that has been adopted from English by numerous languages with the implication of high quality. We hope that the international name of the magazine reflects our market area that covers almost the entire world. It’s also easy to pronounce in most languages.

OTTOBRE design® is a purely Finnish magazine. Its editorial office is located in the town of Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland, close to the Arctic Circle. The magazine is printed in Finland and has a Finnish, Scandinavian and international air to it. Part of the production team works at the Rovaniemi office while the rest are based elsewhere, in or outside Finland.

OTTOBRE design® magazine is largely a result of teamwork. The design and production of the magazine is led by Tuula Hepola, Editor in Chief. The production team comprises studio dressmakers, photographers, graphic designers, translators and editorial assistants, totaling almost 20 members, some of whom work as freelancers.

Each children’s pattern magazine has 25 sewing designs, and the women’s magazine has around 20 designs. By subscribing to all OTTOBRE design® magazines that are published through the year you will have a new sewing pattern for every third day of the year!

Absolutely! We make the magazine for our customers, i.e. for you. Your requests are appreciated and we respond to some of them in each issue. You can conveniently send your request on our customer service form.

Our principle is to use ordinary children and adults of various ages and sizes as our models, instead of trained professionals. Most of the photography sessions take place in Rovaniemi, Finland. Since models will be measured and the sample clothes will be tried on them in advance, we prefer our models to come from not too far away.

MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS

You can subscribe to the magazine most conveniently online at our webshop. In addition to annual subscriptions, back issues of the magazine are available from the webshop. You can also order or subscribe to the magazine as a gift for another person.

You can choose one of the following packages of the OTTOBRE design® issues:

OTTOBRE design® kids and woman
OTTOBRE design® kids
OTTOBRE design® woman

You can also pre-order the latest issue of the magazine, in which case we’ll mail it to you as soon as it comes out of the printers!

Online purchases are always paid at the time of ordering or subscribing.
You can choose from the following methods of payment:
• Visa, Mastercard, Eurocard or American Express credit card (service provider in Finland: Nets Oyj)
• PayPal account (service provider: PayPal Inc.)
• Online bank transfer (service provider: PayTrail Oyj). This method of payment is only available in Finland.

After you have chosen the method of payment, our system will direct you to the website of the appropriate service provider, where you can make the payment.

It is important that after making the payment you return to our webshop in order to receive an automatic acknowledgement of order and an order number to your email from our webshop system. If you forget to return to our webshop, there’s no need to worry as you’ll receive a manually mailed acknowledgement of order within 1-3 business days. If, however, you don’t receive an acknowledgement of order, please contact us.

Please read section 4.2 (Methods of payment in the webshop) of our Terms and Conditions.

We regret that this is not possible except within Finland, because our operating model is based on online ordering and subscribing. Purchasing at our webshop is very easy and safe. If, however, you find any stage of online purchasing difficult, don’t hesitate to ask for advice from our Subscriber Services.

If you wish to take out a subscription for an educational institution or some other organization or association, please ask for advice from our Subscriber Services.

You can subscribe to the magazine to be delivered anywhere in the world. Please read our Terms and Conditions before subscribing.

A fixed-term subscription is for one year and expires at the end of the paid subscription period. You can start your subscription at any point of the year.

A continuous subscription is automatically renewed until you decide to terminate it. We’ll remind you about the start of a new subscription period by email about six weeks in advance to allow you time to decide whether you want to continue the subscription. The subscription is renewed automatically at the prevailing price for continuous subscriptions unless you, after receiving our reminder, terminate the subscription or change it to a fixed-term subscription. The termination will become effective four weeks after your notice of termination. Make sure that you give your notice in good time! If we receive your notice after the start of the next subscription period, we will, before terminating your subscription, charge you for any issues that belong the new period and were delivered to you.

Yes, you can order back issues of the magazine for as long as we have them in stock. You can see the availability of the various issues and language versions instantly in the SINGLE ISSUES section of our webshop. Some language versions of the magazine issues that were published earlier have been sold out. However, you can order the issue that you require in another language version that we still have in stock and have it supplemented with the sewing instructions in your preferred language (from amongst those the magazine was published in originally). You’ll receive a link for downloading the instructions with the acknowledgement of your order. Pattern sheets are identical in all language versions of the magazine.

All online orders are usually processed and dispatched on the first business day following the order. The average delivery time to Finland is 5-7 business days, to Scandinavia 6-8 business days, to Central and Western Europe 6–10 business days, to France, Spain and Southern Europe 7–14 business days and to countries outside Europe 7-30 business days.

If you are a new annual subscriber, the first issue of your subscription period will be dispatched to you either immediately after your payment has been registered by our system, or after the next new issue is published, depending on which issue you chose as the starting issue. Your free gift for subscribers is dispatched straight after your order has been processed.

A continuous subscription need not be renewed. A continuous subscription is automatically renewed until you decide to terminate it. We’ll remind you about the start of a new subscription period by email about six weeks in advance to allow you time to decide whether you want to continue the subscription. The subscription is renewed automatically at the prevailing price for continuous subscriptions unless you, after receiving our reminder, terminate the subscription or change it to a fixed-term subscription.

A fixed-term subscription for one year expires at the end of the subscription period. If you wish, you can renew your subscription at our webshop by taking out a new fixed-term subscription for one year or by changing it to continuous subscription.

We regret we cannot do that. According to Finnish laws, we are not allowed to store your credit card details or automatically charge your card. Also, we don’t use any direct debit services that banks may have available.

You can pay the invoice using our online invoice payment form or by bank transfer from your own bank. We have a bank account in Finland. A bank transfer from Finland to our bank account is processed as a domestic transaction. If you make a bank transfer from some other country, it is processed as an international transaction. You will find the information required for an international bank transfer (our IBAN number and the BIC/SWIFT code of the bank) at the bottom of the invoice you received. Remember to quote your customer number and the invoice number in the payment message field. Please note that we cannot accept payments by cheque.

Inform us about changes to your name and/or delivery address using our service form. Please notify us about changes to your name or address at least six weeks before the next issue of the magazine is published.

Note that as we don’t use automatic address change and mail redirection services that may be available in various countries, you must directly inform us about your new address. We will not re-send to a new address magazines that have been returned to us by post as undeliverable, apart from exceptional cases.

Remember also to notify us about a change of your email address because we send all messages concerning your subscription by email!

You can change the subscription package and the type of subscription (continuous or fixed-term) at the end of a subscription period, before the next period starts. You should inform us about the desired changes using our service form at the latest when you receive a reminder from us about the start of a new subscription period. If you change your subscription package in the middle of a subscription period to a package that includes fewer issues, there is no refund on the already paid subscription fee. However, the paid amount can be taken into account if the subscription is renewed. If you extend your subscription package, you will be charged the difference between the already paid subscription package and the new, extended package.

We’ll remind you about the start of a new subscription period by email about six weeks in advance to allow you time to decide whether you want to continue the subscription. If you wish to terminate your continuous subscription, you must give notice of termination. The termination will become effective four weeks after your notice of termination. Please note that non-payment of a subscription invoice is not interpreted as your termination of the subscription.

Terminate a continuous subscription.

We recommend that you contact us by using our service form. On the form, you can notify us about changes in your contact information or make changes to your subscription. After sending the form, you’ll receive an email confirming the receipt of the form and stating a reference number for your service request. Otherwise we will only contact you if necessary.

BUYING FROM OUR WEBSHOP

In order to buy from our webshop you must be at least 18 years old or have your parent’s permission for buying, have a valid email and delivery address, and accept our Terms and Conditions.

Choose the products you want from our webshop, add them to your shopping cart, fill in the required delivery details and select a method of payment. Our webshop system will display a summary of your order and, after you accept our Terms and Conditions, redirect you to the payment service provider that you selected.

The delivery charges of magazine subscriptions and other products in our webshop are displayed on the product description of each product. The delivery charges will be added to the total of your order after you fill in the customer details.

Note that we deliver annual subscriptions postage-free everywhere in the world.

Buying from our webshop is extremely safe. We use a secure, internationally-recognized SSL-encrypted payment system and participate in the Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode schemes. The payment transaction is kept totally confidential. Information relating to the transaction and to your credit card is only passed between our service provider and your card issuer. We don’t see or process your credit card information at any stage, and we cannot charge your credit card on your behalf.

It’s essential that you give us a valid email address that you check regularly when you make purchases at our webshop. We need your email address for sending you an acknowledgment of your order as well as various other important messages concerning your magazine subscription, including a reminder about the start of a new period of your continuous subscription.

You can also subscribe to the OTTOBRE design® newsletter when submitting your order. In our newsletter we share information about the newest OTTOBRE magazine and current campaigns in our online shop. Subscribing to the newsletter is voluntary, and if later on you choose you don’t want to receive them, you can cancel them using the link at the end of the newsletter.

The personal data that you provide when you make purchases is processed, in compliance with Section 8 of the Finnish Personal Data Act, in order to manage a relationship that is based on customership between you and us. Data contained in our customer register is not disclosed to any third party. Further information.

Under the Finnish Consumer Protection Act, you have the right to cancel a magazine subscription or an order for some other product made through distance selling methods within 14 days of receiving the first product. In case of cancellation of a magazine subscription, you will be charged a single issue price for the magazine issue already dispatched to you. Alternatively, you can return the product/products you received at your own cost.

Cancel an order.

The right of return does not apply to single issue orders, digitally delivered e-patterns, and fabrics (because they are cut to order).

Under the Finnish Consumer Protection Act, you have the right to return products purchased from our webshop within 14 days. The right of return only applies to unused products that are in their original packaging and in a re-saleable condition. The right of return does not apply to fabrics (because they are cut to order), single issue orders, and digitally delivered e-patterns.

The products must be returned without delay within 14 days of their receipt. Within Finland, the products can be returned free of charge as “customer return”. If you return products from other countries you are responsible for the return costs.

Always agree on the return of products by email first and then send the products well packaged to:

Studio Tuumat Oy
Rantavitikantie 33
FI-96300 Rovaniemi
FINLAND

We will refund your payment for products that are returned following our instructions. Your payment will be refunded to the account that was used to make the payment. We need the following information for refunding payments made by credit card or PayPal:

– name of the refund recipient
– date of payment and order number
– customer number / invoice number of the refund recipient
– specification of the returned products

In addition, we need the following information when the refund is credited to your bank account:
– your bank account number (IBAN) as well as name, address and BIC code of your bank (you’ll find this information on your bank statement)

The payment will be credited to your account after the order has been cancelled and possible product returns have been received and processed.

SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS WITH ORDERS

If you didn’t receive an acknowledgement of order, first check if your payment has gone through (from your credit card or PayPal account). If you forgot to return to our webshop after making the payment, the acknowledgment of order will be sent manually to you within 1-3 business days following your order.

If necessary, contact our Subscriber Services.

Contact our Subscriber Services immediately in order to rectify the mistake. It’s important to contact us straight away because your order goes to our dispatch department on the first business day following your order. The customer bears the responsibility for checking the acknowledgement of order and for requesting rectification of mistakes.

The payment transaction can fail for various reasons. The most common reason is that the use of your credit card for international payments has been restricted. Our webshop is based in Finland, and a restriction concerning Finland stops the payment from going through.

Please check the following:
– Did you provide all required information at the time of ordering?
– Can your credit card be used in online payment systems and for payments to Finland?
– Did you transfer enough funds to your PayPal account for paying the invoice?
– Is the payment still waiting for your authorization? Be patient. The payment transaction may take 30-60 seconds.
– Did you remember to return to our webshop after making the payment?

Please check
– that you paid the invoice on time (if your payment was late, it’s possible that our reminder had already been mailed to you)
– that your credit card or PayPal account has been debited
– that you paid the correct amount
– that you quoted a correct reference number (payments made from Finland), or a correct invoice or customer number (payments made from other countries) with your payment
– whether your PayPal payment is still waiting for confirmation (payment pending or e-check)
– whether the invoice was paid by another person than the customer who placed the order and whether the invoice number was missing from the payment details, in which case we might not have been able to allocate the payment to the appropriate invoice or customer
– that you addressed the payment to the appropriate payee (Studio Tuumat Oy)
– that you entered the correct bank account number of the payee (you’ll find the account number at the bottom of the invoice)
– that you entered the correct IBAN number of the payee and the correct BIC code of the payee’s bank when paying by international bank transfer (you’ll find these at the bottom of the invoice)

After checking these, please contact our Subscriber Services to clear up the issue.

Your invoice might have gone missing in the post, or it might have been returned to us by post as undeliverable due to an insufficient or incorrect address. You can pay the invoice on the basis of the payment overdue reminder. If necessary, contact our Subscriber Services and we’ll send you a copy of your original invoice.

There may be a number of reasons for this:

1. We might not have received your subscription

Was your online subscription process interrupted or unconfirmed? Did your payment go through in our online payment service? Did you forget to return to our webshop after the payment transaction?

Check whether you received an acknowledgement of your order. The acknowledgement is a proof of your subscription being registered in our systems. If you didn’t receive an acknowledgement of your order, please place the subscription order again or, if necessary, contact our Subscriber Services.

2. Your subscription period has not started yet

Check the starting magazine issue on the acknowledgement of your order. Check also the publication schedule of the magazine.

3. Check that the magazine issue you are expecting belongs to your subscription package.

Your options are kids + woman, kids or woman issues per subscription period. Check whether you subscribed to all issues of OTTOBRE design® or some other combination of issues. If you wish, you can change your subscription package using our service form.

4. The magazine issue has not been published yet

OTTOBRE design® magazine is published multiple times a year. The issue that you are expecting may not have been published yet. Please check the publication schedule.

5. Your magazine is on its way

We deliver subscriptions worldwide. The delivery time varies from a few days to around three weeks, depending on the destination country. Even though “all others” may have received their magazines, yours might still be on its way. Please be patient!

6. There is a disruption in the delivery of the magazine

Delays and disruptions are extremely rare, and we always post information about such incidents on our blog and Facebook page. We deliver a large number of magazines all over the world. While we do our very best to ensure that the magazines reach their recipients, we may sometimes be faced with adverse circumstances. According to our terms and conditions, we don’t accept responsibility for such delays in delivery that are caused by unexpected or unforeseen events beyond our control, such as a labor strike and cases of force majeure. Please find further information in our Terms and Conditions.

7. Your magazine has gone to your old address because you forgot to inform us about a change of address

Remember to inform us about a change of your name or address well in advance as such changes take up to four weeks to become effective in our systems. Note that mail redirection arranged with the local postal service doesn’t necessarily apply to magazines and we won’t be notified about such arrangements. You must always directly inform us about your address change.

8. Your subscription has been temporarily suspended because you haven’t paid your invoice

We send you a reminder for an overdue invoice. If we don’t receive your payment after sending you the reminder, we have to suspend your subscription until the invoice is settled.

We kindly ask you to pay the overdue amount as soon as possible. Please note that non-payment of an invoice is not interpreted as your termination or cancellation of the subscription.

9. Your subscription has been temporarily suspended because of late payment of your invoice

If you paid the invoice after the due date and you haven’t received the magazine within two weeks of your payment, please contact us by using our service form, quoting the method of payment, the amount paid, the date of payment, and the name of the payer (account / credit card holder) if different from the recipient of the subscription. To speed up the handling of the matter, you can also attach the receipt of your payment.

10. We were unable to allocate your payment to any subscription order

Did you remember to quote the subscriber’s customer number and the invoice number in the payment message field if the payer of the subscription was different from the magazine subscriber (recipient of the subscription)? It’s often impossible for us to detect the connection between a subscription order and payment if the payment is made by somebody other than the subscriber. If necessary, please contact our Subscriber Services.

If you by accident took out an annual subscription to an unwanted language version of the magazine, you can change the language of your subscription on our service form.

Did you receive a single issue in a wrong language? Check whether the issue in your desired language was sold out and you ordered the issue in another language. If this is the case, a link for downloading the sewing instructions in PDF format in your desired language was sent to you with the acknowledgement of your order.

If we by accident sent a single issue in a wrong language to you, please contact our Subscriber Services for rectifying this.

If necessary, please contact our Subscriber Services. We deal with all complaints on a case-by-case basis.

RECRUITMENT

Studio Tuumat Oy/OTTOBRE design® accepts trainees each year from various educational institutions in the field, also from abroad. Please send us a free-form application!

COPYRIGHTS

The copyrights to the designs, sewing patterns and instructions belong to the respective designers and/or Studio Tuumat Oy. See sections Publisher and Copyrights on our website.

Students and members of hobby groups can copy our patterns for their personal and private use from the teacher’s or group instructor’s OTTOBRE design® magazine. However, designs, instructions or patterns must in no case be copied, digitized, saved or published to be distributed or sold in Facebook groups or on blogs, for example.

Our designs and patterns can be used free of charge for making clothes on a small scale for the purpose of being donated to charity.

The designs, instructions and patterns are intended for personal use by sewing hobbyists. Their commercial or industrial use is prohibited. The designs, instructions, patterns, drawings and photos of the magazine are protected by copyright laws, and the right of reproducing them by any means or in any form is exclusively reserved for the copyright holder, i.e. Studio Tuumat Oy. The copying of the material onto a device that can be used for duplicating it is also regarded as reproduction.

See sections Publisher and Copyrights on our website.

SEWING

You can send questions about the patterns and instructions and give feedback on the content of the magazine using our service form.

The patterns don’t include seam allowances unless otherwise stated in the sewing instructions. Read the sewing instructions for the design as well as the general instructions in the magazine carefully before starting your sewing project. Note that the patterns include all hem allowances, e.g. those at the bottom-hem edge of the garment, the bottom edges of the sleeves and the bottom edges of the legs.

Each double-page spread includes a specification of the fabrics used for the sample garments displayed on those two pages. You can buy these fabrics at well-stocked fabric stores and online shops worldwide. You’ll find further information about the fabrics on the websites of their manufacturers, which are also mentioned in the magazine. Fabrics featured in the magazine are also available at our OTTOBRE shop in Rovaniemi, Finland, our OTTOBRE outlet store in Paimio, Finland, and our online shop on Etsy.