Last year, around this time, I received an inquiry about our pattern design service. As usual, I set up a call with the inquiring person and we talked about how I can help them get their pattern out in to the world. Sounds easy enough, right? They call me, I tell them what I need from them in order to design the pattern, they send everything over and voíla! The pattern is ready to be published!
Sure, sounds simple, but there are looooots of steps to be taken in that “they send everything over” part.
That’s why a lot of the times I don’t hear back after our initial conversation. Designing a pattern isn’t easy, folks! Writing the text, editing the text, drawing up the technical illustrations, oh…and making the actual quilt so it can be photographed, that’s also important.
So I had a lovely conversation with this curious prospective client about what goes into designing a pattern and she took notes, asked thoughtful questions and said, “I’ll get back to you, I’ve got some thinking to do.” I understood. And I also realized that I may not hear back (see the above paragraph).
To my suprise, nearly one year later, I received a call from Amy Robertson of Dappled Things by Amy, she was ready to get her pattern out into the world! Surprised and impressed with her perseverance, I was thrilled to be working with her on her debut pattern, March Hare.
I’m late in posting about this pattern, but Amy had it ready to go by mid-March in order to celebrate this timely and whimsical design. I think it helps us creatives to have a concrete goal to work towards or else we can get distracted with all of our ideas! Using March as her deadline was smart and it kept Amy on track.
One of the questions I ask prospective pattern clients is if they plan on publishing their patterns in print or PDF form. The idea is to make using the pattern as simple as possible for readers AND how about taking advantage of opportunities for passive revenue?! With Amy’s PDF pattern download, we included links to her Etsy shop in her materials list. This saved readers the time of looking up materials they needed to purchase AND it gave Amy the opportunity for product sales.
It’s always fun sharing recent work of my own. It’s double the fun to share someone else’s along the way. Congratulations, Amy, on your sweet new pattern!
Have questions about designing a pattern of your own? Here’s some info about working with us. Or maybe you’re ready to do the layout on your own! Our DIY Shop has InDesign and Canva pattern templates to help you get started with your layout along with an awesome photo editing preset to bump up the quality of your photos.
Happy designing!
+ Kristy
Project: March Hare Custom Pattern Design
Quilt Designer: Amy Robertson, Dappled Things by Amy