This week I'm going to be talking about how to turn your craft projects into
pattern instructions that you can package, market, and sell online. Whether you
sew softies or do another type of craft, creating patterns is a great way to
add an income stream to your handmade business. Pattern sales produce small
bits of income that can flow in while you are in your studio being creative. It
can be a great addition to what you’re already doing now.
I'll share with you my process
in creating patterns and I hope you'll ask questions and explore your pattern
own ideas, too. On Thursday afternoon I'll be hosting a video workshop with plush
makers from the Etsy Plush Team who are interested in launching their first
sewing patterns! It’s going to be a great week.
Getting Started: Choosing the Right Project to Turn Into a Pattern
Creating a pattern is a multi-step process that will take
you a few weeks to complete so you want to put some time upfront into choosing
exactly the right project. Here are three criteria that I think a project must
meet in order for it to get chosen: I love it, it’s entirely mine, and I feel it
will be successful in the marketplace.
This week I’m creating a new pattern for a set of Cute
Critters. I’ll use my own process in choosing and making this pattern as an
example all week as we look at each step of the pattern-making process so that
you can see how my thinking applies to a real world example.
Some Questions to Ask Yourself
To begin choosing a project, look over your current line of handmade
goods. Do you want to create a pattern for something you already are making?
How will you feel when you see other people making that item? Some crafters
feel thrilled to see others creating items made from their patterns, while
other crafters would prefer to keep the how-to for their most unique items
private.
If you choose to create a pattern for something you’ve
already made many times, you’ll give yourself a head start. You’ll be able to
skip the prototype stage and head right to creating the pattern. If you would
prefer to create an entirely new project to make a pattern from, you’ll have to first
spend time developing and fine-tuning the project. Either way is fine, though.
I get a real thrill when other people make toys based on my
patterns and I’m always coming up with new project ideas. The Cute Critters I’m
working on this week are actually an add-on to the first set of Cute Critters I
released a few months ago.
Sneak peek of the new Cute Critters in progress.
Make Sure You Love It
Whether you’re using something from your repertoire, or
creating something new, choose an item you really love. You’ll need that
excitement to propel you forward through some of the less glamorous parts of
pattern writing, and to help you market and support the pattern later. I am
totally excited about these little felt animals and I have a million ideas for
more variations to make in the future!
It's Gotta Be Yours
Be sure that the project you select is entirely yours. I’d
advise against making a pattern for a project that uses a copyrighted image,
for example. And we all learn from pattern books and form looking at projects
online, but double check that the project you are selecting is truly yours
alone. I got the idea for Cute Critters from looking at all the trendy plush
keychains hanging on the kids’ backpacks at my daughters’ elementary school. I did
a lot of research on the commercially produced plush keychains currently on the
market, and lots of critter sketching, but in the end drew my own version of
each animal and created my own body shape.
And finally, select a project that you think will be in high
demand. Although it’s impossible to predict exactly how potential customers
will behave, you can use some information gathered from what you’re already
doing to inform your decision in selecting a project.
- Have people emailed you asking for a pattern for something
you currently make?
- Is one of your items much more popular than the rest?
The Cute Critters I designed are really quick to make and
they aren’t complicated. I’ve found that my customers are more likely to buy
patterns that don’t require advanced sewing skills. And because plush keychains
are so popular among tweens, my hope is that people will buy the pattern to
make either with or for their kids. In fact, tweens could easily make these
critters all on their own.
I’ve also found that customers like to collect patterns from
the same series. By releasing several sets of Cute Critters I’m hoping that
some customers will buy and make all of the animals in all of the sets.
Adding Value
Can you make several variations on a theme? I’ve found that
customers feel like they are getting a better value if they are purchasing one
pattern that includes several variations. My Lovey Dovey patterns remain
best-sellers because each pattern includes four different animals. Making the
variations wasn’t very much added work on my part and it significantly
increases the value of the pattern in the customer’s eyes.
Generating Excitement
To get some customer feedback and buy-in I created one Cute
Critter and put an in-progress shot on my Facebook page, asking people for
suggestions for other animals to add to the series. I got lots of awesome
suggestions (people sure do love hedgehogs!) and generated excitement about the
pattern while it was still in development.
—
Okay, now that we’ve chosen a project to make into a
pattern, it’s time to get into the studio and get to work! Tomorrow we’ll
explore the steps you take while you’re making the project so that you’ll have
everything you need to write it up and create a pattern!
If you have any questions or ideas about pattern
development, please leave them in the comments. Thank you, everyone!
Jodi says
As usual, you have picked just the right topic to teach about. I look forward to hearing the rest of this series! 🙂
As far as choosing a pattern goes, “am I providing something new?” is important to me too. The world does not need another dirndl skirt pattern, but if you can put a unique spin on it, or add value another way (with better details for beginning sewists for example) than maybe you can still succeed in the marketplace.
abbyjane says
That's a great point, Jodi. Knowing that your pattern contributes something new to what's already available feels really good. I like to include little mini-lessons in my patterns for skills you can use elsewhere in your crafting.
Stacey says
Great points! I think it’s also important to think about the skill level of your audience.
Maybe you loved sewing a super-complicated design, but if that’s not the skill-level of your audience, you may want to turn an easier design into a pattern instead.
Abby Glassenberg says
And there’s certainly a larger market for more straightforward patterns that aren’t super complex.
Laura says
I really enjoy your topics and have learned a lot from following you. I am the designer and owner of Fiddlestix Designs. I sell primitive folk art doll patterns, both in e-pattern and mailed pattern format. My question to you and your audience is, where do they sell their patterns and where do they have the best luck selling their patterns. I sell on my own web site http://www.fiddlestixdesigns.com, as well as Pattern Mart, Pattern Page and You Can Make This. Pattern Mart is great, as long as you keep new patterns coming out, so they are featured in the weekly newsletter. So far, Pattern Page has brought the most traffic to my site, but not all the traffic buys. I am just starting up with YCMT, and their stipulations for what you need to include in a pattern can sometimes be overwhelming. I find myself wondering, are there web sites I am missing that others have good luck with?
abbyjane says
Hi Laura,
It's interesting because I haven't ever visited any of the pattern sites you've mentioned. I'm going to go take a look at them. I sell my patterns on Etsy and Craftsy right now. Have you looked in to Craftsy? Since you are creating sewing patterns, that might be a good fit. There is no listing fee for sellers on Craftsy which is nice as well. If anyone else has other options, please let us know. Thanks, Laura!