Creating patterns—how does that work for you?

Hello to all the ladies who have created patterns so far
I have a few questions
How long does it actually take to create a new pattern?
With all the photos and the description—that must be an activity that takes up an entire evening, right?

Do you create patterns for items you think will sell well
or do you just make them when you really enjoy a particular project yourself?

I’d just like to take a peek behind the scenes so I can understand it better
it would be great if someone would like to share their thoughts on this.

Hi Mützekatze,

most of us actually do this as a “side occupation” — it fills our evenings, weekends, and free time! I also do it as a “hobby/small business” on the side (our main business is a metalworking company, and even during office hours I sometimes slip in a few sewing-related comments)

Putting “sales potential” first (crochet patterns clearly sell best) isn’t an option for me — I only document what I’m really good at.

If you have an idea for an ebook, you should first research very thoroughly whether something like it, or something similar, already exists; don’t use other people’s ideas (copyright), and don’t infringe any trademarks!!!!!

I’ve been working on my new ebook, “Kissenprofi,” since March. I sewed a total of 27 cushions before I was satisfied with the result. Most of the work then is editing the photos and getting everything into PDF format. Then you absolutely have to let friends test-sew the ebook so that you get as much feedback as possible about mistakes that may have crept in and what else should be changed......


....and last but not least: as an ebook seller, you no longer count as a private seller — you absolutely need to register a business... especially online, where you can be “found” very easily.


Best regards 
Monika

Oh, and one more thing for outsiders: it really is a lot of work to send ebooks by email (accepting orders, confirming them, checking payment, booking it, etc......... and then the email often doesn’t arrive.....), WHICH IS WHY I’m glad there are sites like Crazypatterns that take care of that.......


 

Hi Muetzekatze,

it takes me a very long time to make my patterns...
First of all, I have two little kids at home who love to get in on my projects )))
Second, I try to make everything as perfect as possible.
I take thousands of photos, then I edit them, and so on and so forth....

Once I’ve finished photographing the project, it usually takes me about 5–10 hours to write the pattern itself. Of course, I don’t have that much time all at once, so it’s an hour here, 40 minutes there, and so on.
Then I send the nearly finished ebook to my sister-in-law—she crochets and understands my ebooks—and she corrects my work and checks for mistakes.

Actually, I make patterns for the things that inspire me! If others like them, then I’m happy too!
 

Thanks for this interesting look behind the scenes.
There’s a ton of work that goes into it—kudos!

May I ask why crochet patterns sell best?
I would’ve actually guessed that sewing or knitting patterns would sell better or be in higher demand than crochet patterns.

Hi Clara, I can only guess:

Patterns are mainly bought by beginners/newcomers/people who haven’t done any handicrafts since school and who have often stumbled across all these beautiful creative things on the internet by chance. What does someone start with if they haven’t made anything yet, or haven’t made anything for years? Many people don’t even have a sewing machine at home. Knitting? - people have often forgotten how, or remember it from school as that difficult thing with two needles. 
So why crochet in particular? ... you only need a crochet hook and cotton yarn, you can easily take the handiwork anywhere with the short crochet hook......and then there are the possibilities:  great figures, animals, flowers......it’s simply appealing. ..somewhere in the family there’s a small child you can surprise with a little crocheted figure or a great crocheted bonnet.....

Best regards
Monika

This is actually muetzekatze’s thread and Clara’s question, but Monika is right in her explanation about the popularity of crocheting. For me, it was exactly as she describes it. :)

Wow—the patience to sit there for hours and put together a pattern—you really have to have that first.

I have one more question:
if patterns are mainly bought by beginners who haven’t done any crafts since school,
where do advanced crafters get their ideas?
Are they all original creations? Or do you hardly need patterns anymore as you gain experience? Or do advanced knitters tend to buy knitting pattern magazines at newsstands or in supermarkets?

It depends on whether you really have a lot of imagination and not just knowledge. If you have both, then you don’t need ready-made patterns or magazines.

Hi,
in my experience, you really can only create the patterns yourself—maybe because you simply have to put a lot of work and love into every single one.
To come up with a pattern that everyone can understand, you just have to crochet, take photos, and write.

Have fun crafting, everyone!

I've found that you really can only create the patterns yourself

hello MeinNaehkästchen,
may I ask you/you all what you mean by that?

I can well believe that you have to put love and work into patterns.
Wishing you/you all lots of fun with your handicrafts


 

Hi Clara,

I once tried to have a nice lady create and write a pattern for me for a fee. That really went completely wrong.
That’s what I meant.
Best regards

It’s a long, arduous process… :) Time and again, I come across various comments on photos of patterns posted on Facebook, and I can only shake my head when people write how much the pattern costs and what an outrage it is—saying that for the price of many patterns, you could buy an entire magazine. As a pattern creator myself, I of course buy patterns from fellow creators every now and then, because there are always new techniques that even I, as an old hand, haven’t come across yet. Various craft magazines also regularly find their way into my workshop. And if we’re being honest, in most magazines, you’re only really interested in a single project anyway.

Regardless of the difficulty level you specify for the pattern (suitable for beginners, advanced, or professionals), the pattern must always be written in such a way that even a ^^complete^^ beginner could follow it.#
Experience shows that a determined customer has never let such a label deter her :) I also offer support via email to provide assistance with any questions that arise. Of course, this can sometimes be quite labor-intensive and time-consuming, and questions like, for example, how to crochet two stitches together or double a stitch are a daily occurrence.

Unlike the patterns in magazines, our patterns are richly illustrated. Instead of just a long string of abbreviated instructions, everything—from casting on / cutting out / pattern repeat, through various steps, all the way to finishing—is clearly explained down to the smallest detail with the help of photos.

There are projects that practically seem to make themselves. From the initial idea to the finished piece in just a weekend—my friends test them by crocheting, sewing, or knitting them, and off it goes. But those are the exceptions—at least for me.
There’s counting, writing things down, taking photos, scrapping it, starting over… Unfortunately, every now and then I end up with a project that never makes it to sale, despite investing several weeks of work, because the result just doesn’t match the vision in my head.

I strive to design pieces that bring a smile to the viewer’s face. If I don’t find myself smiling when I look at the finished project—whether it’s sewn figures, crocheted baby shoes, cozy hats, or scarves—then I don’t want to bore a customer with it either. There are ideas everywhere, as far as the eye can see and the post can carry. The more you make, the more ideas pop into your head. Those were the good old days when there were still 40 hours in a day ;-)
A notebook in my bag is essential.

That’s how I see it...

Best regards
Margret
 

I tried making a few patterns myself once—I just started crocheting or knitting whatever came to mind and jotted down the numbers and rounds as I went along. Not everything always went smoothly, but as the saying goes, “PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT, BECAUSE NO MASTER HAS EVER FALLEN FROM THE SKY.”
My problem is that my imagination isn’t quite as great as it could be, but I think your patterns are fantastic.

Hey there…

So, besides mastering the stitches, you need imagination and creativity. But you also need a knack for putting it all into words… just because you’re good at something like storytelling doesn’t automatically make you an author.

What I crochet depends on whatever idea pops into my head at the moment, or whether there’s a customer request that I decide to take on.

How long it takes to create a pattern depends on exactly what it is, how difficult it is, and whether I’m writing the pattern for beginners or advanced crocheters.

I do this alongside my family and my day job.

For beginners, I recommend starting by crocheting a hat, a placemat, or a scarf. Once you’ve mastered those, you can try your hand at amigurumi or patterns that really shine on bags and shawls.

Even advanced crocheters need patterns—simply to spark their own imagination.
 

To be honest, I often find it a shame that all these craft magazines and books are written in such a condensed way that beginners can’t actually follow them… and then you pay 10 euros and still can’t do anything with them. I’d rather buy a proper eBook—one that’s detailed and that I’ll definitely crochet from. I do buy a magazine or book every now and then… but my last purchase was so disappointing that I’m seriously considering whether I’ll ever buy another magazine again. So, the disappointing magazine was about amigurumi. They looked so awful, as if they’d been made by someone who can’t crochet. It cost almost 9 euros. Unfortunately, it was shrink-wrapped, so you couldn’t see this mess beforehand. The cover, of course, featured a gorgeous amigurumi. But everything else in the magazine was enough to make you run away.

Oh Nicole,
I’ve never in my life crocheted or knitted anything following the patterns in a magazine. I’ve tried—100 times—but eventually I’d either not understand something or find mistakes in the patterns or… The patterns in the magazines are just too brief and hard to follow for me, even though I’ve been knitting and crocheting a lot myself for almost 20 years. How are people with less experience supposed to understand them?
It’s not that I never buy magazines at all. I do. But I just look at the pictures or the crochet charts and then do everything myself, without following the instructions)))) So, I just let the pictures inspire me ;)
That’s why I try to make my patterns as detailed as possible, so that practically anyone can recreate it.

It’s also nice when you can actually recreate the projects. I have a lot of magazines, and some of the patterns are just wrong, but I try to figure out how the picture looks and make it right.

I’ll just muddle through it myself… but I don’t really like those magazines… I just think they’re horribly written… I usually just look at the pictures :-)