So You Want to Start Writing Patterns

Whether you’ve been crocheting for 2 years, or 20, you freehand pieces all the time, and now you want to share those ideas with others! Maybe you think it would be nice to earn passive income doing what you love? Writing patterns is a great way to use those skills and love of fiber arts! If you’re reading this it means one of two things, one reason, the most likely reason, you want to write patterns! The other is maybe you just wanted to know what I have to say about this.If you want to write patterns you have to ask yourself a couple important questions first.

1. Do I already know how to read and proofread a pattern?

2. Am I willing to write this pattern so that it is accessible to more than just one body type

3. Am I willing to take on ALL of what comes with that AND more!

4. Do I have original ideas and can I work from that idea and bring it to life?

Before you start writing patterns, you must first know how to read a pattern! If you don’t, start by checking out the Craft Yarn Council website so that you can familiarize yourself with things like, common abbreviations, sizing guidelines, yarn weight guides, and so much more. It is a VERY helpful tool to utilize! If you already know how to read a pattern then all that's left to know is how to proofread a pattern.

Proofreading a pattern is slightly different than reading and following a pattern. If you have ever tested a patter for a designer and been called a “great tester” or been told you “give great feedback” this is one indicator that you do know how to proofread. Buckle up and get your cozy essentials because proofreading is tedious and can take hours, you are scanning every word and stitch sequence written to ensure proper grammar, correctly written sequences, correct math or measurement guidelines and more!

The next thing is something that surprisingly, not all designers care about, that is making the pattern what designers label “size inclusive" or just making the pattern as accessible to as many sizes and body types (@Maeli_designs, @thesoulfulnow, @mae.crochets are all fantastic designers that do account for all shapes and sizes). Not only does this make your pattern your pattern more accessible to more crocheters, but it also shows your followers that you care enough about them to consider everyone! And yes, this can be very time consuming, especially when a stitch repeat wants to be 12 stitches wide per pattern repeat, but the payoff is huge. There is nothing more gratifying than someone messaging you made a pattern that worked for them!

By now, if you didn’t already know, you probably understand just how much work writing a pattern can be, and it's not for everyone and that is okay! Don’t let this scare you off, this is just a breakdown of what goes into it! I’ve definitely spent more time doing this than I probably have yet to be properly compensated for, but that's okay, it’s also a hobby!

Pattern writing is more than just designing a pattern, writing it out, and making it available to your consumers either for free or for sale. Writing patterns is also marketing, managing a third party sales app (Shopify, Etsy, KOFI...etc) and collaborating with other crafters to get your patterns tested for sizing accuracy and pattern readability. Another thing some designers do is the send their pattern to a professional proofreader! Once you get your feedback from your testers then it comes down to more editing (and maybe beautifying?). Then maybe you'll make a “lookbook” (though not everyone does this and its not required or expected) to feature testers and so that consumers have ideas what they might want to make and gives yarn estimates!

Circling back to third party sales apps, you have to get to know that app’s SEO (Search Engine Optimization). This can make or break sales for you, if you don't use SEO to its maximum potential, you might as well be losing money (girl math). Really though, if you use it properly, your designs come up higher in the list when people are searching for say “mesh crochet top.” For example, my Cordelia Top, when I listed her, I didn't just type in “crochet top” I typed in “mesh crochet top.” Here’s a tip: go to a couple successful designer’s sales pages and read how they market and use SEO as their tool!

Finally, and most importantly, are your ideas original? when you go to brainstorm a pattern, ALWAYS try to do it from YOUR ideas! It’s totally okay if you felt inspired by some stitch sequence you saw in a book or a Pinterest post or even on an Instagram post, the best creative things were all inspired from something! But, NEVER try to replicate things you find on a designers page, not only does that hurt the designer you copied, it also hurts your branding and reliability! You want to build trust with your followers!

When it comes time to brainstorm an idea and I feel uninspired here’s what I do:

Pull out a good old fashioned pencil and paper (or procreate and an Apple Pencil). First thing I draw is what kind of garment I want to style, with Andrina I originally just drew a hoodie with LOTS of ribbing. Then, I focused what feels like me, I love ocean and water motifs, I knew I wanted shell stitches, I drew in shell stitches. I also knew I wanted the stitch to be meshy so I wrote in “mesh.” After I threw down words and ideas of what kind of stitch I wanted to fill in the hoodie, I got to swatching. I swatched 9 times before I was happy with what I came up with.

Then, I went back to my drawing and drew in the stitches and decided that was my end goal. Doing my designs this way not only feels like it's authentically me, but it also keeps me from making a pattern that looks unoriginal or potentially copied. I am always very careful when I am on Social Media to try to allow things to inspire me, but not influence my work more than it should. Also, if I ever make something inspired by another designer, I always feel inclined to give that designer what I call “inspiration credit” and let my followers know to go check out their beautiful designs!

At the end of the day pattern writing is a lot of work and it's not for everyone. However, for those who felt like this is something they would want to do, let me know! I am happy to talk more in depth with you about pattern writing and guide you along your pattern writing journey!

I hope this post was helpful, if you want more like this, let me know!