I was chatting to a friend a while ago about my passion for my sewing patterns – when it struck me that i’ve never really talked about why i started my pattern line. About the little idea behind it. I know I’ve mentioned off hand that it came out of frustration with all the commercial patterns i’d used over the years, and I talk a little bit on the about page of my store about the philosophy behind my patterns – but funnily enough, i’ve never gone into too much detail here on Design Diary.
Well it started with a little idea.
For me it really comes down to this – making sewing easier and more fun. It’s sounds pretty basic doesn’t it? But it’s amazing how much the kinds of patterns i grew up with killed the joy of sewing things for me. The tissue paper, the tiny envelope, the confusing instructions, the cramped pattern pieces. Everything was overcomplicated. It made me feel like they hated people who sewed! I wanted patterns to be different. I wanted them to be a joy to use.
So when i started getting requests for the patterns from my clothing line – I realised my two passions could be combined into one. My love of designing clothing with my desire for patterns to be simpler and easier to use.
There’s a common theme through all my patterns – the pattern pieces are simplified and without too many markings so they’re easy to read, cut and sew, and the instruction booklets are very detailed, thorough and loaded with illustrations – and each design is able to be adapted in lots of ways.
And now that I’ve been working at this for almost a year, I’ve been thrilled to see how many people share the same desire as me for sewing patterns to be more enjoyable – actually i’ve been overwhelmed with the response – and that pushes me to keep going.
So there it is… my little idea, that become a pattern company.
the end.
