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Quilt Biz #4 – Selling Patterns

LeahDay

Leah Day has been teaching online since 2009. She's the creator of the Free Motion Quilting Project, a blog filled with thousands of quilting tutorial videos. Leah has written several books including 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs, Explore Walking Foot Quilting with Leah Day, and Mally the Maker and the Queen in the Quilt.

19 Responses

  1. Rhonda G says:

    Leah, I want to thank you for these posts. I have been designing patterns for a long time, but never marketing them. I have people who see the finished item, asking for the patterns and seems life keeps getting in the way to really get busy and type up the instructions. That is my main roadblock. I can make the pattern no problem but putting instructions into word, and then finding how to scan and save the pattern itself so it comes out the correct size for others to make – scares me. I am horrible with words and have no idea on how to scan the patterns so that when they are printed, they come out the right size.
    Looking forward to your next post on this topic. I'm keeping notes and feel more motivated then ever to give it a try and learn the area's I'm weak in.

  2. beaquilter says:

    great post!! I do agree about selling products, I'm just doing a craft show at my kids school next weekend, and just beause it's at the school, the stuff that I'm selling, money wise is not worth the time, but I know everyone there and I was part of planning the event, but that's the only show I do. I have been toying with the idea of selling patterns and the stores tell me that I need lots of TESTERS so I've started that already, but it's a slow process. I DID get some fun news, I'm being published in McCall's in november and next february, I was thrilled and send them quilt #1 already, #2 is in the works, after 4 months I believe (haven't gotten the contract yet) the copyright goes back to me and then I can sell the pattern or whatever I want 🙂 I haven't had much luck selling my quilts, but as you know I long arm quilt and that is slow but also getting better slowly, so for me the SERVICE of quilting is a potential money maker more than the quilts, I'd rather give the quilts away, or enter shows, than be underpaid…BUT I may get a spot in a local gallery next year, and that's totally different clientele vs a craft show or internet etc. they already had one quilter there who sold most of her quilts at prices I agreed with, so… we'll see

  3. Anonymous says:

    Thanks for this post Leah. It's very timely for me as pattern designing is my next step. What has been holding me back is thinking it has to be perfect before I publish anything or that I have to spend lots of $$ contacting a professional publisher. But I love your dive-in and just do it attitude. And I've bought some of your patterns. You do a great job self-publishing!

  4. Love you Leah! This series is excellent. I've been looking forward to reading it every week. I do design and sell my own patterns, and traffic is getting better and better. Thanks for the great article! Have a super day!

  5. Anonymous says:

    Many times, for me, it is in the sewing/creating that I have the fun. So I make the item(s) for sale. I don't do Etsy but I do individual local art/craft events. As long as I enjoy all the aspects of this: creation of the article (in multiples), packing the car with vending supplies, setting up at the event, spending time at the event, etc, I will continue but not depend on the $$$ generated as anything like necessary income. For some venues, I have discovered, patterns (with a sample product, possibly) works better. Sometimes I make both available and capture 2 audiences. It is a "juggling act", though that requires constant assessing of 'what the market' will bear vs. what price tag can be applied. It is a big world out there and there really is a customer just waiting for that "perfect" purchase….and I want that to be my creation!!!!

  6. Mike Pearson says:

    Again, thanks for the useful advice. I am really liking this series!

  7. marilyn says:

    I'm working on writting patterns and IT IS HARD 🙂 You make it sound so easy. I think that is why so many people are willing to pay money for a pattern, because if it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Once you have your pattern written, how do you go about getting it published, or publish it yourself and then get it out in quilt shops or start to market it? what's the next step between writing a pattern, making sure it is a good one that other people can understand and then getting people to buy it? I've loved reading this series. You are great!

  8. Dana Gaffney says:

    This is such good advice, I think a lot of us think about selling patterns, but it's intimating. Seeing it from this point of view makes a lot of sense. Thank you.

  9. I am having a hard time with the dollar per hour mentality. I have wanted to sell embroidered work but between the dollar per hour mindset and devaluing my skill, which is a very serious problem, I am to scared too pursue my craft as a living. I hope these Quilt Biz posts will sink in so I can follow my dream. Thanks, the info you are giving us it is invaluable.

  10. Katie says:

    You really have inspired me! I have two "similar" baby quit patterns that I designed and have had SOOOO many requests for the pattern. I have them all .pdf'd up and was going to offer them FREE on my blog if only I could figure out how to upload a .pdf on my blog! LOL. since I can't figure that out (nor do I wish to use scribd or google docs or whatever) I DO think I will sell these on etsy. I worry about copyright and the "details" though. I look forward to reading everything else you have to offer on this subject. Thank you so much!

  11. Jen says:

    American (and British and Canadian) copyright law is very, very clear — once someone purchases the pattern he or she may do whatever he or she wants with items made from it. Copyright law applies to the pattern only, not items made from it. It doesn't matter whether someone has written some nonsense on the pattern about not letting people make items for resale — this is unenforceable and meaningless.

    So, a designer doesn't have to "consider" making his or her pattern open use — it is, whether the designer likes it or not. This is a giant pet peeve of mine — just the other day I saw someone had listed a quilt pattern for an extra-high price with a "cottage license" attached, as though once should have to pay for separate rights to sell items made from a pattern. It's ridiculous!

  12. barkway2 says:

    I knew you were going to say, "sell the pattern." I see two potential problems with this (maybe three). First, not everyone wants to or is capable of sewing as you pointed out so you just lost all those potential customers. Second, I have purchased patterns on more occasions than I care to remember that had instructions that were so poorly written, the item became a chore rather than a joy to create. Not everyone is skilled at converting actions into clear instructions. And the possible third problem is that if the pattern does come in high demand, (a good problem to be sure), you now have to take time away from sewing to constantly keep putting together pattern kits. Overall, I like the idea but people should be aware of the pitfalls.

  13. This is a great post! I am so glad I found it. I have been asked to create a pattern for a mini quilt I created for a shop challenge -I don't have a problem writing the pattern, but where do I go to get it printed up to sell?
    Thanks for any advice!
    Karen H

  14. Leah Day says:

    Great question Karen! For short patterns (1-2 pages) I print them at home myself. I've run the math on print cost and I've found it cheaper just to buy extra toner and 24 – 30 lb paper (thicker than normal copy paper) and I just print and package short patterns myself.

    For longer patterns, I contacted a local print shop and had then run an estimate. You can also check out online printers too. The biggest issue with quilt patterns is making sure they print 100% full size so no templates or applique shapes get shrunk even slightly. I once received a bad batch of 200 patterns that had been automatically shrunk by an online printer and I didn't catch it until they had already shipped. It was a disaster!

    From that experience, I only work with a local printer where I can open and check the document before completing the purchase. I hope that helps!

  15. Tiffany says:

    Hi! Thanks for the great article. Do you know where I could buy quilt patterns for resale purposes? Thanks, Tiffany

    • LeahDay says:

      The best place to start is by signing up with a distributor. The two I like best are Brewer and Checker. They carry lots of patterns from thousands of designers so you have lots to choose from.

  16. Jeannie Rivera says:

    Hi Leah, Like everyone else asking, I have EQ8 and have several done designs and several others that I am working on. The only problem for me is that I don’t know how to get my designs to a printed, easy to follow directions paper patterns. I have many patterns that I have purchased over the years and I like Missouri star’s & Jordan Fabrics online and printed pattern designs. Is there a program that one can buy to make these types of patterns or must one just make them from scratch? Please Help

    • LeahDay says:

      This is definitely a skill to build and it takes time. I would begin with writing the pattern in WORD and doing layout in Publisher or InDesign. You’ll need to work one pattern at a time to learn what is needed and a good organizational system for including all the information the pattern needs.

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