Designers: What drew you to pattern making or design?

I have so much respect and admiration for pattern creators and designers, and I’m just curious what your particular path to patternmaking/design was - what inspired you to start making and sharing your own designs/patterns? (There’s no wrong way to answer this, btw; share as much or as little as you like!)

Was there a lack of something - whether an aesthetic/style or literally no patterns? Is it a preferred form of creative expression? Did someone ask you to make them? Did something inspire you (a creator/creation, nature, person, feeling, character etc.) and you never stopped designing? A way to make some extra cash or, conversely, making on a limited budget? A desire to see your designs and people’s
takes on them out in the world? A combination or something else entirely?

I want to hear all about your motivations as a designer, what got you here and what keeps you going. :sparkling_heart:

Bonus: What is the first pattern you ever made?

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There’s plenty of geeky patterns now, but when I started crocheting in 2015 there was hardly any. I simply started making my own patterns because I couldn’t find what I wanted to make! :sweat_smile:

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That’s an excellent reason to start, and it’s so awesome that you sort of paved the way for other creators! I kind of figured a lot of people came into creating from not seeing their particular niche or idea being made.

We appreciate your contributions and are excited to see what else you create! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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to be honest for me for example my chonky boi bruce the axolotl patten all the axolotl patterns I liked weren’t free (I’m 12 so I don’t really have that much money to spare, heh heh heh) and I didn’t really like the ones that were free so I made my own and I just love that feeling when someone makes something from my pattern.

The first pattern I made was eggy the egg boi (Which you can get for free on my ribblr shop) and you can definitely see the difference between Eggy and Brucey.

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Ooooh! I forgot to include that, but what a beautiful reason to design patterns: for accesibility!

And I totally understand what it’s like to have a limited income (though it’s been an age since I was 12 :crazy_face:). Sometimes it does force you to be creative in unique ways, and it looks like you made the most of that situation. I imagine it must be so wild, in the best of ways, to see people creating a design you made!

I will have to check out eggy boi, but how neat that you have this visual catalogue of your own growth as a designer to look back on!

Also, creating patterns this young? Amazing!

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awww thank you so much.

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To me, pattern making was interesting from an intellectual perspective. I love to learn making shaped and having to tweak little things to make it better. I think it’s also a great way for anyone to improve their crochet skills. Pattern making definitely improve mine! It helps understand how patterns are made and how to work more efficiently. I also like all the possibilities there are with designing and I love that I can customize anything I want to fit my spooky aesthetic!

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I am on the side of no money to spend for patterns. So, I would try to create something I needed. I had a mini stroke years ago so I can’t remember as well as I used to. I had to write down what I did in order to recreate it. No idea the first, but the best, for me, was my Mini Market Harvest Bag: Crochet pattern | Ribblr. I wanted it to be something easy to understand and easy to adapt, so my sister could learn how to make market bags. Now she does and I’m so glad that I could help. :yarn:

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I hadn’t considered that aspect of it, but that totally makes sense to me. I can see how you would learn a lot in the process, from construction to aesthetics and everything inbetween. And, imo, there is a certain thrill to expanding your knowledge and skillset through puzzling it out, so to speak.

That is incredible you were able to take so much from the experience of designing, including how to apply it to future projects. I imagine it also gives you a greater appreciation overall for how much consideration goes into a pattern and unique insight when, for example, helping out with a pattern test.

I love seeing all the different styles and variations people come up with, and I’ve been especially amped to see more spooky creations popping up, so congrats on being a part of that!

Thank you for sharing! :orange_heart:

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Necessity is another reason I didn’t think of, but it’s probably the most common, tbh!

It’s wonderful that what was a solution to your own challenges ended up being so fruitful and beneficial for others, specifically your sister. The bag is so darling and seems really handy, too!
It must give you a warm feeling - knowing you’ve made something that could help a lot of people of various skillsets and needs. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

Appreciate you sharing your story with us. :dizzy:

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Mine started because I wanted to make a baby blanket with a cross… I had limited time, but had found a pattern I liked (a semi-common stitch pattern) that didn’t have a cross and realized that I could put a cross in it (using another stitch pattern)… So I refigured stitch counts to get the size I wanted, combined 2 stitch patterns and voila! For the longest time I claimed that all I did was alter another pattern, but hubby helped me see that all the work I put into it and how vastly different it was from the original, that it in fact was my own design… From there I’ve made a rhombus shawl with the same design feature (cross in middle using same 2 stitch patterns)… Then other ideas just started coming into my head… Some because I couldn’t find what I wanted, some because the general idea got stuck in my head and I had to get it out… I have a LOT more still in there waiting for me to have time to try them, write them, test them, etc :woman_shrugging:t3:

Here was my first design (I’m redesigning this using fingering weight and adding 4 smaller crosses in the corners for a Christening Blanket)

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Womderful. Me too! I have things in my head percolating and Zi have to get them out too!

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For me, I really wanted to make something specific and didn’t want to spend the time searching for a pattern :rofl: I also have so many ideas floating around in my head for patterns!
My first pattern was a scarf, I actually didn’t think of looking up a pattern I just freehanded it. I did write down what I did though! It came out really nice and I entered it in our town fair, I got 1st place! (It goes participation, 3rd place, 2nd, 1st, and there’s like best in section and stuff like that. It’s been canceled for the past 2 years due to covid so the whole town is super excited to have it come back, it attracts people from other places too)
I gave it to my friend, with a matching hat, and she’s actually my business partner!! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: I still have to set up stripe and then I’ll publish a bunch of patterns in my shop! :two_hearts:

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Wow that is an incredible undertaking, with a lovely result!

So sweet your husband helped you to see the value of you own efforts. :two_hearts:

I majorly get the having a billion ideas in my head with no energy/time to make them a reality, but I hope you get the chance to bring those ideas to life soon!

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Same!!! :handshake: I have a notebook full of ideas for various items and just get so waylaid by other tasks, but I would someday love to sit down and just do it!

I will look forward to seeing some designs of yours!

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My first pattern was American Girl doll short suit.

What got me started was to see if I could. Its so rewarding when you see someone else create what you have designed.

I owe it all to my sweet grandmother :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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:rofl::rofl::rofl:

Fair enough, though! If you have something super particular you want to make, I can see how it might be easier to just make it instead of searching endlessly through patterns, which, speaking from experience, is really easy to do. :sweat_smile: I’m eager to see what those pattern ideas look like once they find a place to land! :relaxed:

How awesome that you won first place on a freehanded scarf design!!! :scream: Lucky friend! I’m sure she is delighted to sport your winning creation. The town fair sounds like a lot of fun, too. :two_hearts:

I will be sure to keep an eye out for your shop update!

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Fun! Your patterns look lovely; I would love some of those outfits in my size :rofl:!

I can only imagine how gratifying it is to see your designs being made by other people. Just the idea of having created something someone else sees worth or value in is probably quite fulfilling. :sparkling_heart: I’m certain you’re making your grandmother proud. :dizzy:

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Love this @OBabyNMore

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Thank you so much @stitchedwithstardust !!! When I first started crocheting I honestly didn’t even know there were patterns you could look for, and here I am now! :joy: I’m pretty sure I just didn’t want to open Google or Pinterest on my phone and get sucked down the rabbit hole one day :sweat_smile: The town fair is definitely fun, you wouldn’t even know it happens (usually, except for the pandemic) every year, they clean up so well! (It’s on the town square/common, it’s more of a rectangle than a square lol) Thank you so much for your support, and hopefully I can get the shop up and running this summer! :two_hearts:

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