August 8, 2019 • 52 mins
Ready to make your first basic crochet garment?
It's not quite as difficult as you might think but it's good to have a feel for basic crochet garment design before diving in. Here to help you understand the basics and get a little extra confidence boost is, Emily, crochet designer behind Hooked Hazel.
Emily brings many talents to the crochet industry but she really has a nack for designing and making garments. In this episode of The BHooked Podcast you'll hear an abundance of her knowledge and experience with designing garments that are both functional, pretty and easy to make.
About The BHooked Podcast
Brittany's primary goal is to inspire you and help you grow in your craft with The BHooked Podcast. Through her own stories and the stories of each special guest, you'll discover tips and tricks to improve your crochet and knitting skills and find inspiration to achieve your hobby goals. When you want to kick back and learn from yarn industry experts, grab some yarn and turn on The BHooked Podcast. There's never a shortage of all things crochet, knitting or yarn.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brittany (00:00):
You're listening to The BeHooked Podcast, episode
128, with Brittany.
Hey there, and welcome toepisode 128 of the Be Hooked
(00:35):
podcast.
You could be listening to justabout anything, and you're
sitting here listening to me,and that makes me super happy.
So thank you so much forjoining me.
This is the place where we loveyarn, we love to learn, and we
truly believe yarn can do morethan just make pretty things.
In this instance, we aretalking about how yarn can make
(00:56):
a really pretty thing, a garmentor a wearable.
It was a really long timebefore I finally had the courage
to create my first garmentdesign and I don't do a ton of
these because there are so manymoving parts and there's a lot
involved and to be honest Ireally just enjoy designing
(01:18):
accessories.
But there's something soincredible about wearing
something that you've made.
And I'm sure you have thatfeeling.
You know what I'm talking aboutbecause you want to make your
first design.
So I have a special treat linedup for you today.
If you've been wanting to makeyour first garment design and
you haven't been able to getover that hump, whatever that
(01:40):
may be, you don't know exactlywhat to do.
You don't have the confidencein grading it correctly, but
we're going to address some ofthose little hiccups today.
You'll need the know-how ofcourse but you'll also need the
confidence.
So to help you with this I'mjoined by Emily from Hooked
(02:02):
Hazel over on Instagram, someonewho brings many skills to the
crochet industry but she reallyhas a knack for garment design.
Now, before we get to my chatwith Emily, keep in mind you can
find the resources for thisepisode on the show notes page,
which is behooked.com slash 128.
All right.
(02:23):
Are you ready to take thatfirst step towards creating a
garment?
Let's get to it.
Emily, hi.
Welcome to the show.
It's such a pleasure to haveyou here.
Thanks.
I'm excited to be here.
I am very excited to have youhere as well.
You are...
you sort of bring a lot ofdifferent skills to the knitting
(02:45):
and crochet industry.
One of those, you really seemto have a knack for making
garments.
And I would love to get into alittle bit of that.
I think it's a skill thatyou've really mastered.
And hopefully you can help alistener who might be willing to
try something, but they're justnot sure how to do a simple
(03:06):
garment design.
Yeah, I'd love to talk aboutthat.
Well, I'm really excited aboutthat.
Before we get into thosedetails, sort of that focus, I'd
love to learn a little bit moreabout how you got into crochet,
who taught you, and when wasthat?
Emily (03:22):
I think how I got into crochet is pretty similar from
what I've heard from a lot ofpeople.
My grandma taught me when I wasyoung, which seems to be a
really common thing in ourindustry, which is really cool.
I think it's a skill setthat's, you know, passed down
from generation to generation.
But when I was about sevenyears old, my grandma taught me
(03:45):
to crochet.
And so therefore, maybe a yearor so when I was young, I
crocheted a lot, a lot of singlecrochet squares, basically.
So then it's, it's a thing thatI've put down and picked up
over the years.
In middle school then when Iwas probably 12 there was
actually a crochet club atschool and I joined it
Brittany (04:08):
Oh yeah?
Emily (04:08):
yeah and so that kind of got me going again and um we
made um potholders I think wasreally the only project we made
so that year I made I don't evenknow probably 20 potholders um
So I did that again for a while.
It was a hobby for a while.
And in high school, I didn'treally crochet much or in
(04:30):
college.
But then before my daughter wasborn, I really wanted to make
her a baby blanket.
And since I knew how to makesquares, I decided to pick up
crochet again and worked on ababy blanket for her and did
that.
And it was kind of a nice wayto pass the time before she was
(04:51):
born.
and stuff.
So then obviously when she wasborn, I had trouble keeping up
the, um, hobby because at thatpoint it was definitely just a
hobby.
And so it kind of went on theback burner.
I would once in a while, likemaybe make a little bit of
something or, um, get out myhooks and yarn.
Then it wasn't until when mydaughter, Lara was about eight
(05:15):
years old, then, um, she, uh,the Pinterest age, I guess she
would look on Pinterest and seecool crochet things.
And she would ask like, Oh mom,can you make this?
Or can you try to make this?
And so that's really when Iwant to say that I got sort of
addicted to crochet.
So I've known for a long time,but it wasn't until four or five
(05:38):
years ago that I really gotinto it again, like full force,
I guess you would say.
Brittany (05:44):
Yeah.
Well, it sounds like you had areally good motivator there.
Do you?
Emily (05:48):
Yes, for sure.
Brittany (05:49):
Is she asking you to teach her how to do it?
Emily (05:52):
She has asked me a couple of times and I'll tell you
what, it gives me a whole newrespect for my grandma because
it takes a lot of patience toteach a child how to crochet.
She, she can chain and sheknows how to single crochet.
But she definitely, she lovesart and crafts, but she's
(06:12):
definitely more of a drawer, butwe've tried.
She's, lately been using thatfinger loop yarn that you can
like finger knit with.
She enjoys that.
I think for her, it's easier tojust ask mom to make
Brittany (06:28):
something.
Yeah, for now.
I think that looped yarn is areally great way to start.
It's one of the coolest thingsthat the yarn industry has come
up with lately.
I'm really excited about that.
Emily (06:37):
Oh yeah, for sure.
It's awesome.
Brittany (06:40):
So you said at some point it became more.
I know that it's more than justa hobby nowadays.
So tell me the story about howall that developed.
Emily (06:50):
Yeah.
So it actually was because ofAlara.
She was wanting these thingsthat she'd see on Pinterest.
And I'm sure you remember themermaid blanket craze that was
about then.
And so she really wanted amermaid blanket.
And I thought, okay, I think Ican make one of these.
it was at that time definitelythe most complex thing I'd tried
(07:13):
to make.
So I, you know, we went andlike picked out the yarn and,
um, I made her a mermaidblanket.
And of course I took picturesand she on my Facebook page.
Um, and pretty soon I hadpeople asking me if I would take
orders for those.
And so I did and, I took quitea few orders from them around
Christmas and I thought, Oh,well, this is like a fun way to
(07:36):
do my hobby and, um, maybe atleast, you know, make a little
money to buy yarn for myself.
Um, so I started doing that andthen I started having people
invite me to do like area craftshows.
And so I thought, well, I can'treally do mermaid blankets for
craft shows.
So I started doing, to get moreinto making hats and scarves
(08:00):
and headbands and things of thatnature.
So I did that and opened up anEtsy shop where I was just doing
finished items.
And it was a lot of fun.
I did two seasons of craftshows, started my Instagram page
and a business Facebook page.
And then that's when I kind ofreally got opened up to the idea
(08:25):
that designing as somethingthat really any crocheter can
easily get into beforeInstagram, I guess I didn't
really realize how manyindependent designers there are.
Like I had a couple that Iwould always like go to for
patterns, you know, I didn'treally realize how vast the
community was.
(08:45):
And so I thought, Oh, wellmaybe I can, you know, actually
do something with some of thesedesigns that I've been working
on for hats and whatnot.
So I started that kind of and itgot to the point where because
I also work a day job wheremaking finished items was not
(09:07):
really feasible for me because,you know, I had a day job.
I'm a mom.
I have a significant other.
And there are only so manyhours in a day.
So if I wanted my business tobe profitable, I had to evolve.
So I kind of started focusingmore on designing.
It's funny because when I wasgrowing up, actually, I always
(09:28):
wanted to be a fashion designer.
And I would spend hours, like,sketching outfits and, like,
looking at fashion magazines andthings.
And I started kind ofrealizing, like, oh, wow, I
could actually kind of do thatwith crochet.
It's totally feasible.
So I ended up...
To get Hooked Hazelware is now,I actually gave up selling
(09:51):
finished items just because...
It wasn't fulfilling in me thecreative part of crochet that I
love, I guess.
Like it was starting to stressme out a little bit.
So I started designing justreally simple things and it's
just kind of gone on from there.
So
Brittany (10:12):
have you always designed garments or were you
sort of focusing on those hatsand scarves and that sort of
thing just to get into the worldof designing and just writing
patterns in general?
Emily (10:24):
Yeah.
So my very first pattern I everwrote was a triangle scarf.
And from there, I did some hatsand things.
I really wanted to do garments.
I had crocheted– at that point,I had like crocheted a couple
garments for myself and actuallyeven knit a couple garments for
myself.
But I– wasn't sure if I had itin me to design one so I kind of
(10:46):
I feel like held myself backfrom trying I I thought I guess
how do I want to say this I inthe beginning doubted myself
that I could design garments andso I stuck with designing hats
and headbands and scarves andstuff and which I still will
design things like that but Ireally wanted to design garments
(11:10):
and so I I chatted with someother maker friends and some
designers that I know, you know,kind of ask them like, what's
your take on this?
Like, do you think, is it crazyif I wanted to design a
garment?
And they're like, no, it's notcrazy.
Like go for it, try it.
And so I, I did, which is nowmy main focus.
I do more garments thanaccessories, but I still like to
(11:33):
design accessories as well.
But garments is definitelywhere my heart is.
Brittany (11:36):
Yeah, I think that's something that so many people
can relate to as well.
I think it's maybe sort of aprerequisite to have a pattern
that's outside of the world ofgarments before you dive into
it, just so you...
get the feel for what it is towrite a pattern and what to
include in that sort of thing.
But it's that hump that youhave to get over from your
(11:58):
comfort zone to like outsideyour comfort zone.
And I, you know, I don't do awhole lot of garment design
myself because of all of whatgoes into it.
And the fear that somethingwill be wrong, that somebody
will put a ton of time into aproject and then it doesn't turn
(12:19):
out right because something waswrong on the pattern side.
That's just like an anxietythat I have for myself.
So I do tend to design reallysimple garments as well.
But I think it's not asdifficult to design a functional
and really pretty piece.
It's not as difficult as itseems.
(12:41):
Would you agree?
Emily (12:43):
Yeah, I totally agree.
A lot of it is really justmath, which I know for some
people is scary, but it is kindof like once you do it that
first time and you realize like,okay, you know, this is how the
different parts of this shouldfit, then it makes it easier
every time.
Like depending on the type ofgarment, I mean, really you can
(13:07):
make a shirt from two squares,you know?
Brittany (13:09):
Yeah.
Emily (13:10):
And they're like I said, there's other that goes into it,
you know, with math and makingsure it fits different sizes and
all that.
But it really I think a lot ofpeople and myself included, I
had built it up in my head asthis impossible thing.
But it's really not.
Brittany (13:27):
And having the confidence in yourself is.
to say, yes, this is right.
That was my big holdup andstill is to some extent today.
I know the math that goes intoit.
And my husband is a mathwizard.
And so I always have him tobounce things off of to make
sure, you know, to check myself.
(13:47):
But I think in order to getthat confidence that you need to
know that you've done itcorrectly, you have to put a
couple of designs out there andsee for yourself that, yes,
you've done it right.
Emily (14:02):
Yes, I totally agree with that.
Brittany (14:05):
Well, I think someone listening is probably convinced
at this point.
They want to design a garment.
That's why they're listening,but they want to do something
basic, just their first simpledesign.
basic garment design.
So to sort of ease into thatside of the conversation, let's
start with your first garmentdesign because I want to know if
(14:27):
it was a huge success or acomplete failure and sort of how
you worked through that andsome of those feelings and
emotions we were just talkingabout.
Emily (14:36):
Okay.
My first garment design wasactually a very simple halter
top.
It was like a basically asquare front that wraps around
laces in the back.
Very, very simple.
At that point, like I just kindof wanted to dip my toes in, I
guess you would say.
Brittany (14:57):
Yeah.
Emily (14:58):
And so I thought this is something easy that I can do.
And it was pretty easy.
I didn't at that, at that pointin time, I wasn't, I didn't
have as many extended sizings onpatterns as I do now, but I,
you know, first made it for mysize and, And then I went to
craft yarn council and foundmeasurements standards for other
(15:21):
sizes and did the math, youknow, with, with my gauge and
stuff to figure those out, um,and how it would fit.
Now I did make some errors thenbecause I had it tested, but I
didn't have it probably asthoroughly tested by as many,
um, different body types as Ishould have.
(15:42):
And so that did lead to somepushback for me.
And I had to make edits to thepattern after it was published.
But it was a good learningexperience.
It will always be, at least ifit wasn't a complete success, it
was something I learned a lotfrom.
Brittany (15:58):
Yeah, I think it's great to learn the hard way
sometimes, especially becauseyou don't know what you don't
know.
And when you're getting intosomething new, that you've never
done before, there's a lot ofunknowns to that.
Who would have known that youneed to test it on a bunch of
different body types that maybethe measurements aren't enough
(16:19):
for that?
So I think that's a good lessonfor somebody listening to say,
hey, it's about more than justthe measurements.
And you also have toincorporate the end project, the
who it's for aspect.
Emily (16:36):
Yeah, for sure.
Kind of like you touched onearlier, like you don't want
someone to spend so much timemaking something and something
not be right.
Or I don't want them to spendtime making something and put it
on and feel like, well, thisdoesn't look good on my body or
this doesn't make me feel good.
Or I don't like the way thislooks because I think that's
something that everyone dealswith.
(16:57):
You know, I mean, we all wantto feel good in the clothes we
wear day to day, let alone theclothes we spend time making.
And especially women.
People might buy a special yarnthat's expensive to make
something, and they put a lot oftime into it.
And so it's definitely I wantmy designs to be as perfected as
possible before it gets to thecustomer and try to work out all
(17:21):
those issues in testing.
I've learned that over the lastyear, but that's like my main
goal.
I want people to feel goodafter they put so many– hours
into making something that Idesigned, I want them to be
proud of it and be able to showit off.
Brittany (17:37):
Yes.
And now, like today, you'vemade a lot of different garment
designs.
So I feel like you've come areally long way since that first
design, I'm sure, and yourskills, just what you know about
designing garments, thattesting process, and then the
confidence to say, yes, I amhitting the publish on this
(17:57):
because I am proud of thisgarment.
I've done everything that I canpossibly do to make sure it's
perfect for the customer.
And...
Did that take time or practiceor was it something else that
made you sort of get over that?
Emily (18:16):
You know, it's funny because I still sometimes– and I
have a wonderful group oftesters that I use, but I still
sometimes– feel um nervous whenI publish a new pattern I mean
well not sometimes I meanhonestly every time yeah me too
it's like you just hope peoplewill like it and that it works
(18:39):
for them but I think once youthe more you do it's like
anything else you get betterwith practice so I know I that I
have done so many designs overthe last year, year and a half,
I know that I am better at thisnow than I was then.
So even though I might getbutterflies, objectively, I
(19:00):
know, okay, I'm, you know,continuously improving.
And I have a group of testersthat I really trust that aren't
afraid to dig in and give methat hard feedback when I need
it.
I, I try really hard to, I'lluse those, but then I also once
in a while bring in new testersto get a new perspective on
things.
(19:20):
Um, I've just learned, like Isaid, Instagram has been so
helpful to me because I've metso many people and I've learned
that designers are usuallyreally open and they're willing
to discuss things with you ifthey have tips or something, um,
or to share resources becausethere are so many free resources
out there, um, including yourblog, um, in, you know, books
(19:44):
about garments and stuff.
It's just, I think that if youput in the work to get better,
then you will get better.
So I'm still nervous, butobjectively I know.
Yeah.
that it's okay
Brittany (20:01):
yeah that's really great advice and that's
something that you really doneed to hear getting into
something for the first time youhave to set that expectation
that you're you're not going tobe perfect the first few times
but you will get better but inorder to get better you have to
keep doing it right so let'sshift to the process now there's
(20:23):
a lot that is involved indesigning a garment and there's
more steps that's involved thanyou in designing a garment than
there is, say, a hat or a scarfor something that's not nearly
as complex.
So let's run through the steps,sort of just a general
overview.
So somebody who's looking toget into it for the first time
(20:44):
is aware of those differencesbetween writing this pattern
versus writing patterns thatthey have already done in the
past.
So what's the first thing thatyou do when you have an idea for
a new wearable?
Emily (20:58):
Okay, I usually...
these days I get ideas forwearables kind of from my own
closet, not necessarily from thelook of something, but how
something fits or like thefeeling maybe I have, like I
have maybe a, you know, acomfortable cardigan and I want
to make something that I havethat same feeling or I like the
(21:21):
cut of the arm or something.
And so I think, um, So that'skind of where I start.
Then I will think about what,what yarn I want to use, like
what fiber is going to lenditself well to that.
Like whether it's somethingthat I need, you know, good
stuff, stitch definition on, ormaybe it's something, um, that I
want to be drapey or, orwhatever it is.
(21:43):
And so then I will go yarnshopping, which is kind of
everyone's favorite part.
So I, you know, whether I goonline and shop or, um, or
however, go to the store, I'llorder yarn.
Usually I will get like acouple options.
And one thing I do also try todo is I kind of try to keep my
(22:04):
personal yarn stash with somedifferent options that I can try
before I order like a bigamount.
So I then will swatch.
I do a lot of swatching.
And just to figure out whatstitch pattern I want, And so I
will make a bunch of swatchesand I actually, a lot of times
(22:24):
we'll like finish off a swatch,cut it, make another one with
maybe a different stitch patternor a different fiber.
And I make what I would almostconsider to be a mood board in a
way.
I'll keep all those swatchestogether and sketch out my idea.
And a lot of times like I'llwrite a description of what it
is I'm trying to make as well.
(22:45):
I might even write down whatthe stitch pattern is that I'm
using and Um, and just like dropmyself little notes.
And then I usually try to sleepon it for a day or so, because
sometimes I've learned, like Iused to just jump in and be
like, I'm going to start makingthis with this.
I get so excited.
And then I maybe would get, youknow, 20 rows in and I'm like,
(23:08):
I don't like how this looks.
So I have learned as hard as itcan be sometimes to plan as
much as I can before I startmaking the actual garment.
So, um, then I actually try tohave the pattern kind of, I
don't write it out completelybefore I make it, but I kind of
try to have like a generaloutline for myself of like,
(23:32):
okay, I, I think I need, youknow, this many rows or
whatever.
And I do that based off mygauge swatch.
So I, you know, simple example,if there are, you know, five
stitches in the swatch, um, foran inch and I need it, you know,
say a 40 inch bust, then Iknow, you know, I just take
(23:55):
that, um, five times 40 and thatgets me my like biggest part
that I need.
So I, I do all the math.
I, and I'll figure out likehow, if I want it to be 21
inches long, I'll, I'll use thatsame methodology with my swatch
to get that so that I have atleast, um, general idea so I'm
not sitting here just kind ofaimlessly crocheting and trying
(24:17):
to figure out if it worksbecause I have like I said I've
done that in the past and itgenerally results in a lot of
frogging so I try to have apretty good plan based on that
so then depending on what kindof garment it is say if it's
like something like a raglan Imake sure that I am trying it on
(24:38):
a lot as I'm making it or I'mThere are different points and
different types of garmentswhere you can try it on or look
and see how it looks.
I'll even take pictures so thatI can look at it later.
Because if there's a problem, Iwant to be aware of it as it
happens, if that makes sense.
(24:59):
Oh yeah, totally.
Because sometimes I get veryexcited by the making and I'm
not thinking to myself aboutwhat I'm going to need in the
pattern.
So I do that.
And then once I finish thegarment, I am a big believer.
I always block my stuff.
I think that really helps.
(25:20):
And I will take pictures, notalways like necessarily like a
full photo shoot, what I woulduse for the pattern itself.
I get pictures, you know, fromthe front, the back, the sides.
My daughter actually helps meout a lot with that.
And that helps me in a fewdifferent ways.
One, because I want to see,like, does this look good or
(25:44):
does it look like it fits how Iwant it to?
Because I want to resolve allthose issues before I get it out
to my testers, basically.
The whole time I'm making, Itry to make notes.
I don't necessarily write outevery line as I go, but I do.
I will write, you know, tomyself, like, okay, five rows of
(26:06):
double crochet, Disneystitches.
And like, I know I'm making formyself a size medium.
And so I, I keep good track ofthat.
Um, so then I'll actually, onceI finished my garment, I'll
kind of double check thatagainst my notes.
And that makes it a lot easiertoo, because I, there have been
times where I got kind of laxabout my notes while I was
(26:26):
making, because I mean, themaking is the fun part.
The writing isn't necessarilythe fun part.
Brittany (26:32):
Yeah.
Emily (26:33):
And so I'll do that.
And then once I'm satisfiedwith how everything looks and I
think, you know, my notes lineup with the piece, then that's
when I get into the actualpattern writing.
Brittany (26:45):
Okay.
So it sounds like you're makingthe piece to fit you.
And I think that's a reallygood tip.
So it doesn't matter what sizeyou are.
For me, it makes sense to thinkI'm going to start with the
small because that's thesmallest size and then it would
be easier to grade it up fromthere.
(27:06):
But I think the betterpractices like what you do make
it to fit yourself and thenmodify the pattern up or down,
whatever you have to do in orderto grade for those different
sizes.
Emily (27:19):
Right.
And the reason I actually dothat is because...
I don't want to designsomething that I wouldn't wear.
And it also is honestly fromlike an Instagram sort of
perspective.
Again, um, I have really in thelast year tried to get better
about putting my face to mybrand.
(27:40):
And so I think the easiest wayfor me to do that is to make
garments for myself and thenmodel them on my page.
Brittany (27:49):
Yeah, and I feel too that if you wouldn't wear it
yourself, you would never beokay with hitting publish on
something.
Emily (27:57):
Right, right.
I totally agree with that.
I did one time actually design–and that's another thing that
I've learned.
I designed a bralette one timejust because I– honestly, I
don't even know why because Idon't really wear that often.
sort of thing.
I mean, I work in an office allday.
So 90% of my wardrobe has to bethings I can wear in an office,
(28:19):
not necessarily anything fancy,but you know, yeah, not a
bralette.
And I designed one, but I nevertook finished pictures of
myself in it.
And it wasn't a successfulpattern for that reason.
I mean, it was horrible.
And my testers did a reallygreat job with it.
But I kind of– it's not adesign that I was passionate
(28:40):
about because it wasn'tsomething that I was ever going
to
Brittany (28:43):
Yeah.
I think that's really importantfor somebody who's looking to
design a garment specifically tosell or publish that pattern.
But if you're creatingsomething for yourself, you're
just– sort of doing your ownthing, then of course you're
going to make something that youwant.
And I feel like that's like theright mindset to be in when you
(29:06):
make your first garment design,no matter if you're going to
publish it or not, just startwith what you love and what you
like and what you want to wear.
Emily (29:13):
Oh yeah, for sure.
And I think that also helps youhave your own sort of style and
it kind of sets you apart fromother designers because Because
a lot of times I'll hear peoplesay, oh, there's only so many
ways to make a sweater.
There's only so many ways, youknow, to make, I don't know, a
(29:34):
sweater, T-shirt, whatever.
And that's true to some extent.
But at the same time, I feellike if you're being true to
yourself and what you like anddesigning from your heart with
what you want to make, yourdesigns will stand out.
They'll eventually get to thepoint where it sort of has your
signature and someone can lookat that and be like, okay.
(29:55):
Emily designed that.
I know that.
Yeah,
Brittany (29:59):
I completely agree.
So as far as the patternwriting process, I know that's
definitely not the fun part, butit is something that you do
have to put a little bit of timeand effort into if you are
going to publish the pattern.
So let's fast forward to thepoint where you have all the
details that you need.
You know that you need thebasics, the name, the gauge, the
(30:21):
tools, the yarn requirementsand then the basic steps
involved.
What happens after that?
Emily (30:29):
So I now grade all my patterns from an extra small up
to a 5X.
So there is a lot of mathinvolved.
For me personally, what I do isI, in Excel, I dump in all my
information for the medium thatI made myself.
And like I sort of mentionedbefore, I use craft yarn.
(30:50):
Yarn Council standardmeasurements as my starting
guide.
So then I, based off my gauge,I use that same formula that I
use to figure out my own size tofigure out the sizes or the
stitches and rows for the othersizes.
(31:11):
So I literally have an Excelspreadsheet that across the top
has each size.
And then I'll have like rowsthat say, you know, like how
many stitches need to be in thebust, how many rows need to be,
you know, from the shoulder tothe bottom of the armpit.
And that's all math driven.
And like I said, I use Excelbecause that's what I use at
(31:34):
work and I'm really comfortablewith it.
And it's really easy to justmake yourself a spreadsheet that
you can update.
So I do that.
And so that, but those it'simportant.
Those are only like my startingpoints because like we said
before, um, Just because twopeople can be a medium, but have
totally different measurementsand fall outside those
(31:56):
standards.
So that's a good startingpoint.
So I then, I will use thosestarting points.
And then there are some thingslike I've learned over the years
that maybe, you know, I want,I've learned like the, okay, on
certain sizes, maybe I want tomake an adjustment.
at the bust or maybe at thelength or something like this.
(32:16):
And so I will do that.
And then I write it out, thepattern with the stitch counts
for every size, the instructionsfor every size.
I mean, then at that point, itgoes to my tester.
And I now am very dead set on Ihave to have at least two.
I always welcome having atleast three for every size just
(32:39):
because I want to know thatthese instructions are going to
work for everyone.
Brittany (32:48):
Yeah, I think that's really great advice there too.
Now, one question somebodymight have in their mind is how
do you acquire the testers andthen do you have to pay them or
is it something that they do forfree?
Emily (33:04):
There are a lot of different resources for testers.
There are testing groups onRavelry.
There are testing groups onFacebook.
So I had used those in the pastand sort of gained, I guess, a
list of people that I trust.
So I actually now have my ownFacebook group for testers and I
(33:27):
post testing calls there.
And then if there are sizesthat need filled in, then I will
post it elsewhere to get thosetests.
Or sometimes I post onInstagram, but I haven't ever
really paid testers now thatbeing said there have been some
patterns where maybe it was alittle bit more complex because
(33:47):
truth be told I think we do aska lot of testers like it I mean
make no mistake testing isdefinitely a job but I have in
the past given them like achoice of they obviously get the
finished pattern for free butthen sometimes I'll give them
maybe like a pattern or twoextra from my shop of their
(34:08):
choice and Just because I try tobe cognizant of the fact that
they are doing a lot of work forme and that I appreciate them
and that I couldn't publishpatterns without them.
But no, I haven't ever paidthem.
Brittany (34:20):
Okay.
I was just curious about...
You know, I'm sure a listenerwould be curious about that,
too.
Now, do you use a patterntester in place of tech editing?
Is that something that iscommon or?
I
Emily (34:35):
think so.
I had never used tech editorsuntil actually fairly recently.
They're definitely twodifferent things.
I can, you know, before Iwasn't really sure what the
point of a tech editor was.
until chatting with some otherdesigner friends about what a
(34:58):
tech editor could really offerme.
Now I know that it's definitelyworth it.
It's an added cost for sure,but I think that if you really
want your garments, yourpatterns to have a good
reputation, a tech editor is areally great investment because
they will catch errors that atester won't.
(35:20):
They don't make the item youknow they just Check and make
sure the math is right and allyour formatting and everything.
And those are things sometesters might catch, but a tech
editor is looking at those forall sizes through the whole
pattern.
Make sure you're consistent.
Like if you're using a comma onone line for a part of it, make
(35:41):
sure you're doing it for allthe lines or make sure the
things that should be bold arebold.
I think those are the littletouches to your pattern as well
that...
make them look moreprofessional.
And especially if you ever getto the point where you're
submitting patterns for yarncompanies or magazines or other
publications, those are thethings that they are looking for
(36:04):
in your patterns.
And so it's a good practice, Ithink, to do that.
Brittany (36:10):
Yeah.
So maybe not a truerequirement, especially for the
first garment, but a good tohave if possible, if that
resource is available to you.
Emily (36:20):
Yes, for sure.
Brittany (36:21):
Okay.
So I reached out to myInstagram community yesterday.
This is something fun that I'mdoing on Instagram stories
because I know a lot of thelisteners of the show come
directly from Instagram.
And it's just neat to be ableto answer their specific
questions.
So I have four questions that Iwould love to have you ring in
(36:44):
on so that you can help thesefour makers who are on
Instagram.
So the first one comes from...
ITK Cuties, and they ask, howare you sure on sizing?
I've been wanting to design agarment, but very unsure.
Emily (36:59):
Oh, I know her.
Yeah?
Yeah, that's awesome.
So, you know, that was one ofmy biggest stumbling blocks when
I got started with garments.
I would always worry about if Igot it wrong, like, oh, I don't
want to get this wrong, andthen, you know, someone will
have a bad experience with mypattern.
(37:19):
So I think I've said this acouple of times now, craft yarn
council is a really greatstarting point.
And I use their standardmeasurements when I'm starting
and that's where I go everytime.
So they have standardmeasurements for women,
children, men, and I start thereand then I'd let, you know, I
(37:41):
really take my testers feedbackinto consideration.
If they're saying to me, youknow, Emily, like, I have this
bus size and this isn't workingfor my bus size, then I know I
have to rework that.
It's definitely a process, butit's, I think, the best way for
(38:01):
me to approach that.
Brittany (38:03):
Yeah.
So it sounds like having atester is, or multiple testers,
is really the best way to knowthat you can be confident in
your sizing because you couldhave the math right all day
long, but like we were saying,if the body type isn't right or
something like that, then youreally can't be totally
(38:25):
confident.
So I think, yeah, patterntesters, that's the way to go.
Emily (38:30):
Yeah, for sure.
Brittany (38:33):
Now our second question comes from Safa
Crochet.
She wants to know some tips forsizing the garments and
different sizes from the samedesigns.
This kind of goes into thatpattern grading that we have
already talked about before, butdo you have any other tips that
perhaps we haven't mentionedabout the grading of it?
Emily (38:55):
Yeah, I would say, so there are a couple different
things that I've got hung up onin the past that I maybe haven't
wish I had had the answer to itwhen I first started making the
garment.
Um, for example, like one of myrecent designs was a sweater
and I, you know, did the math,but some of my testers were
(39:17):
saying that the arm holes weretoo big.
And I'm saying here, like I didthe math, I did the math, like
this is, you know, like thisshould be right.
Like my formula is right.
And I was kind of understandwhat the problem was.
Well, the problem was like, youknow, The bust increases didn't
necessarily correlate with thebody increases.
And so things like that,sometimes you have to take into
(39:39):
account not only themeasurements themselves, but how
do you get from, say, the bustmeasurement to the hips?
Or if you increase so many rowsfor a bust, are you too long
for the armholes?
Which was my problem, so I hadto work on that.
So I think a lot of times...
a stumbling block is that youare thinking like, okay, I'm,
(40:01):
I'm hitting this measurement.
I'm hitting this measurement.
I'm hitting this measurement,but you have to think like, how
am I transitioning to that?
How am I, how am I getting fromthe one to the other?
You want to make sure like youstart so that your neck hole is
big enough, you know, that youdon't hit it or that it's not
too big.
It's just kind of thinking ofthe garment as like, not just a
(40:25):
bunch of different measurements,but how those measurements fit
together.
Brittany (40:28):
Yeah, that's really great advice.
That's something that youwouldn't really know until
you've made that mistake.
Emily (40:35):
Oh, for sure, which I have, and I've made all those
mistakes.
I once did have a tester whocouldn't get her cardigan over
her head.
Or sweater, I mean, notcardigan, but
Brittany (40:44):
yeah.
Yeah, that's no good.
Okay, so our third questioncomes from, and I may pronounce
this wrong, so if I do, I'mtotally sorry, Unwind by Luane.
how to find models for yourmakes and best ways to take
pictures of them modeled
Emily (41:01):
and flat.
Okay.
So I normally make my samplepiece for myself.
So I am usually my own model.
I can sympathize with maybefeeling uncomfortable being your
own model because that was abig struggle of mine for a long
time.
And to be honest, I stillstruggle with that.
But for adult female patterns,I model them myself 99% of the
(41:27):
time.
I also sometimes wrote mydaughter in and make her model
if it's like something for kids.
Um, that being said, I knowthere are people who use outside
models and I think that's fine.
There's not anything wrong withthat.
Um, I have a couple of timeshad my, one of my friends model
for me and I think it's justreaching out to people.
(41:50):
I know there are Facebookgroups that can set that sort of
thing up as well.
But I think just asking peopleyou know is a good place to
start.
As far as how to take modeledpictures, I like to take modeled
pictures outside when possiblejust because the light is
normally better because I don'tlike the harshness of artificial
(42:12):
lighting.
Brittany (42:13):
Yeah.
Emily (42:13):
And so...
We'll go outside.
Usually my daughter is myphotographer.
I also have a tripod that I uselike when she's not around or
if she's not wanting to help momthat day.
So I try to, you know, not inharsh sunlight, like a lot of
times.
like there's one building whereI know there's shade and it's a
(42:34):
nice white brick building.
So I'll take pictures there.
I definitely try to always makesure, like I said, that I'm in
shade and I will just have hertake pictures from like all
angles and I'll, you know, takepictures while I'm walking.
And I, it's just really kind ofa process and I'll just look at
them as we go.
Now for flat lays, it's funnybecause I kind of struggle with
flat lays because I always thinkOther people have such
(42:57):
interesting flat lays, and mineare always kind of just stark,
but that is, I guess, kind of myown personal style that I
started doing or done on my feedfor a while now.
I just try to, again, I takemost of my pictures outside.
I have a big whiteboard that Itake out.
and arrange my stuff on or, youknow, white fur rug or whatever
(43:20):
and do it in the shade again.
Some people can do it inside.
I just say natural light isbest and, you know, play with
different angles.
Maybe you want to take it fromstraight ahead.
Maybe you want to kind of getit, you know, from a different
angle and really play with thattexture.
You can lay it completely flator maybe you want to, I don't
(43:42):
know, and move it around in someway so that you can see how
drapey it is.
I think just experimenting isreally key.
Brittany (43:50):
Yeah, I would totally agree.
I know for every one photo thatpasses the test that I would
actually publish somewhere, I'veprobably taken at least 20
others.
Oh, yeah.
It takes quite a few snapshots,and the really bad ones I throw
away so I'm not wasting anystorage space or anything like
that.
But...
(44:10):
especially when you're takingphotos of yourself.
Now, I don't have aphotographer that I use.
I don't have a helper here.
I work from home and I'm herepretty much by myself all day.
So I have a remote to my cameraand that was the best purchase
(44:30):
I ever made.
It was like a $12 purchase.
That was a game changer for myphotos.
And I typically will take myphotos indoors because we don't
have a really great setup that Ican think of that would have a
really nice backdrop.
But I have two windows that arepretty bright.
(44:50):
In my room, I get some reallygood sunlight here, and I use
white sheer curtains to softensome of the harshness.
And that has worked really,really well.
So if you have a good window,and even if you have sheers, all
the better.
I think you can still get somereally great photos that way.
The other thing I want to chimein on about the flat lace, I
(45:14):
haven't tried this myself, but Ihave seen some really great
pictures of people demonstratingwhat their garment looks like
by having it on a hanger andjust having it on a blank wall,
like if you have a hook orsomething on your wall, and it
looks really good.
Emily (45:32):
Yeah, I always love those pictures.
I think they are interestingand it shows how the garment
will look worn.
And I always think they looklike artsy kind of.
Does that make sense?
Yeah, it totally does.
I love those kind of photos.
Brittany (45:45):
Yeah, I love that too.
Now, our last question comesfrom Divine Debris, Amber.
We've had her on the showbefore, so that's how I can call
her out by name.
She wants to know, what do youknow now that you wish you knew
before you started designing?
I think that's a great questionto end on.
Emily (46:03):
Yeah.
Oh, I love Amber.
Um, there are probably a lot ofthings that I wish that I would
have known.
I think I touched on this alittle bit to take better notes
when you're designing.
Uh, like I said, it's somethingthat I still kind of struggle
with, but I'm getting better at,but basically the more
information you can have writtendown before you start actually
(46:25):
writing the pattern is reallyhelpful.
It's hard to have to go back andsort of deconstruct that piece
from the end and remember whatyou did.
So it's just easier to justtake the notes as you go.
Also, the one that I think waskind of hardest for me to get
over when I first starteddesigning patterns, I thought
that something had to becomplicated to be good.
(46:47):
And that's just not true.
I always thought like, oh, Ineed to use the most complex
stitch pattern I can, or I needto use a lot of different
stitches or, you know, or it hasto have some crazy different
shape, but that's not true.
I mean, you can createbeautiful functional pieces with
simple, simple shapes, simplestitches, and they're just as
(47:09):
special as something that hasmore complex stitches.
Yeah.
Brittany (47:13):
Yeah, yeah.
I think that's a really greatstarting point.
So kind of pulling from whatwe've mentioned today, I think
the first thing to realize isthat you can make a functional
and really great garment fromscratch.
basic shapes and to pull frominspiration from your closet
(47:34):
take really good notes becauseit is really hard to work back
from that and even then I knowfor me personally it kills my
confidence because I'm secondguessing whether or not I
reverse engineered thatcorrectly it's just better to
just not even let that happen sotake good notes get some
pattern testers and And juststart.
(47:55):
I think that's like the nextfirst step for somebody.
Get over the fears.
It's not super easy, but youcan do it.
And I think that you wouldagree to that too.
Emily (48:07):
Yes, 100%.
Brittany (48:10):
Well, this has been a really insightful conversation.
I'm really excited about whatyou were able to share and how
real it was talking about yourfirst experience garment and how
it was a success, but therewere some hiccups and you worked
through those.
And now you've designed, howmany garments do you think now?
(48:30):
Like tons of them?
I
Emily (48:33):
think I've published around 12 garments, but I have
some others that haven't, thatI've designed that haven't been
published yet.
Brittany (48:41):
Okay.
So you are...
continuously making progressand it sounds like you're you
love doing it otherwise youwouldn't continue to work on
garments so I think that'sinspiration for a listener but
if they want to connect with youafter hearing today's episode
where's the best place for themto go I
Emily (49:02):
pretty much live on Instagram these days so you can
always reach out to me hook dayson Instagram
Brittany (49:09):
Wonderful.
I will have that linked in theshow notes as well.
And Emily, thank you so much.
This has been so much fun.
Yes, I've had a great time.
Emily (49:18):
Thanks for having me.
Brittany (49:20):
All right.
That was Emily from HookedHazel and you can find her on
Instagram at Hooked Hazel to seesome of those designs she
mentioned and to connect withher online.
As she said, she lives onInstagram and I'm sure she would
love to connect with you.
Well, it's pretty clear thathaving the confidence to hit
publish on that first design isa key ingredient to creating a
(49:40):
basic crochet garment.
We all know that confidencecomes from practice and, well,
it also comes from community.
So reach out to fellowcrocheters on Instagram or
Facebook or whatever platformyou enjoy most.
Now, if you've alreadypublished a crochet garment
before and you have a tip thatwasn't covered here today, well,
(50:02):
I would absolutely love it ifyou could share that tip in the
comment section of the shownotes page, behooked.com slash
128.
I think that'll be a reallygreat way for listeners in the
future to get even more tipsabout creating their first basic
garment.
Now, by the way, the trialoffer of Amazon Prime free for
(50:23):
30 days is still available.
So you can enjoy free two-dayshipping through Amazon Prime,
which is the place where I liketo place all of my yarn orders.
And the best part is thatshipping's free and your yarn
comes in two days.
So to get in on that, to signup for Amazon Prime free for 30
days, just visit BeHooked.comslash Prime.
(50:46):
That'll redirect you to thepage on Amazon where you can
sign up and start that trial.
Well, if you already are aPrime member and you would still
like to support the show, youcan do so by doing your regular
Amazon shopping.
All you have to do is type inBeHooked.com slash Amazon.
That'll redirect you toAmazon's homepage where I will
(51:10):
earn as an affiliate from anyqualifying purchases you make.
So as a result, that is a bigsupport to this show.
All right.
Thank you so much for that.
And be sure to subscribe if youhaven't done so already,
especially if you're a bloggeror a designer.
Next week, you'll get to hearfrom April at OTH Crochet Nook
(51:32):
about mastering Instagram formakers.
It's a good one.
You won't want to miss it.
But until then, have awonderful weekend and I'll see
you then.
Bye-bye.
You're listening to The BeHooked Podcast, episode
128, with Brittany.
Hey there, and welcome toepisode 128 of the Be Hooked
(00:35):
podcast.
You could be listening to justabout anything, and you're
sitting here listening to me,and that makes me super happy.
So thank you so much forjoining me.
This is the place where we loveyarn, we love to learn, and we
truly believe yarn can do morethan just make pretty things.
In this instance, we aretalking about how yarn can make
(00:56):
a really pretty thing, a garmentor a wearable.
It was a really long timebefore I finally had the courage
to create my first garmentdesign and I don't do a ton of
these because there are so manymoving parts and there's a lot
involved and to be honest Ireally just enjoy designing
(01:18):
accessories.
But there's something soincredible about wearing
something that you've made.
And I'm sure you have thatfeeling.
You know what I'm talking aboutbecause you want to make your
first design.
So I have a special treat linedup for you today.
If you've been wanting to makeyour first garment design and
you haven't been able to getover that hump, whatever that
(01:40):
may be, you don't know exactlywhat to do.
You don't have the confidencein grading it correctly, but
we're going to address some ofthose little hiccups today.
You'll need the know-how ofcourse but you'll also need the
confidence.
So to help you with this I'mjoined by Emily from Hooked
(02:02):
Hazel over on Instagram, someonewho brings many skills to the
crochet industry but she reallyhas a knack for garment design.
Now, before we get to my chatwith Emily, keep in mind you can
find the resources for thisepisode on the show notes page,
which is behooked.com slash 128.
All right.
(02:23):
Are you ready to take thatfirst step towards creating a
garment?
Let's get to it.
Emily, hi.
Welcome to the show.
It's such a pleasure to haveyou here.
Thanks.
I'm excited to be here.
I am very excited to have youhere as well.
You are...
you sort of bring a lot ofdifferent skills to the knitting
(02:45):
and crochet industry.
One of those, you really seemto have a knack for making
garments.
And I would love to get into alittle bit of that.
I think it's a skill thatyou've really mastered.
And hopefully you can help alistener who might be willing to
try something, but they're justnot sure how to do a simple
(03:06):
garment design.
Yeah, I'd love to talk aboutthat.
Well, I'm really excited aboutthat.
Before we get into thosedetails, sort of that focus, I'd
love to learn a little bit moreabout how you got into crochet,
who taught you, and when wasthat?
Emily (03:22):
I think how I got into crochet is pretty similar from
what I've heard from a lot ofpeople.
My grandma taught me when I wasyoung, which seems to be a
really common thing in ourindustry, which is really cool.
I think it's a skill setthat's, you know, passed down
from generation to generation.
But when I was about sevenyears old, my grandma taught me
(03:45):
to crochet.
And so therefore, maybe a yearor so when I was young, I
crocheted a lot, a lot of singlecrochet squares, basically.
So then it's, it's a thing thatI've put down and picked up
over the years.
In middle school then when Iwas probably 12 there was
actually a crochet club atschool and I joined it
Brittany (04:08):
Oh yeah?
Emily (04:08):
yeah and so that kind of got me going again and um we
made um potholders I think wasreally the only project we made
so that year I made I don't evenknow probably 20 potholders um
So I did that again for a while.
It was a hobby for a while.
And in high school, I didn'treally crochet much or in
(04:30):
college.
But then before my daughter wasborn, I really wanted to make
her a baby blanket.
And since I knew how to makesquares, I decided to pick up
crochet again and worked on ababy blanket for her and did
that.
And it was kind of a nice wayto pass the time before she was
(04:51):
born.
and stuff.
So then obviously when she wasborn, I had trouble keeping up
the, um, hobby because at thatpoint it was definitely just a
hobby.
And so it kind of went on theback burner.
I would once in a while, likemaybe make a little bit of
something or, um, get out myhooks and yarn.
Then it wasn't until when mydaughter, Lara was about eight
(05:15):
years old, then, um, she, uh,the Pinterest age, I guess she
would look on Pinterest and seecool crochet things.
And she would ask like, Oh mom,can you make this?
Or can you try to make this?
And so that's really when Iwant to say that I got sort of
addicted to crochet.
So I've known for a long time,but it wasn't until four or five
(05:38):
years ago that I really gotinto it again, like full force,
I guess you would say.
Brittany (05:44):
Yeah.
Well, it sounds like you had areally good motivator there.
Do you?
Emily (05:48):
Yes, for sure.
Brittany (05:49):
Is she asking you to teach her how to do it?
Emily (05:52):
She has asked me a couple of times and I'll tell you
what, it gives me a whole newrespect for my grandma because
it takes a lot of patience toteach a child how to crochet.
She, she can chain and sheknows how to single crochet.
But she definitely, she lovesart and crafts, but she's
(06:12):
definitely more of a drawer, butwe've tried.
She's, lately been using thatfinger loop yarn that you can
like finger knit with.
She enjoys that.
I think for her, it's easier tojust ask mom to make
Brittany (06:28):
something.
Yeah, for now.
I think that looped yarn is areally great way to start.
It's one of the coolest thingsthat the yarn industry has come
up with lately.
I'm really excited about that.
Emily (06:37):
Oh yeah, for sure.
It's awesome.
Brittany (06:40):
So you said at some point it became more.
I know that it's more than justa hobby nowadays.
So tell me the story about howall that developed.
Emily (06:50):
Yeah.
So it actually was because ofAlara.
She was wanting these thingsthat she'd see on Pinterest.
And I'm sure you remember themermaid blanket craze that was
about then.
And so she really wanted amermaid blanket.
And I thought, okay, I think Ican make one of these.
it was at that time definitelythe most complex thing I'd tried
(07:13):
to make.
So I, you know, we went andlike picked out the yarn and,
um, I made her a mermaidblanket.
And of course I took picturesand she on my Facebook page.
Um, and pretty soon I hadpeople asking me if I would take
orders for those.
And so I did and, I took quitea few orders from them around
Christmas and I thought, Oh,well, this is like a fun way to
(07:36):
do my hobby and, um, maybe atleast, you know, make a little
money to buy yarn for myself.
Um, so I started doing that andthen I started having people
invite me to do like area craftshows.
And so I thought, well, I can'treally do mermaid blankets for
craft shows.
So I started doing, to get moreinto making hats and scarves
(08:00):
and headbands and things of thatnature.
So I did that and opened up anEtsy shop where I was just doing
finished items.
And it was a lot of fun.
I did two seasons of craftshows, started my Instagram page
and a business Facebook page.
And then that's when I kind ofreally got opened up to the idea
(08:25):
that designing as somethingthat really any crocheter can
easily get into beforeInstagram, I guess I didn't
really realize how manyindependent designers there are.
Like I had a couple that Iwould always like go to for
patterns, you know, I didn'treally realize how vast the
community was.
(08:45):
And so I thought, Oh, wellmaybe I can, you know, actually
do something with some of thesedesigns that I've been working
on for hats and whatnot.
So I started that kind of and itgot to the point where because
I also work a day job wheremaking finished items was not
(09:07):
really feasible for me because,you know, I had a day job.
I'm a mom.
I have a significant other.
And there are only so manyhours in a day.
So if I wanted my business tobe profitable, I had to evolve.
So I kind of started focusingmore on designing.
It's funny because when I wasgrowing up, actually, I always
(09:28):
wanted to be a fashion designer.
And I would spend hours, like,sketching outfits and, like,
looking at fashion magazines andthings.
And I started kind ofrealizing, like, oh, wow, I
could actually kind of do thatwith crochet.
It's totally feasible.
So I ended up...
To get Hooked Hazelware is now,I actually gave up selling
(09:51):
finished items just because...
It wasn't fulfilling in me thecreative part of crochet that I
love, I guess.
Like it was starting to stressme out a little bit.
So I started designing justreally simple things and it's
just kind of gone on from there.
So
Brittany (10:12):
have you always designed garments or were you
sort of focusing on those hatsand scarves and that sort of
thing just to get into the worldof designing and just writing
patterns in general?
Emily (10:24):
Yeah.
So my very first pattern I everwrote was a triangle scarf.
And from there, I did some hatsand things.
I really wanted to do garments.
I had crocheted– at that point,I had like crocheted a couple
garments for myself and actuallyeven knit a couple garments for
myself.
But I– wasn't sure if I had itin me to design one so I kind of
(10:46):
I feel like held myself backfrom trying I I thought I guess
how do I want to say this I inthe beginning doubted myself
that I could design garments andso I stuck with designing hats
and headbands and scarves andstuff and which I still will
design things like that but Ireally wanted to design garments
(11:10):
and so I I chatted with someother maker friends and some
designers that I know, you know,kind of ask them like, what's
your take on this?
Like, do you think, is it crazyif I wanted to design a
garment?
And they're like, no, it's notcrazy.
Like go for it, try it.
And so I, I did, which is nowmy main focus.
I do more garments thanaccessories, but I still like to
(11:33):
design accessories as well.
But garments is definitelywhere my heart is.
Brittany (11:36):
Yeah, I think that's something that so many people
can relate to as well.
I think it's maybe sort of aprerequisite to have a pattern
that's outside of the world ofgarments before you dive into
it, just so you...
get the feel for what it is towrite a pattern and what to
include in that sort of thing.
But it's that hump that youhave to get over from your
(11:58):
comfort zone to like outsideyour comfort zone.
And I, you know, I don't do awhole lot of garment design
myself because of all of whatgoes into it.
And the fear that somethingwill be wrong, that somebody
will put a ton of time into aproject and then it doesn't turn
(12:19):
out right because something waswrong on the pattern side.
That's just like an anxietythat I have for myself.
So I do tend to design reallysimple garments as well.
But I think it's not asdifficult to design a functional
and really pretty piece.
It's not as difficult as itseems.
(12:41):
Would you agree?
Emily (12:43):
Yeah, I totally agree.
A lot of it is really justmath, which I know for some
people is scary, but it is kindof like once you do it that
first time and you realize like,okay, you know, this is how the
different parts of this shouldfit, then it makes it easier
every time.
Like depending on the type ofgarment, I mean, really you can
(13:07):
make a shirt from two squares,you know?
Brittany (13:09):
Yeah.
Emily (13:10):
And they're like I said, there's other that goes into it,
you know, with math and makingsure it fits different sizes and
all that.
But it really I think a lot ofpeople and myself included, I
had built it up in my head asthis impossible thing.
But it's really not.
Brittany (13:27):
And having the confidence in yourself is.
to say, yes, this is right.
That was my big holdup andstill is to some extent today.
I know the math that goes intoit.
And my husband is a mathwizard.
And so I always have him tobounce things off of to make
sure, you know, to check myself.
(13:47):
But I think in order to getthat confidence that you need to
know that you've done itcorrectly, you have to put a
couple of designs out there andsee for yourself that, yes,
you've done it right.
Emily (14:02):
Yes, I totally agree with that.
Brittany (14:05):
Well, I think someone listening is probably convinced
at this point.
They want to design a garment.
That's why they're listening,but they want to do something
basic, just their first simpledesign.
basic garment design.
So to sort of ease into thatside of the conversation, let's
start with your first garmentdesign because I want to know if
(14:27):
it was a huge success or acomplete failure and sort of how
you worked through that andsome of those feelings and
emotions we were just talkingabout.
Emily (14:36):
Okay.
My first garment design wasactually a very simple halter
top.
It was like a basically asquare front that wraps around
laces in the back.
Very, very simple.
At that point, like I just kindof wanted to dip my toes in, I
guess you would say.
Brittany (14:57):
Yeah.
Emily (14:58):
And so I thought this is something easy that I can do.
And it was pretty easy.
I didn't at that, at that pointin time, I wasn't, I didn't
have as many extended sizings onpatterns as I do now, but I,
you know, first made it for mysize and, And then I went to
craft yarn council and foundmeasurements standards for other
(15:21):
sizes and did the math, youknow, with, with my gauge and
stuff to figure those out, um,and how it would fit.
Now I did make some errors thenbecause I had it tested, but I
didn't have it probably asthoroughly tested by as many,
um, different body types as Ishould have.
(15:42):
And so that did lead to somepushback for me.
And I had to make edits to thepattern after it was published.
But it was a good learningexperience.
It will always be, at least ifit wasn't a complete success, it
was something I learned a lotfrom.
Brittany (15:58):
Yeah, I think it's great to learn the hard way
sometimes, especially becauseyou don't know what you don't
know.
And when you're getting intosomething new, that you've never
done before, there's a lot ofunknowns to that.
Who would have known that youneed to test it on a bunch of
different body types that maybethe measurements aren't enough
(16:19):
for that?
So I think that's a good lessonfor somebody listening to say,
hey, it's about more than justthe measurements.
And you also have toincorporate the end project, the
who it's for aspect.
Emily (16:36):
Yeah, for sure.
Kind of like you touched onearlier, like you don't want
someone to spend so much timemaking something and something
not be right.
Or I don't want them to spendtime making something and put it
on and feel like, well, thisdoesn't look good on my body or
this doesn't make me feel good.
Or I don't like the way thislooks because I think that's
something that everyone dealswith.
(16:57):
You know, I mean, we all wantto feel good in the clothes we
wear day to day, let alone theclothes we spend time making.
And especially women.
People might buy a special yarnthat's expensive to make
something, and they put a lot oftime into it.
And so it's definitely I wantmy designs to be as perfected as
possible before it gets to thecustomer and try to work out all
(17:21):
those issues in testing.
I've learned that over the lastyear, but that's like my main
goal.
I want people to feel goodafter they put so many– hours
into making something that Idesigned, I want them to be
proud of it and be able to showit off.
Brittany (17:37):
Yes.
And now, like today, you'vemade a lot of different garment
designs.
So I feel like you've come areally long way since that first
design, I'm sure, and yourskills, just what you know about
designing garments, thattesting process, and then the
confidence to say, yes, I amhitting the publish on this
(17:57):
because I am proud of thisgarment.
I've done everything that I canpossibly do to make sure it's
perfect for the customer.
And...
Did that take time or practiceor was it something else that
made you sort of get over that?
Emily (18:16):
You know, it's funny because I still sometimes– and I
have a wonderful group oftesters that I use, but I still
sometimes– feel um nervous whenI publish a new pattern I mean
well not sometimes I meanhonestly every time yeah me too
it's like you just hope peoplewill like it and that it works
(18:39):
for them but I think once youthe more you do it's like
anything else you get betterwith practice so I know I that I
have done so many designs overthe last year, year and a half,
I know that I am better at thisnow than I was then.
So even though I might getbutterflies, objectively, I
(19:00):
know, okay, I'm, you know,continuously improving.
And I have a group of testersthat I really trust that aren't
afraid to dig in and give methat hard feedback when I need
it.
I, I try really hard to, I'lluse those, but then I also once
in a while bring in new testersto get a new perspective on
things.
(19:20):
Um, I've just learned, like Isaid, Instagram has been so
helpful to me because I've metso many people and I've learned
that designers are usuallyreally open and they're willing
to discuss things with you ifthey have tips or something, um,
or to share resources becausethere are so many free resources
out there, um, including yourblog, um, in, you know, books
(19:44):
about garments and stuff.
It's just, I think that if youput in the work to get better,
then you will get better.
So I'm still nervous, butobjectively I know.
Yeah.
that it's okay
Brittany (20:01):
yeah that's really great advice and that's
something that you really doneed to hear getting into
something for the first time youhave to set that expectation
that you're you're not going tobe perfect the first few times
but you will get better but inorder to get better you have to
keep doing it right so let'sshift to the process now there's
(20:23):
a lot that is involved indesigning a garment and there's
more steps that's involved thanyou in designing a garment than
there is, say, a hat or a scarfor something that's not nearly
as complex.
So let's run through the steps,sort of just a general
overview.
So somebody who's looking toget into it for the first time
(20:44):
is aware of those differencesbetween writing this pattern
versus writing patterns thatthey have already done in the
past.
So what's the first thing thatyou do when you have an idea for
a new wearable?
Emily (20:58):
Okay, I usually...
these days I get ideas forwearables kind of from my own
closet, not necessarily from thelook of something, but how
something fits or like thefeeling maybe I have, like I
have maybe a, you know, acomfortable cardigan and I want
to make something that I havethat same feeling or I like the
(21:21):
cut of the arm or something.
And so I think, um, So that'skind of where I start.
Then I will think about what,what yarn I want to use, like
what fiber is going to lenditself well to that.
Like whether it's somethingthat I need, you know, good
stuff, stitch definition on, ormaybe it's something, um, that I
want to be drapey or, orwhatever it is.
(21:43):
And so then I will go yarnshopping, which is kind of
everyone's favorite part.
So I, you know, whether I goonline and shop or, um, or
however, go to the store, I'llorder yarn.
Usually I will get like acouple options.
And one thing I do also try todo is I kind of try to keep my
(22:04):
personal yarn stash with somedifferent options that I can try
before I order like a bigamount.
So I then will swatch.
I do a lot of swatching.
And just to figure out whatstitch pattern I want, And so I
will make a bunch of swatchesand I actually, a lot of times
(22:24):
we'll like finish off a swatch,cut it, make another one with
maybe a different stitch patternor a different fiber.
And I make what I would almostconsider to be a mood board in a
way.
I'll keep all those swatchestogether and sketch out my idea.
And a lot of times like I'llwrite a description of what it
is I'm trying to make as well.
(22:45):
I might even write down whatthe stitch pattern is that I'm
using and Um, and just like dropmyself little notes.
And then I usually try to sleepon it for a day or so, because
sometimes I've learned, like Iused to just jump in and be
like, I'm going to start makingthis with this.
I get so excited.
And then I maybe would get, youknow, 20 rows in and I'm like,
(23:08):
I don't like how this looks.
So I have learned as hard as itcan be sometimes to plan as
much as I can before I startmaking the actual garment.
So, um, then I actually try tohave the pattern kind of, I
don't write it out completelybefore I make it, but I kind of
try to have like a generaloutline for myself of like,
(23:32):
okay, I, I think I need, youknow, this many rows or
whatever.
And I do that based off mygauge swatch.
So I, you know, simple example,if there are, you know, five
stitches in the swatch, um, foran inch and I need it, you know,
say a 40 inch bust, then Iknow, you know, I just take
(23:55):
that, um, five times 40 and thatgets me my like biggest part
that I need.
So I, I do all the math.
I, and I'll figure out likehow, if I want it to be 21
inches long, I'll, I'll use thatsame methodology with my swatch
to get that so that I have atleast, um, general idea so I'm
not sitting here just kind ofaimlessly crocheting and trying
(24:17):
to figure out if it worksbecause I have like I said I've
done that in the past and itgenerally results in a lot of
frogging so I try to have apretty good plan based on that
so then depending on what kindof garment it is say if it's
like something like a raglan Imake sure that I am trying it on
(24:38):
a lot as I'm making it or I'mThere are different points and
different types of garmentswhere you can try it on or look
and see how it looks.
I'll even take pictures so thatI can look at it later.
Because if there's a problem, Iwant to be aware of it as it
happens, if that makes sense.
(24:59):
Oh yeah, totally.
Because sometimes I get veryexcited by the making and I'm
not thinking to myself aboutwhat I'm going to need in the
pattern.
So I do that.
And then once I finish thegarment, I am a big believer.
I always block my stuff.
I think that really helps.
(25:20):
And I will take pictures, notalways like necessarily like a
full photo shoot, what I woulduse for the pattern itself.
I get pictures, you know, fromthe front, the back, the sides.
My daughter actually helps meout a lot with that.
And that helps me in a fewdifferent ways.
One, because I want to see,like, does this look good or
(25:44):
does it look like it fits how Iwant it to?
Because I want to resolve allthose issues before I get it out
to my testers, basically.
The whole time I'm making, Itry to make notes.
I don't necessarily write outevery line as I go, but I do.
I will write, you know, tomyself, like, okay, five rows of
(26:06):
double crochet, Disneystitches.
And like, I know I'm making formyself a size medium.
And so I, I keep good track ofthat.
Um, so then I'll actually, onceI finished my garment, I'll
kind of double check thatagainst my notes.
And that makes it a lot easiertoo, because I, there have been
times where I got kind of laxabout my notes while I was
(26:26):
making, because I mean, themaking is the fun part.
The writing isn't necessarilythe fun part.
Brittany (26:32):
Yeah.
Emily (26:33):
And so I'll do that.
And then once I'm satisfiedwith how everything looks and I
think, you know, my notes lineup with the piece, then that's
when I get into the actualpattern writing.
Brittany (26:45):
Okay.
So it sounds like you're makingthe piece to fit you.
And I think that's a reallygood tip.
So it doesn't matter what sizeyou are.
For me, it makes sense to thinkI'm going to start with the
small because that's thesmallest size and then it would
be easier to grade it up fromthere.
(27:06):
But I think the betterpractices like what you do make
it to fit yourself and thenmodify the pattern up or down,
whatever you have to do in orderto grade for those different
sizes.
Emily (27:19):
Right.
And the reason I actually dothat is because...
I don't want to designsomething that I wouldn't wear.
And it also is honestly fromlike an Instagram sort of
perspective.
Again, um, I have really in thelast year tried to get better
about putting my face to mybrand.
(27:40):
And so I think the easiest wayfor me to do that is to make
garments for myself and thenmodel them on my page.
Brittany (27:49):
Yeah, and I feel too that if you wouldn't wear it
yourself, you would never beokay with hitting publish on
something.
Emily (27:57):
Right, right.
I totally agree with that.
I did one time actually design–and that's another thing that
I've learned.
I designed a bralette one timejust because I– honestly, I
don't even know why because Idon't really wear that often.
sort of thing.
I mean, I work in an office allday.
So 90% of my wardrobe has to bethings I can wear in an office,
(28:19):
not necessarily anything fancy,but you know, yeah, not a
bralette.
And I designed one, but I nevertook finished pictures of
myself in it.
And it wasn't a successfulpattern for that reason.
I mean, it was horrible.
And my testers did a reallygreat job with it.
But I kind of– it's not adesign that I was passionate
(28:40):
about because it wasn'tsomething that I was ever going
to
Brittany (28:43):
Yeah.
I think that's really importantfor somebody who's looking to
design a garment specifically tosell or publish that pattern.
But if you're creatingsomething for yourself, you're
just– sort of doing your ownthing, then of course you're
going to make something that youwant.
And I feel like that's like theright mindset to be in when you
(29:06):
make your first garment design,no matter if you're going to
publish it or not, just startwith what you love and what you
like and what you want to wear.
Emily (29:13):
Oh yeah, for sure.
And I think that also helps youhave your own sort of style and
it kind of sets you apart fromother designers because Because
a lot of times I'll hear peoplesay, oh, there's only so many
ways to make a sweater.
There's only so many ways, youknow, to make, I don't know, a
(29:34):
sweater, T-shirt, whatever.
And that's true to some extent.
But at the same time, I feellike if you're being true to
yourself and what you like anddesigning from your heart with
what you want to make, yourdesigns will stand out.
They'll eventually get to thepoint where it sort of has your
signature and someone can lookat that and be like, okay.
(29:55):
Emily designed that.
I know that.
Yeah,
Brittany (29:59):
I completely agree.
So as far as the patternwriting process, I know that's
definitely not the fun part, butit is something that you do
have to put a little bit of timeand effort into if you are
going to publish the pattern.
So let's fast forward to thepoint where you have all the
details that you need.
You know that you need thebasics, the name, the gauge, the
(30:21):
tools, the yarn requirementsand then the basic steps
involved.
What happens after that?
Emily (30:29):
So I now grade all my patterns from an extra small up
to a 5X.
So there is a lot of mathinvolved.
For me personally, what I do isI, in Excel, I dump in all my
information for the medium thatI made myself.
And like I sort of mentionedbefore, I use craft yarn.
(30:50):
Yarn Council standardmeasurements as my starting
guide.
So then I, based off my gauge,I use that same formula that I
use to figure out my own size tofigure out the sizes or the
stitches and rows for the othersizes.
(31:11):
So I literally have an Excelspreadsheet that across the top
has each size.
And then I'll have like rowsthat say, you know, like how
many stitches need to be in thebust, how many rows need to be,
you know, from the shoulder tothe bottom of the armpit.
And that's all math driven.
And like I said, I use Excelbecause that's what I use at
(31:34):
work and I'm really comfortablewith it.
And it's really easy to justmake yourself a spreadsheet that
you can update.
So I do that.
And so that, but those it'simportant.
Those are only like my startingpoints because like we said
before, um, Just because twopeople can be a medium, but have
totally different measurementsand fall outside those
(31:56):
standards.
So that's a good startingpoint.
So I then, I will use thosestarting points.
And then there are some thingslike I've learned over the years
that maybe, you know, I want,I've learned like the, okay, on
certain sizes, maybe I want tomake an adjustment.
at the bust or maybe at thelength or something like this.
(32:16):
And so I will do that.
And then I write it out, thepattern with the stitch counts
for every size, the instructionsfor every size.
I mean, then at that point, itgoes to my tester.
And I now am very dead set on Ihave to have at least two.
I always welcome having atleast three for every size just
(32:39):
because I want to know thatthese instructions are going to
work for everyone.
Brittany (32:48):
Yeah, I think that's really great advice there too.
Now, one question somebodymight have in their mind is how
do you acquire the testers andthen do you have to pay them or
is it something that they do forfree?
Emily (33:04):
There are a lot of different resources for testers.
There are testing groups onRavelry.
There are testing groups onFacebook.
So I had used those in the pastand sort of gained, I guess, a
list of people that I trust.
So I actually now have my ownFacebook group for testers and I
(33:27):
post testing calls there.
And then if there are sizesthat need filled in, then I will
post it elsewhere to get thosetests.
Or sometimes I post onInstagram, but I haven't ever
really paid testers now thatbeing said there have been some
patterns where maybe it was alittle bit more complex because
(33:47):
truth be told I think we do aska lot of testers like it I mean
make no mistake testing isdefinitely a job but I have in
the past given them like achoice of they obviously get the
finished pattern for free butthen sometimes I'll give them
maybe like a pattern or twoextra from my shop of their
(34:08):
choice and Just because I try tobe cognizant of the fact that
they are doing a lot of work forme and that I appreciate them
and that I couldn't publishpatterns without them.
But no, I haven't ever paidthem.
Brittany (34:20):
Okay.
I was just curious about...
You know, I'm sure a listenerwould be curious about that,
too.
Now, do you use a patterntester in place of tech editing?
Is that something that iscommon or?
I
Emily (34:35):
think so.
I had never used tech editorsuntil actually fairly recently.
They're definitely twodifferent things.
I can, you know, before Iwasn't really sure what the
point of a tech editor was.
until chatting with some otherdesigner friends about what a
(34:58):
tech editor could really offerme.
Now I know that it's definitelyworth it.
It's an added cost for sure,but I think that if you really
want your garments, yourpatterns to have a good
reputation, a tech editor is areally great investment because
they will catch errors that atester won't.
(35:20):
They don't make the item youknow they just Check and make
sure the math is right and allyour formatting and everything.
And those are things sometesters might catch, but a tech
editor is looking at those forall sizes through the whole
pattern.
Make sure you're consistent.
Like if you're using a comma onone line for a part of it, make
(35:41):
sure you're doing it for allthe lines or make sure the
things that should be bold arebold.
I think those are the littletouches to your pattern as well
that...
make them look moreprofessional.
And especially if you ever getto the point where you're
submitting patterns for yarncompanies or magazines or other
publications, those are thethings that they are looking for
(36:04):
in your patterns.
And so it's a good practice, Ithink, to do that.
Brittany (36:10):
Yeah.
So maybe not a truerequirement, especially for the
first garment, but a good tohave if possible, if that
resource is available to you.
Emily (36:20):
Yes, for sure.
Brittany (36:21):
Okay.
So I reached out to myInstagram community yesterday.
This is something fun that I'mdoing on Instagram stories
because I know a lot of thelisteners of the show come
directly from Instagram.
And it's just neat to be ableto answer their specific
questions.
So I have four questions that Iwould love to have you ring in
(36:44):
on so that you can help thesefour makers who are on
Instagram.
So the first one comes from...
ITK Cuties, and they ask, howare you sure on sizing?
I've been wanting to design agarment, but very unsure.
Emily (36:59):
Oh, I know her.
Yeah?
Yeah, that's awesome.
So, you know, that was one ofmy biggest stumbling blocks when
I got started with garments.
I would always worry about if Igot it wrong, like, oh, I don't
want to get this wrong, andthen, you know, someone will
have a bad experience with mypattern.
(37:19):
So I think I've said this acouple of times now, craft yarn
council is a really greatstarting point.
And I use their standardmeasurements when I'm starting
and that's where I go everytime.
So they have standardmeasurements for women,
children, men, and I start thereand then I'd let, you know, I
(37:41):
really take my testers feedbackinto consideration.
If they're saying to me, youknow, Emily, like, I have this
bus size and this isn't workingfor my bus size, then I know I
have to rework that.
It's definitely a process, butit's, I think, the best way for
(38:01):
me to approach that.
Brittany (38:03):
Yeah.
So it sounds like having atester is, or multiple testers,
is really the best way to knowthat you can be confident in
your sizing because you couldhave the math right all day
long, but like we were saying,if the body type isn't right or
something like that, then youreally can't be totally
(38:25):
confident.
So I think, yeah, patterntesters, that's the way to go.
Emily (38:30):
Yeah, for sure.
Brittany (38:33):
Now our second question comes from Safa
Crochet.
She wants to know some tips forsizing the garments and
different sizes from the samedesigns.
This kind of goes into thatpattern grading that we have
already talked about before, butdo you have any other tips that
perhaps we haven't mentionedabout the grading of it?
Emily (38:55):
Yeah, I would say, so there are a couple different
things that I've got hung up onin the past that I maybe haven't
wish I had had the answer to itwhen I first started making the
garment.
Um, for example, like one of myrecent designs was a sweater
and I, you know, did the math,but some of my testers were
(39:17):
saying that the arm holes weretoo big.
And I'm saying here, like I didthe math, I did the math, like
this is, you know, like thisshould be right.
Like my formula is right.
And I was kind of understandwhat the problem was.
Well, the problem was like, youknow, The bust increases didn't
necessarily correlate with thebody increases.
And so things like that,sometimes you have to take into
(39:39):
account not only themeasurements themselves, but how
do you get from, say, the bustmeasurement to the hips?
Or if you increase so many rowsfor a bust, are you too long
for the armholes?
Which was my problem, so I hadto work on that.
So I think a lot of times...
a stumbling block is that youare thinking like, okay, I'm,
(40:01):
I'm hitting this measurement.
I'm hitting this measurement.
I'm hitting this measurement,but you have to think like, how
am I transitioning to that?
How am I, how am I getting fromthe one to the other?
You want to make sure like youstart so that your neck hole is
big enough, you know, that youdon't hit it or that it's not
too big.
It's just kind of thinking ofthe garment as like, not just a
(40:25):
bunch of different measurements,but how those measurements fit
together.
Brittany (40:28):
Yeah, that's really great advice.
That's something that youwouldn't really know until
you've made that mistake.
Emily (40:35):
Oh, for sure, which I have, and I've made all those
mistakes.
I once did have a tester whocouldn't get her cardigan over
her head.
Or sweater, I mean, notcardigan, but
Brittany (40:44):
yeah.
Yeah, that's no good.
Okay, so our third questioncomes from, and I may pronounce
this wrong, so if I do, I'mtotally sorry, Unwind by Luane.
how to find models for yourmakes and best ways to take
pictures of them modeled
Emily (41:01):
and flat.
Okay.
So I normally make my samplepiece for myself.
So I am usually my own model.
I can sympathize with maybefeeling uncomfortable being your
own model because that was abig struggle of mine for a long
time.
And to be honest, I stillstruggle with that.
But for adult female patterns,I model them myself 99% of the
(41:27):
time.
I also sometimes wrote mydaughter in and make her model
if it's like something for kids.
Um, that being said, I knowthere are people who use outside
models and I think that's fine.
There's not anything wrong withthat.
Um, I have a couple of timeshad my, one of my friends model
for me and I think it's justreaching out to people.
(41:50):
I know there are Facebookgroups that can set that sort of
thing up as well.
But I think just asking peopleyou know is a good place to
start.
As far as how to take modeledpictures, I like to take modeled
pictures outside when possiblejust because the light is
normally better because I don'tlike the harshness of artificial
(42:12):
lighting.
Brittany (42:13):
Yeah.
Emily (42:13):
And so...
We'll go outside.
Usually my daughter is myphotographer.
I also have a tripod that I uselike when she's not around or
if she's not wanting to help momthat day.
So I try to, you know, not inharsh sunlight, like a lot of
times.
like there's one building whereI know there's shade and it's a
(42:34):
nice white brick building.
So I'll take pictures there.
I definitely try to always makesure, like I said, that I'm in
shade and I will just have hertake pictures from like all
angles and I'll, you know, takepictures while I'm walking.
And I, it's just really kind ofa process and I'll just look at
them as we go.
Now for flat lays, it's funnybecause I kind of struggle with
flat lays because I always thinkOther people have such
(42:57):
interesting flat lays, and mineare always kind of just stark,
but that is, I guess, kind of myown personal style that I
started doing or done on my feedfor a while now.
I just try to, again, I takemost of my pictures outside.
I have a big whiteboard that Itake out.
and arrange my stuff on or, youknow, white fur rug or whatever
(43:20):
and do it in the shade again.
Some people can do it inside.
I just say natural light isbest and, you know, play with
different angles.
Maybe you want to take it fromstraight ahead.
Maybe you want to kind of getit, you know, from a different
angle and really play with thattexture.
You can lay it completely flator maybe you want to, I don't
(43:42):
know, and move it around in someway so that you can see how
drapey it is.
I think just experimenting isreally key.
Brittany (43:50):
Yeah, I would totally agree.
I know for every one photo thatpasses the test that I would
actually publish somewhere, I'veprobably taken at least 20
others.
Oh, yeah.
It takes quite a few snapshots,and the really bad ones I throw
away so I'm not wasting anystorage space or anything like
that.
But...
(44:10):
especially when you're takingphotos of yourself.
Now, I don't have aphotographer that I use.
I don't have a helper here.
I work from home and I'm herepretty much by myself all day.
So I have a remote to my cameraand that was the best purchase
(44:30):
I ever made.
It was like a $12 purchase.
That was a game changer for myphotos.
And I typically will take myphotos indoors because we don't
have a really great setup that Ican think of that would have a
really nice backdrop.
But I have two windows that arepretty bright.
(44:50):
In my room, I get some reallygood sunlight here, and I use
white sheer curtains to softensome of the harshness.
And that has worked really,really well.
So if you have a good window,and even if you have sheers, all
the better.
I think you can still get somereally great photos that way.
The other thing I want to chimein on about the flat lace, I
(45:14):
haven't tried this myself, but Ihave seen some really great
pictures of people demonstratingwhat their garment looks like
by having it on a hanger andjust having it on a blank wall,
like if you have a hook orsomething on your wall, and it
looks really good.
Emily (45:32):
Yeah, I always love those pictures.
I think they are interestingand it shows how the garment
will look worn.
And I always think they looklike artsy kind of.
Does that make sense?
Yeah, it totally does.
I love those kind of photos.
Brittany (45:45):
Yeah, I love that too.
Now, our last question comesfrom Divine Debris, Amber.
We've had her on the showbefore, so that's how I can call
her out by name.
She wants to know, what do youknow now that you wish you knew
before you started designing?
I think that's a great questionto end on.
Emily (46:03):
Yeah.
Oh, I love Amber.
Um, there are probably a lot ofthings that I wish that I would
have known.
I think I touched on this alittle bit to take better notes
when you're designing.
Uh, like I said, it's somethingthat I still kind of struggle
with, but I'm getting better at,but basically the more
information you can have writtendown before you start actually
(46:25):
writing the pattern is reallyhelpful.
It's hard to have to go back andsort of deconstruct that piece
from the end and remember whatyou did.
So it's just easier to justtake the notes as you go.
Also, the one that I think waskind of hardest for me to get
over when I first starteddesigning patterns, I thought
that something had to becomplicated to be good.
(46:47):
And that's just not true.
I always thought like, oh, Ineed to use the most complex
stitch pattern I can, or I needto use a lot of different
stitches or, you know, or it hasto have some crazy different
shape, but that's not true.
I mean, you can createbeautiful functional pieces with
simple, simple shapes, simplestitches, and they're just as
(47:09):
special as something that hasmore complex stitches.
Yeah.
Brittany (47:13):
Yeah, yeah.
I think that's a really greatstarting point.
So kind of pulling from whatwe've mentioned today, I think
the first thing to realize isthat you can make a functional
and really great garment fromscratch.
basic shapes and to pull frominspiration from your closet
(47:34):
take really good notes becauseit is really hard to work back
from that and even then I knowfor me personally it kills my
confidence because I'm secondguessing whether or not I
reverse engineered thatcorrectly it's just better to
just not even let that happen sotake good notes get some
pattern testers and And juststart.
(47:55):
I think that's like the nextfirst step for somebody.
Get over the fears.
It's not super easy, but youcan do it.
And I think that you wouldagree to that too.
Emily (48:07):
Yes, 100%.
Brittany (48:10):
Well, this has been a really insightful conversation.
I'm really excited about whatyou were able to share and how
real it was talking about yourfirst experience garment and how
it was a success, but therewere some hiccups and you worked
through those.
And now you've designed, howmany garments do you think now?
(48:30):
Like tons of them?
I
Emily (48:33):
think I've published around 12 garments, but I have
some others that haven't, thatI've designed that haven't been
published yet.
Brittany (48:41):
Okay.
So you are...
continuously making progressand it sounds like you're you
love doing it otherwise youwouldn't continue to work on
garments so I think that'sinspiration for a listener but
if they want to connect with youafter hearing today's episode
where's the best place for themto go I
Emily (49:02):
pretty much live on Instagram these days so you can
always reach out to me hook dayson Instagram
Brittany (49:09):
Wonderful.
I will have that linked in theshow notes as well.
And Emily, thank you so much.
This has been so much fun.
Yes, I've had a great time.
Emily (49:18):
Thanks for having me.
Brittany (49:20):
All right.
That was Emily from HookedHazel and you can find her on
Instagram at Hooked Hazel to seesome of those designs she
mentioned and to connect withher online.
As she said, she lives onInstagram and I'm sure she would
love to connect with you.
Well, it's pretty clear thathaving the confidence to hit
publish on that first design isa key ingredient to creating a
(49:40):
basic crochet garment.
We all know that confidencecomes from practice and, well,
it also comes from community.
So reach out to fellowcrocheters on Instagram or
Facebook or whatever platformyou enjoy most.
Now, if you've alreadypublished a crochet garment
before and you have a tip thatwasn't covered here today, well,
(50:02):
I would absolutely love it ifyou could share that tip in the
comment section of the shownotes page, behooked.com slash
128.
I think that'll be a reallygreat way for listeners in the
future to get even more tipsabout creating their first basic
garment.
Now, by the way, the trialoffer of Amazon Prime free for
(50:23):
30 days is still available.
So you can enjoy free two-dayshipping through Amazon Prime,
which is the place where I liketo place all of my yarn orders.
And the best part is thatshipping's free and your yarn
comes in two days.
So to get in on that, to signup for Amazon Prime free for 30
days, just visit BeHooked.comslash Prime.
(50:46):
That'll redirect you to thepage on Amazon where you can
sign up and start that trial.
Well, if you already are aPrime member and you would still
like to support the show, youcan do so by doing your regular
Amazon shopping.
All you have to do is type inBeHooked.com slash Amazon.
That'll redirect you toAmazon's homepage where I will
(51:10):
earn as an affiliate from anyqualifying purchases you make.
So as a result, that is a bigsupport to this show.
All right.
Thank you so much for that.
And be sure to subscribe if youhaven't done so already,
especially if you're a bloggeror a designer.
Next week, you'll get to hearfrom April at OTH Crochet Nook
(51:32):
about mastering Instagram formakers.
It's a good one.
You won't want to miss it.
But until then, have awonderful weekend and I'll see
you then.
Bye-bye.
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