Hi there Sewhooked friends!
As you probably know by now, I am an independant pattern designer, sharing patterns both here and on Fandom In Stitches, selling on Etsy and Craftsy and with the occasional pattern published in a magazine.
While I started designing years before Craftsy existed, it is the existence of Craftsy that kicked my ability to design and share both my free and for sale patterns to a wider crafty audience. What is most helpful to me as an indie designer with limited resources is that Craftsy is free for me to use. FREE. If you are a Designer, you know how hard it can be to scrape a living selling patterns. There are a million patterns online and many, many of them free. Making money in this industry is hard, but thanks to Craftsy, it’s a little bit easier and I can keep on doing what I love.
Without Craftsy, I would not had a venue for Paper Piecing Vintage, the 2014 Sewhooked Block of the Month, an event that I’ve not only loved creating but, here’s that word again, sharing!
Many of my readers are also Designers and I know at least a few of you lovely people that have indicated you would like to share your patterns but you don’t know where to start. I have some super useful information directly from Craftsy that will help you get started!
Want to design, but don’t know where to start?
We have some great resources over on Fandom In Stitches to help get you going!
I’d like to add that you do not have to sell patterns on Craftsy to share patterns. You can opt to share patterns for free. For my Designer friends that work on fandom patterns, FREE is always your best choice. Keep in mind the moment you start selling fandom-related patterns, you violate laws surrounding derivative work and risk copyright infringement.
Full Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links which means I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through.
In addition to wonderful online courses and craft supplies, Craftsy also has an independent online pattern store that lets anyone upload and sell downloadable e-patterns with no fee!
How do you add a pattern to Craftsy and start your pattern store? It’s easy!
1. Make sure you have a Paypal account. All pattern transactions happen through Paypal, and Craftsy requires that you have a Student, Premier, or Business account in order to sell patterns.
2. Put your pattern in .pdf format. You can’t upload any patterns to the online pattern store unless they’re a .pdf file format, so if they’re currently saved as a Word doc, .jpg, or other file format, you must convert it to a .pdf before you upload it to Craftsy. (See Fandom In Stitches for some easy ways to do this.)
3. Include a photo. All patterns must have at least one photo to accompany them, but you can add up to five photos. Colorful, interesting photos tend to work the best for catching our members’ eyes!
4. Fill out the pattern description. We will ask you some basic questions around your pattern making it easier for Craftsy folk to find your pattern and know what your pattern is for. Make sure you have info about your pattern handy for this step.
For more information on how to sell a pattern through Craftsy, or to get started, visit Craftsy today!
Be sure to stop by Sewhooked on April 30 for a sneak peek of my block in the upcoming Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks and for a chance to win fun prizes!
Share your Paper Piecing Vintage photos with the Sewhooked flickr group in April and you’ll have a chance to win a copy of Quilts From 100 Blocks, Fall 2013 (includes a pattern designed by me!) as well as copies of my patterns Poppies from the Past and My Kitchen Window!
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