If you follow me on Instagram you will might have seen that I've been working on getting my patterns into print. It's a really exciting time for me and this little business and I am looking forward to sharing it all with you! I'll give you a few details in this post, but I look forwrad to doing some more behind the scenes style posts in the new year!
After a lot of thought and consideration, I decided that the best way to get my patterns into print would be by crowdfunding. I decided to go down this route as not only would it provide me with the opportunity to raise the funds required (printing sewing patterns is very expensive), it was also a chance to ensure that the products are actually in demand. I would have hated to spend a huge amount of time and money on patterns and then not be able to sell them! By crowdfunding, I could confirm the demand before pressing print.
Preparing the Kickstarter campaign was a huge amount of work. On top of that it was a very stressful time, thinking about all the things that could go wrong and how I would proceed if I didn't hit my target. Luckily, I didn't have too long to worry as, within one week of launching the campaign, I reached my goal of $10 000. It all happened so quickly that I hadn't even had a chance to write about it on my blog! I had envisaged a month of hustling and slogging away to reach the target, but it all went surprisingly smoothly and I have been blown away by the level of support I have received for this project. It has most definitely validated the product and also given me a burst of energy I really needed to get this project over the line.
The goal of the campaign was to raise enough money to get my first run of patterns into print (The Ruschutter, The Acton and The Collins Top), but now that we've gone beyond that goal, I am very excited to say that new patterns will be available in print much sooner than I expected. By having the funds in the bank, I will be able to work on releasing new patterns on a more consistent basis, and I have all of you to thank for that! (All 241 of you - at the time of writing this post)!
If you haven't had the chance to back the project, there's still 14 days to go. You can learn more about it and make a pledge here. There are lots of great rewards, from patterns, to tote bags and even tickets to a launch event here in Sydney!
The other exciting thing that has happened lately is that I was interviewed on the Love to Sew podcast. It was so much fun talking to Helen and Caroline, and the best bit... I hit my Kickstarter goal while I was being interviewed! So if you want to gear that very special moment, then head over to the podcast and have a listen!
Until next time, happy sewing!