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Last year, a friend recommended I try creating seamless patterns to sell for fabrics and as someone that loves patterns and also happens to be an ex fabric hoarder, I jumped straight in! Designing patterns has unleashed a whole new side to my creativity, given me a huge boost knowing that people are willing to pay for, print, sew and even wear my designs. This has been mind blowing and pulled me out of my little ditch of self doubt when it comes to art.
In just over a year I’ve sold nearly a thousand patterns in multiple colourways and have pretty much spent most my working day on fabric designs. This has sadly meant a lot less blogging, card designing and all the other little creative ventures I have going on in the background, though I have still tried to spin all the plates!
I’ve seen adults and children wear my designs, seen them hanging in an actual shop and have some customers that have purchased over 50 of my designs each! I’m not here to brag, and far from it as there are so many more experienced designers than me, but as someone that was on the verge of giving up all things art, I’m so so happy I got into this side of design work.
Like most things though, the highs come with the lows, and although I’m still very happy to carry on with this line of work, I have been looking at the pros and cons, so that I can do more of the parts I enjoy and less of the stuff that makes my brain start to wander or anxiety set in. I thought I’d share some of the highs and lows of the fabric design world, that I’ve experienced so far…
Low points
I’ll start with the low, because I’d much rather end on a positive for this one! There aren’t many lows, but the ones that I’ve discovered do make the whole thing feel very very off putting, especially when it's all new!
Constant fear of mistakes
Although I check everything multiple times before sending or uploading to Etsy, I have made a couple of mistakes, so it's constantly terrifying not being 100% sure. The more experience I have, the more I do things without thinking, so although there is rarely mistakes, I have to check more as I'm in robot mode. The good thing is that customers are generally fine if anything crops up and most printers will sort things like gaps in designs anyway.
It’s a bitchy old world
One things that's really shocked me with pattern design is how cut throat it is! With designers copying and even tracing other people's designs, there is always arguments going on somewhere, with some designers blocking all new ones in an attempt to keep the business for themselves, people openly bad mouthing others online etc etc. There's a big enough world for all of us and although designs to come close or cross over from time to time by accident, there's no need for the cattyness. I try to stay out of things and have a good circle of like minded friendly designers to bounce ideas off and although we occasionally produce similar work, it's never an issue.
Everyone wants copyright designs
There are designers out there that make a full living from simply tracing copyright characters from Disney etc and making them into simple patterns. There are also it seems, plenty of people willing to buy them, but I fear that at some point there could be issues and then I wonder who would take the blame or any fines? The makers could claim they presumed the designer had a license for the design, so it really doesn't seem worth the risk.
The admin side is tedious
I love the arty side of things but really don't enjoy sharing my work to Instagram, uploading to Etsy and all the saving, emailing and messaging that comes with it. The job has a lot of the admin side, but the fun part is well worth the bad parts.
People want changes, a lot!
Coming up with consistent original ideas can be hard work
People are struggling with costs now so buying less than when I started
As I'm sure all businesses are finding right now, people are just spending less. Seeing as most my customers are small businesses themselves, I've seen many cut back or even close down recently as they just can't keep up with rising costs and their own customer base dwindling. In turn this effects what they buy, so it's not a great time for any of us but hopefully things will change.
Highs
Given me the chance to make money from my art
Literally everything I've ever wanted - to be able to make art and actually make a decent wage from it day in day out. Although this is up and down depending on which end of the month it is and whether my designs hit the spot, it's still good knowing that people want my art.
Great outlet for selling art compared to any other I’ve tried
Most creative ventures I've tried bring in little to no money, so it's a huge relief to sell some and actually there is a huge market for it - who knew?! This feels far less of a slog than trying to sell physical art prints or crafts and also means no posting/packaging.
Seeing people wearing your art is the best feeling
It’s really fun to draw cool stuff and make money for it
I really enjoy it
I've made some great friends from it
Option to buy my own fabric or buy clothes made from it
For me, the highs far out weigh the lows, so it's something I'll definitely carry on with while it still works for me. I struggle when I see other companies selling multiple copyright designs and making a lot more money, but at least I can get on with life knowing nothing will bite me in the arse later!
I sell my designs on Instagram and Etsy too.
