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How to Make Knitting Patterns and Sell the Patterns Online (Ultimate Guide) -

Jan 19, 2023

 The last update was January 18, 2023

Are you a knitting lover looking to make some extra cash? One option to consider is to market knit patterns. With the proper platform and a little knowledge about how to promote your work, you can transform your hobby into a business. This article will provide an easy-to-follow guide to how to sell knitting patterns to make money.

Below is a brief overview of the topics we'll be covering:

 What's a knitting pattern?

A knitting pattern is simply an instruction manual on how to knit the specific object. It tells you all you require to know in order to knit the item: what type of yarn to choose, the gauge, any other materials or special tools required and the size(s) of the final object, and, of course, the yarn to use.

 How to Create Knitting Patterns: Step-by-step Guide

Creating your first pattern can seem like a daunting endeavor But here are easy steps that will simplify the process of writing your first pattern simpler.

 1. Identifying Your Target Audience

Before making the patterns and then selling them, it is important to determine the target market. Consider who might be interested in your patterns. What type of knitter do you want to target beginners or more experienced knitters? Being aware of who you're is going to help you design designs that are appealing to your target audience.

Additionally, you can use market research to identify the target market. Look at what other knitting patterns are popular and also who's purchasing the patterns. This could provide you with an idea of whom your intended audience might be and what type of patterns they are looking for.

 2. Choose the Type of Product You Want to Buy

After you've got an idea of your target audience then decide on the type of items you'd like to create knit patterns to. The best beginner-friendly patterns are accessories like scarves baby booties, dishcloths, socks, or tiny blankets. If you're creating knitting patterns for more advanced knitters, you may have the ability to design patterns for dresses, sweaters and other complex clothes and accessories.

 3. Design Your Own Design

In this point, it's a good idea to start drawing a rough sketch of what you want your design will appear like. Begin to think about which types of yarn would you recommend to create your idea, as well as which stitches and techniques will be required to make the design. If you're not confident with the art of sketching, don't worry, you just need to develop a basic concept and rough silhouette, where you could jot down some information about your intended stitching patterns the yarn's weight and much more.

Remember to keep your target viewers in mind while thinking about the stitching patterns you choose to use. Do you intend for them to create complex knitting products or do you want your knitting pattern to be doable for an easy knit-while-you-Netflix type of knitting?

When you're making wearable clothes, be mindful of the styles and patterns that can affect the performance. Cable knits, for instance, might result in thicker knitted clothes and are ideal for winter clothing. Here's a good source of inspiration for various designs for knitting to help you get your creativity flowing.

 4. Make an Sample Swatch

Creating a swatch is an important step. It simply involves creating a small sample of knitting with your desired yard in needle size, length, and stitch pattern. This allows you to see your design on a small size, and ensure that the garment looks and performs way you want it to. It also confirms your gauge, which is essential for grade.

It is also possible to gauge your knitting in order to ensure that your pattern is correct. To do this, knit a large sample (at at least 6" square - though it does not have to be a square!) with the needles you've chosen for your pattern, remembering to work around if you're going to be working in the round. Also, measure how many rows and stitches you've knit for each inch. Check out this article for an in-depth guide to how to precisely take measurements of knit gauge.

 5. Write your Knitting Pattern Instructions

There are many free software editors to design knitting patterns, such as Google Docs and Sheets. There is also the free graphic design online tool similar to Canva, which provides more options to help your documents appear professional and polished. When you've established yourself as knitter You may wish to think about investing in additional software, such as Adobe InDesign, as you're able to create professional layouts for your documents.

If you're deciding the layout for your pattern's document You'll need to think about how it will be used. Take a look at how you've utilized knitting patterns previously and how you used them: did you use them to read on a screen, or even print them? Do you make notes on the patterns? This will impact the layout you choose to design.

It is also advisable to take into consideration accessibility issues for accessibility here. There's actually a flourishing community of blind and low vision knitters. So think about (for an example) how your content is compatible in conjunction with screen readers. There are guidelines to make visually accessible knitting patterns, which you can learn about here.

It's now time to write your knitting instructions down. An excellent knitting pattern usually contains the following parts:

  • Written instructions row by row, or round by round, for creating the item
  • A list of abbreviations that are used, along with an explanation of what each abbreviation means.
  • Charts of any stitch pattern or colorwork, with the key
  • Weight of the yarn as well as how much yarn is required
  • Needle size
  • A list of any additional tools or concepts that are required.
  • Size and measurements of the end product, including a schematic for any item that is complex, or is a part of a body
  • Photos of the finished item, in and out of an appropriate body
  • Your information about yourself as the creator
  • Terms of use

When writing your first pattern, you will make numerous options regarding your style of writing. Start by creating a Style Guide document and write down every choice you make starting from the font's name and size, to whether or not you capitalize the first instruction of round or row, or not. This Style Guide is a great guide for both you and your tech editors (see further below) to ensure your patterns are consistently written and customers are aware of what to expect when they purchase from your.

Make sure to keep your knitting draft with you in an editable format since you could make more changes as you create the final product.

 6. Make a sample of your Final Product

After you've composed some detailed knitting patterns adhere to your own directions and begin knitting a small prototype of the finished item. Follow the instructions step-by-step in order to ensure you can spot any errors or missing information.

Don't forget to take lots of photographs while you knit as you can incorporate those images into your knitting pattern instructions. Also, they make excellent posts on social media to build anticipation for when your pattern comes out! You should also take lots of quality photos of your completed product with close-ups showing the details of your design and specific techniques, because your intended audience will want to see the finished product in order to decide the quality of it and whether they'd want to purchase knitting patterns.

 7. Grad Your Pattern

Though some kinds of product come in a single size, the majority will have to be graded according to sizes, specifically items that go to a body.

There is a need to reference a reputable, inclusive size chartlike this one from the Craft Yarn Council that we would recommend to read further. This will help you determine what the size of each piece of the final product will need to be.

There are many online courses that will instruct you on how to grade even if you're not certain how to. Alternatively, some tech editors (see below) also offer a Grading service.

 8. Get Your Knitting Pattern Ready for Sale

At this stage at this point, you must have composed every single instruction needed to create your finished product. Now it's time to have the pattern edited and test! Tech editors are similar to the copywriting editor but specifically for knitting patterns. They typically make sure to ensure that the count of your stitches is accurate and correspond to the directions you've provided, that your charts say the same thing as the written instructions, that the grade is consistent, and that your directions are clear. In simple terms, you have to make sure that the instructions you provide are clear and understandable.

In simple terms, they'll make sure that your instructions are clear and made sense. Technology editing is an important part of the process - it's almost impossible to modify your own documents in a precise manner! You should of course review the document before sending it to the editor. you can find a fantastic pre-tech-edit checklist available on this page.

The next step is having the pattern knit for a test. It is the time to make the first PDF version of the pattern available for free to volunteer knitters, who make the knit and then provide feedback. Test knitting is a great way to get real feedback from knitters who have actually done the knitting on everything from the clarity and precision of your directions and the quality of your images.

Once you've determined the knitting pattern available for sale, you can create an official PDF copy of your knitting pattern. This is the digital file that you'll give to your clients.

 How to Market Knitting Patterns Online for Free

There's an array of alternatives available, from marketplaces online and social media platforms to the creation of your own site. Each has their unique advantages and disadvantages therefore it is important to determine which one is best for your business. Also, you might want to consider listing your patterns across multiple platforms. However, the simplest and most cost-effective way to sell your own patterns is to set up an online store for free using .

 1. Make a website or store online for free.

Platforms such as these allow you to develop a gorgeous website on which you sell your personal knitting patterns. There is no need to fret about paying for any third-party platforms or expenses as provides a free all-in-one tool that lets you start your online store for patterns in just a few minutes!

A few benefits to using this method include:

  • Generous forever-free platform. Only charges an 5% commission for each sale you make and, therefore, if you're only starting out and don't have a lot of buyers at the moment, you don't need to pay anything.
  • Instant delivery of digital files to customers. Your customers can make a payment via your website and download your knitting pattern PDF instantly with no involvement from you. This gives you greater time to work on other areas of your business - yay!
  • If the knitting pattern you are using is changed in the the future, you may use 's Email Updates feature in order to provide the latest download links to your customers
  • Free fully-hosted domain. You'll get a free website/online store with the following customizable store name .com/[yourcustomstorenamehere]. However, you are able to connect a custom domain e.g. janesmithknitting.com if you'd like to
  • A simple drag-and-drop website creator that can be completely customizable to reflect your branding design. No coding skills or design expertise are required
  • Instant cash outs via Paypal and Stripe
  • Automatic collection and transfer from UK & EU VAT
  • The most advanced marketing tools like referral program, affiliate program, upselling, cross-selling, coupon codes, marketing via email and many more are accessible on the free plan

It is known for its beginner-friendly and intuitive user interface. Also, it offers many instructional videos to guarantee your success in the process of setting up your business online.

 2. Create a Knitting List to Sell

After having created your own free online store or website  your knitting pattern, now is the time to upload your knitting pattern as product listings.

Whatever way you sell your patterns, it is essential to give plenty of details to the customer so they can decide which pattern will be suitable for their needs. Needles and notions, sizing as well as plenty of pictures are imperative!

One of the biggest decisions is pricing your pattern. Low and you'll undervalue not just your work as well as that of the other designers within the field; too excessive and potential customers could be put off. It's important that your price is accurate and accurately represents the quantity of information included in your pattern (as it does vary among designers!). You'll probably already have an idea of what other designers are charging for patterns like yours, but take the time to conduct your own research.

After your pattern file and its product listing is complete, you're ready to go on sale!

  1. You can upload your knitting patterns PDF to the listing of products
  2. Setting up your knitting pattern Product title, description along with the cost
  3. Uploading some pictures as your images for your product's listing
  4. Publishing your product listing

The entire process of uploading a product should take less than 2 minutes.

 3. Promote and Drive Traffic to Your Knitting Pattern Store

Now it's time to start marketing your pattern store. It could be done through the internet, going to trade shows and other events, or advertising on other knitting related websites.

It's also beneficial to create a blog on which you'll be able to post blog that are related to knitting. The blog posts will receive organic traffic from Google Search Results, resulting in more website traffic to your site.

Consider offering promotional discounts for a short period in order to get people to buy the patterns. This is particularly beneficial during the release of new patterns.

Consider reaching out to knitting bloggers or influencers to read your patterns , and then send them to their followers. Additionally, you can create a mailing list to inform your customers about updates to your patterns and special offers. You can also set up a referral program that will encourage customers to refer acquaintances to your designs.

Be sure to take benefit of its free marketing tools like coupons, referral systems and affiliate program mailer list and cross-sells, upgrade discounts, and more. This lets you launch effective marketing campaigns on your social channels and on other sites.

SELL KNITTING PATTERNS FOR ONLINE

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 Troubleshooting the Common Problems While Selling Knitting Patterns

In selling knitting patterns there are several frequent issues you could encounter in the course of your business. These include copyright infringement as well as receiving bad feedback from customers, and bad sales. This is why we have a few suggestions to deal with these issues:

  • Create comprehensive terms of usagewithin the knitting pattern's PDF. This should include guidelines on what your customers are allowed to do with your knitting patterns e.g. are your patterns free for personal use only? Or are you also giving the right to commercial use to customers? It is also possible to identify your rights to property under the terms of use section.
  • Response to feedback from customers. One benefit selling knitting patterns from your own site (as as compared to selling them on marketplaces such as Etsy) is that you can enable an approved-only review option for customers to make sure you do not be a victim of unfair one star reviews. If you do receive negative feedback, you may choose not to publish the reviews on your website, nevertheless, make sure you reach out to those specific clients to resolve the issue.
  • You can offer your knitting patterns gratis to receive the feedback of your customers. Asking test knitters to test the pattern is an excellent method to make sure that the pattern you design is suitable for different types of people. Test knitters are likely able to provide helpful notes about the pattern and provide feedback to improve your knitting pattern. You can change your knitting pattern's listing to $0 or to an option of pay-what-you-want.

 FAQ: Creating Your own patterns and selling them online

 Can you create your own knitting pattern?

Yes, creating your own knitting patterns can be an exciting and enjoyable process. The only thing you need to write a pattern for is to decide on the type of knitted item that you'd like to create, write down the instructions on how to make the pattern, and then post your knitting pattern on the internet for other fans.

 Are you able to earn profit selling patterns for knitting?

 What is the best place to sell knitting patterns online?

 Final Thoughts

If you have the proper platform, pricing strategy, and marketing plan You can convert your love of knitting into a profit. We hope that following this step-by-step tutorial will allow you to start off in the right direction to design your own knitting.