starting a sewing pattern business
I explain a little bit about my path to Sycamore Road (pun intended) on my about page, but I thought it’d be fun to let you in on the more in-depth story of my first few years as a working girl!
Fair warning: I go into quite a bit of detail, if you’re not interested in this then you can skip ahead to the bottom where I tell you about new patterns that are coming up. Further down this post I give you some insight into the sales numbers and expenses for 2021 and 2022 as well. I love to talk (a lot) & write, in doing so I hope to connect with you and maybe even inspire you to make choices in your life that make you happier!
I’m going to talk about what my working life looks like right now. I’ll start with explaining how I got here, to give some context to why I decided to change things up - even though that means I have (a lot) less $$ to spend each month.
Back in the winter of 2018, I went to my first sewing class and I was hooked, instantly (like many of you, I presume!). I was 25 years old at the time & I had just started doing my master’s in education. It was a two year program, which included two teaching internships. My subject was/is French. During my bachelor’s, I never really felt like I belonged, I was much more preoccupied with living life and having fun instead of studying hard like most of my classmates. Teaching the subject I wasn’t exactly in love with was kind of a weird choice in hindsight. But when I do something, I tend to stick to it. So I did, even though it gave me the worst stress I’ve ever experienced lol.
I started (over)thinking more and more about what living life meant to me, and what type of work could fit into that. I grew up in a family of academics and it was pretty obvious that wasn’t going to be my path. Still, I needed to find something that was meaningful to me, that could help other people (so cliché but for a reason imo) and also something that could be an outlet to ease the constant flurry of thoughts going through my head. I was feeling restless, worried I would never find my passion in life. Apparently I thought I needed to have everything figured out at 25 :).
That’s when sewing came into my life. I still can’t believe my luck!! I loved fashion so much, ever since I was a child, and all the news about the fashion industry made me want to participate in fashion differently. But I know you know ;) so I won’t go into too much detail here. Let’s just say I found everything I was looking for and more. Special thanks to my mom and stepdad who got me a sewing machine for my 26th birthday!
The first real dress I ever made!
Back to the master’s program. I had been sewing for a while when I started my second internship that was an actual job, and long story short: I still work there! When I started out though, I thought it was the worst job ever that gave me so, so much stress. I’m very lucky to have a supportive partner, family & friends - tbh I don’t think I could have stuck it out without them. I was talking to a student in my senior class the other day and she told me her whole class thought I would quit after that first year. Teaching high schoolers forces you to face all of your insecurities, all at once. I wondered many times if it wouldn’t just be easier to do something completely different. It probably would have been! I’m glad I stuck it out though, and after about two years I started to enjoy it a lot more. Fast forward to now & I love my job, but in moderation :). By the time I was writing my thesis in 2020, the plan to start a pattern company was already in place and teaching could give me the basic income I needed to explore that idea further.
In 2021, I was working at the school for 3,5 days, and the rest of my time went to developing patterns, learning all about Illustrator and other Adobe programs, and connecting with the sewing community on Instagram. I was working towards my dream and that felt great, but it wasn’t easy - I kind of isolated myself for about two years to learn all of the skills and do all the work required to develop good patterns. And I don’t even do my own drafting! I’m in awe of all the women who are sharing their designs with the world, I know firsthand the hard work that goes into it - especially if you design for a large size range!
At one point (Fall 2022) things started to become too much. I let the school know I couldn’t do it anymore, and gave my notice to give up half my hours. They took it really well, which helped a lot. I had been working almost every day (and night, weekend, school holiday…) for about 2,5 years at that point to start/run my business, and it started to take its toll on me and my mental health. That’s also when the doubt and insecure thoughts started creeping in. All I was seeing were these incredibly talented pattern designers who had what seemed like instant success and a steady income off of their patterns right off the bat. I wasn’t nearly there yet and it made me feel really afraid that it would never happen. I really didn’t want to give up my dream, and although it’s a lot of hard work, I enjoy it tremendously. The decision to cut back on my hours at school wasn’t because my business was doing so well, it was because I had been overstretching myself for too long.
So since last Spring (2023) I’ve been teaching 2,5 days, and this school year it’s down to just 2. This means that, yes, I get to spend more time on my business, but I’ve also been taking more time to do things for me. For example, I let my health become, well, basically the opposite of a priority. That’s not helping me feel comfortable in front of the camera either! Part of the reason why you’re seeing my best friend Paula more often than me (to be clear, I’m the blondie on my feed ;)). I’ve been taking the time to eat better, exercise, go outside more. It’s been wonderful as well taking four whole weeks off to explore a different country during the summer. Not working for that long really gave me my spark back!
Talking numbers
As for income, I’m still not making much from my pattern business. At the end of last year, I invested most of it back into the business. But! I am currently seeing a growth in sales of more than 50% compared to 2022. That’s something that makes me really happy and hopeful for the future! I really enjoyed reading the blog posts by Delphine, the designer behind Just Patterns, who details her sales and business growth very transparently. Reading these posts helped me trust the process when I felt like giving up. I thought it would be fun to share some actual numbers as well, so here we go:
2021
My first pattern came out in the summer of 2021, but I didn’t start getting sales until January 2022. For that reason I don’t really count it as an ‘official’ business year. I released two patterns in 2021, the Zélie and the Eva WLT. Basically, 2021 was all about investing in the start of my business. The biggest expenses were pattern costs, a good camera, a website, fabric, notions, and taking classes on photography, business and sewing/patternmaking. I invested a good chunck of my savings, which was a scary thing! Still, it was nice to know that it was my own money I saved up working at the school that covered the expenses of starting Sycamore Road Patterns.
2022
In 2022, I released three patterns (Sienna, Paula & Waterfall). I sold 600 patterns in total that year, which actually exceeded my expectations (I started the year with about 500 followers on Instagram). My largest expenses in ‘22 were an expensive branding project, website costs, fabric, photography and of course paying my pattern maker for her services. That left me with just enough money to pay for most of the new pattern designs in 2023. It felt really good to not have to invest more of my savings after that first year in business.
It may seem odd to work on a business that isn’t making much profit for that long, but I’ve learned that pursuing your passion and making sure your work aligns with who you are is more important than a large income. I make just enough money to support myself and to split rent & the cost of living with my partner, and obviously I am privileged in 100 different ways. I’m hopeful my business will continue to grow along with me, and I feel really lucky that I get to make sewing patterns that you enjoy making. Thank you to every person who has read this entire text, it means a lot to share the backstory of my business with you! Obviously I owe all growth to the wonderful sewing community, you all have rallied behind me and I can’t put into words how much I love seeing you make my designs. I’m really grateful for such a supportive community!
Coming up next:
I’m working on two new sewing patterns that I think you’re going to love. First up is a cute top with short sleeves, a gap in my closet that I couldn’t ignore any longer. It’s really fun to make, with enough details to have some fun with while sewing, but won’t take too long to make. All I have to do is create the instructions and think of a name… I’m hoping for a release in early October. I’m planning on emailing newsletter subscribers for testing in week 38. Let’s see if I make my own deadline!
The other pattern is a fancy jumpsuit that I’m working hard to get done well before the holidays! It will be my New Year’s outfit for sure. I’m not going into details on it because I want it to be a surprise, but it’s good, I promise :).
In 2024 I want to release another men’s pattern, also really exciting. It’s going to be a button up shirt. If you’re missing a pattern (women’s/men’s/unisex) that you would like me to design, let me know by leaving a comment below! I’m also learning how to edit videos so I can provide Youtube tutorials for my patterns, hopefully making it easier to take the leap for newbie sewists!