Crochet Designer's Corner: Design Pitch Questions

Thank you for your email.

We'd love to get your design pitches! Here are some answers to your questions:

• I'm new to designing and this would be my first official attempt at designing a crochet pattern (that someone else gets to see). Is this an issue?

Nope! We are happy to help walk you through it. We only provide 1.5 hours of tech editing*, though, so we suggest your pattern is in as good of condition as possible by the time you submit it. We also recommend you pitch simpler patterns you are sure you can execute for your first patterns.

*Tech Editing: A "technical editor" checks your pattern for math to make sure your calculations add up correctly, as well as helps with consistency in formatting and instructions. Tech editing your patterns make them much higher quality!

• I don't have a good social media representation, yet, as I am just starting to build my social media. Could my design be rejected due to lack of social media following?

No, we make decisions based on your pitch and the other pitches, and creating a cohesive collection. We DO need to see some examples of your crochet level, though, so be sure to post WIPs and other things on your social media and/or Ravelry accounts.

• I have seen that successful designers receive yarn support and a Furls crochet hook. Would the yarn be supplied by Furls as well or any yarn? If so, I might select suitable colours from their yarns during the design stage.

We work with various yarn manufacturers to provide yarn support. If your design is selected, we will consider your suggested yarn, but it's possible that we will select a different yarn. We usually work from a color palette for our collections, so while you can make color suggestions, we can't guarantee you'll get to use the colors you choose.

That being said, we have lately been shifting to try to use the designer's suggested yarns when possible.

• I'm based in Australia and assume I would need to ship the finished model item to you for photography. Would the cost for shipping be covered by the magazine or by me? And what about shipping costs for returning the item?

We will cover costs for shipping to us, but we have updated our policies and will no longer be returning samples due to complications in storage, shipping, and available bandwidth.

• Is a hand drawn sketch sufficient for the submission?

If it gets the point across, it can work. Some designers submit a photo inspiration collage and/or a swatch in addition to a sketch (especially if there's a more unique stitch pattern being used. You don't need to make a swatch if your pitch uses hdc, for example!)

• Submit multiple pitches for a better chance to be chosen.
• Submit designs that you are confident you can execute.
• Submit designs that fit within your overall design aesthetic (in other words, design something only YOU would design).
• Read the design briefs and try to make sure your pitches fit within the suggested themes.
• Add a sentence or 2 about how the item will be constructed.
• Include links to your ravelry or IG (or anywhere you post what you've made, even if you haven't designed it, so we can see what your work looks like).
• If you have any more questions you can email me directly at heather at furlscrochet dot com.

p.s. Would it be okay if I share your questions and the answers in a blog post or newsletter for our crochet designers?

Have a great day!