So, you’ve picked out all your fabrics, drawn a dynamite design and stitched it to perfection. Now what?Our patterns begin with a finished sample. In this case a purse – or a few of them. We like to work on this part first (before getting into the instructions) because it takes weeks to have the covers printed. While those are being printed, then we get into the guts of the pattern.

Let’s start with our newest creation, The ClaudieJo Bag. They were designed by Claudia Atchison and Jody Rosenhauer (hence the name). They’re made using charm squares and each bag is a mini art creation on it’s own. Naming a pattern can be a tricky process in itself. Sometimes you have the name before the sample is started. Other times, it takes hundreds of suggestions to get to the final name.

You need some variety when you have small items like these, plus you really want to show people the many possibilities. The first step is a photo of the sample. No problem, right? Well, not always. The lighting and setting needs to be just right. We tried several different settings – on a cute hall tree, flat on the ground and hung on a wall.

We thought the hall tree set up was great because you could see all of the purses at once. But, it was too busy, the background didn’t work, and you couldn’t see the purses up close……… What about the purse on the wall? Well, we just didn’t like how the handles looked…. So the winner was, the purse photo on the ground (center). We played around with handle positions and got some good shots.The next step in this process is designing the cover of the pattern using our photos. Our next blog will begin that process. Be sure to check back in next week….

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Amy Cotham & Judy Reynolds
Black Cat Creations

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