
Have you been wondering just how much you could earn as a Quilt Pattern Designer? Is this a realistic career that will pay the bills? Well…I surveyed (anonymously) over 100 quilters, from a pool of my alumni and a Facebook pattern writing group, to help bring to you some tangible information on this topic. I also brought in Carolina Moore, who I feel is an expert in data analysis, as well as a successful pattern writer, author, and inventor of notions (among other things!) to help me decipher the data collected.
You will see the questions I asked on the survey below. I received a variety of answers, as there was a range of participants experience… from about a year to 22 years. There will always be outliers or exceptions, BUT I want you to feel empowered by these numbers…to know what is possible. Success is available to all who put forth the actions that breed success. I provide an opt-in as well, where you can see all the responses and the data people shared on the survey. Look over those numbers and the responses and see what is there and available to you. There are many different ways to earn income. There is room for all who offer quality and are persistent!
How much does a quilt pattern designer actually earn?
In this episode, we discuss the following:
- I address a concern and experience that one of the participants shared during the survey. As this participant shares their thoughts, I in turn share my school of thought and give you tips on how to navigate, check your mind-frame and find success. We need to remember that we as business owners are not for everyone.
The Survey Questions
I introduce you to Carolina, and we chat about the questions, numbers and other data from the survey. These are the questions I asked on the survey:
- How long have you been writing and selling quilt patterns?
- Please tell me how many patterns you have released so far?
- During the first week of your pattern launch, how many patterns did you sell?
- How many total patterns did you sell in the past month?
- In the past 12 months, how many patterns have you sold?
- Do you have any other other source of income within the quilting world besides just the pattern designs?
The Results
After Carolina reviewed and analyzed the data, these were the results:
There were 106 responses. She normalized the responses into numbers.
- The average amount of time the participants had been writing and selling patterns was 5 years.
- The average amount of patterns released so far was 33 patterns.
- During the first week of pattern launch, the average sold was just over 80.
- The average amount of patterns sold in the last month 202.93.
- Over the past 12 months, the revenue average for pattern writing sales only (does not include other ways they made money) was $15,229.10.
- YES- many of the participants shared ways they make additional income. We recommend that you build your resume so you can diversify your income! Having quality patterns under your belt is HUGE for these other avenues.
Here is a breakdown of the participants:
- Pattern Designers that have been in business 1 year or less was 26. They averaged $1473.36 a year with pattern sales.
- Designers that have been doing this for 18 months to 5 years was 50. They averaged $12,343.59 a year.
- The amount of participants that have been doing this for more than 5 years was 29. They averaged $33, 712.04 a year.
Additional things Carolina and I discussed
- A lot of business is in the mindset. If there is success out there- it’s available to you. Success breeds more success.
- BUT what if you feel like you just aren’t seeing a lot of success as quickly as you’d hoped? Success doesn’t necessarily come right away. It takes a few years. This is part of the process. If you are passionate about what you are doing, stick with it. DOn’t throw in the towel! Learn. Look at what is not working. Beware of mind-games and comparison. Remember to start small, build an audience, re-evaluate often… it WILL pay off! It takes 8-10 years to be an “over-night success”!
- Don’t compare! You know what is going on in your life and in your business 100%. You only know about 3% of others business. It may not always be what it appears. Do not throw stones at others success!
- I ask Carolina what has been HER biggest source of revenue this past year. She shares that it is her exclusive products and covers the details including how she marketed her tool.
- Carolina talks about having different streams of revenue- creating money on one pattern in many ways. You want to provide a pathway of experiences. Take them from thing thing to the next step by step. Use your creativity and a natural progression approach. For example: You are selling a pattern…is there a tool that would be helpful for that pattern? What about fabric… maybe a quilt along, or a class… etc
- Creating and designing patterns are a very important piece of the pie and a great foundation that will help you expand to other areas. When you add in other pieces of the pie you will start to see a snowball of success.
Show notes
Do you want to see the details of the survey and gain more information that could be helpful to your business? Here is a link (below) to the free PDF download. You will also be opting-in to my email list.
GET ALL THE SURVEY DETAILS HERE
Where can you find out more about what Carolina does and what she offers? Find her here:
Listen to the Affiliate Marketing podcast
You can find her on Instagram
Her blog: Always Expect Moore
Her website: Carolina Moore Patterns
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Lisa Machin
Hi Elizabeth, I’m so glad I found this episode. Hearing you analyse the survey results has really helped me focus in on what’s going to bring the best return for effort in my business.
I’m one of those people who’s been dabbling in a hobby business for years, and about to make the leap into doing this thing seriously.
I hope you make many more business insight episodes, they are so useful.
Elizabeth Chappell
Lisa MachinThank you so much! I am glad you enjoyed this episode. Each episode has business tips and insights but I am sensing you love the numbers? I definitely am interested in that as well. With that in mind, I hope to have more episodes like this in the future. Thanks again for listening to the podcast. Good luck with your hobby business!
Kate
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this survey Elizabeth and do an episode on it. As a new quilt pattern designer it is easy to think that it’s easy to sell patterns. I mean, let’s face it, everybody makes it look so easy and they never openly discuss the actual numbers sold. So it’s simple, when starting out, to assume if you have a great pattern you’ll sell 100s and be up and running in no time at all. This survey really helped manage my expectations and allowed me to set realistic goals for my first upcoming pattern release. Thanks to your podcast on this and so many other topics, I’m happy to say I smashed my goal for number of patterns sold with my first quilt pattern launch! Thank you, your podcast is truly helpful!
Kelli | Quilters Candy Team
KateThat is so wonderful to hear! Congrats on smashing your goal!