Pattern Testing with @knittingtipsy!
I am so excited about this interview! Chelsea of @knittingtipsy is one of my favorite people on the planet. I mean, just look at that smile and tell me it’s not contagious! Chelsea is an incredibly talented designer and a habitual pattern tester, giving her a unique perspective on pattern testing from both angles. Read below to hear about her experience as a pattern tester turned designer (who continues to pattern test)!
Pictured above, @knittingtipsy hiking in her home state, Florida, wearing her design - the Basic Stitch Bikini (Ravelry link)! Below (from left to right): she is rocking another one of her designs - the Tan & Tipsy Top; the @by.stephanie.erin Incendiary Tank; her own Skimpy Stitch Bikini (in testing now - coming soon!); and @namaste_and_crochet’s Luna Top
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1. You are both a designer and a pattern tester. Which one did you do first and how did you get into it?
I started with pattern testing!. My first ever pattern test was a skirt and top set for @gorillaknits - the Beverly set (this is a Ravelry link). Once I started knitting and crocheting regularly, and I saw that there were so many cool patterns and designers on Instagram, I created my public account with the goal of ultimately selling patterns and showing off my knits and things. I did not even know about the world of pattern testing, but I saw a testing call for @gorillaknits, and I was like, “Wait… We get to help other designers?!” I really liked @gorillaknits, I had been following her for a while, so I applied. I had never tested before, so I thought for sure she would never pick me. I had seen people who pattern tested and I just never thought that could be me. Lo and behold, she did accept me. I was so excited! That was July 2018. It was so fun, but I was so nervous the whole time because I didn’t know what I was doing. That garment set was my first ever pattern test! I just kind of dove in with a skirt and a top. It was awesome. I really loved it and I started applying to other tests from there. I think my next one was a dress for @knitoriousknits. So, I started with pretty big things! I was meeting other people in testing groups and other designers, getting my work shared – it was just great and I thought it was so cool.
I wanted to design too, but I felt like I didn’t know enough about patterns. That is why I got into pattern testing. I wanted to learn how garments were constructed and what designers thought about. Long story short, I got into pattern testing because I wanted to be more involved in the community and I thought it was the coolest thing ever that you could help designers, and because I knew I wanted to design myself someday. I wanted to learn what goes into a pattern and learn more about designing.
2. What do you enjoy most about being a pattern tester? What is your least favorite part?
I used to pick designs based on whether it incorporated things I wanted to learn. I would wonder, “Yeah, how do you do an elastic waist?” Or, “How do you do this kind of body shaping?” “Ohh, this uses short rows, I want to learn that.” A lot of the patterns I applied to test were based on techniques I wanted to learn. So, my favorite thing about pattern testing has been learning new techniques and skills.
The other thing I love about pattern testing is the camaraderie. I met many of my close friends through pattern tests. That focus has changed and evolved a little bit as my maker goals change and evolve, but that is something I have always loved about the pattern testing process.
My least favorite thing: The timeline anxiety! I am always worried that I am not going to finish on time. I am always worried it’s not going to be good enough – or that I might mess it up and not be able to finish it on time. Even though I now consider myself a pretty advanced knitter and crocheter, I just always have that fear. I am not sure whether it is because I have anxiety in general or if it is imposter syndrome creeping in. But I have a general concern that I will not be able to represent the designer’s vision and get it done on time without screwing it up. I force myself to apply for things that, yes, I would make and wear, but also things that scare me. This forces me to confront that fear and it ends up helping me in that it shows me how capable and talented I actually am. I may be anxious throughout the process, but I always feel accomplished in the end.
3. How do you balance designing your own patterns versus testing patterns for others?
The truth is I don’t. I am not good at that yet! I keep taking on other tests, either because I want to promote a friend’s design or because it’s a test I really want to do and I can’t say no. I am trying to cut back on tests, but there are so many designs coming out that are so amazing, making it hard to resist. It is so much easier to push my own designs back. I have had one design I have been wanting to do since January, and I keep pushing it back to do other things. So, I guess the answer to your question is that I am still learning that balance and I am not there yet. I have not figured it out. I am hoping to focus a little more on designing and a little less on pattern testing, but I love learning new things and meeting new people. There is just something special about pattern testing.
4. How has pattern testing improved your design skills? How has designing improved your testing skills?
How has pattern testing improved my design skills? That’s easy! I have learned so many techniques, stitches, things about body shaping, and even how to write a pattern through pattern testing. Even hearing other testers talk about how things could be clearer for them has helped me, as a designer, think about what I need to include in my own patterns. Pattern testing is how I am learning to design. I have basic ideas and I have fundamental knowledge of knitting and crocheting, but I am truly learning about pattern design through pattern testing.
How has designing improved my pattern testing skills? Well, now I know the things that annoy me as a designer! ◡̈ So, I try not to do those things as a tester. For example, one of my biggest pet peeves as a designer is when I have applications and feedback forms and people do not answer all parts of the questions. For example, if I asked “How many yards did you use for the top? How many yards did you use for the bottom?” People will often just respond with yardage for the top. So, I make sure as a tester I answer all parts of a question.
I also think that having been on both sides now, knowing how much work, effort, love, tears, and sweat goes into designing a pattern, I have a lot more respect as a pattern tester for the designer and design process. I am not going to change an aspect of the design just because I might think it looks better. There are a million ways to do things, and if a designer chose to do it a certain way, there is either a reason for it or it is their choice for how they want the design to look. You’re testing their pattern. I know now that it can be very upsetting for a designer when a tester suggests something would look better a certain way. This is somebody’s labor of love, so I try to respect the fact that we might have different ways of designing and different aesthetics. As a pattern tester, I am there to help them realize their vision, not to create my own vision.
5. Having been on both sides, what do you now look for in a pattern tester?
I need you to have a public account. I need to be able to see your work. If you are not comfortable with people seeing your private account, make a public account for your crocheting and knitting. If I am going through applications and I have to request to follow you to see your work – that is just one extra step that other people have not made me do, so you are less likely to be chosen.
Make sure your personality or enthusiasm for the pattern comes through – try to stand out! If there is an About Me section, don’t just put that you have been crocheting for 12 years. Say something funny about yourself, or something interesting about yourself. There is even a lot to be said for letting me know that you are really excited about the design or something I’ve done. Show me a little bit of your personality. You do not have to wax poetic or anything, but share something about you that I can maybe connect with – that will make me feel like you’ll fit into the testing group I am envisioning.
Answer all of the questions in my application! If I have never heard of you before, you have a private account, and I ask for your measurements… why on earth would you respond, “I don’t know, I’ll have to look them up later” ??? If you’re not prepared to answer a questionnaire, don’t answer it right then. Go get a measuring tape and look at your yarn before you apply. If I am asking the question, it is because I want to know the answer to that question when I am considering your application.
Make sure you have clear pictures that are not dark. You do not need to have the best pictures ever but making sure your pictures are clear and will represent a design well is important.
Make sure you are able to do the things called for in the tester application. As a pattern tester, I would always look up the answer to something I did not know. So, if I ask you in the application, “Can you provide yardage?” And then the feedback portion comes, and you say, “Oh, I don’t know how to do that.” You knew it was going to be asked… why didn’t you Google it? Why didn’t you go online to learn something? [Shameless plug by Kasey — need help measuring yardage? Check this post!]
Bonus points if you’re good at sharing WIP photos! Now as a designer, I have realized I love when people share WIP photos on their grids and/or stories. This is something I always struggle with as a tester and I am trying to do better, but it is something I now look for in a pattern tester too. People who share intermittent progress photos help generate hype for a pattern along the way!
6. Lately you have been designing really awesome bikinis! Has pattern testing swimwear been any different than other types of designs? If so, how so?
YES! This has been so much different. There are shockingly few resources out there for bikini designs, and most of them are not size inclusive. I really want to make sure that anyone who wants to wear one of my bikinis can. So, I did so much research with my first bikini on things like, “How wide should a crotch gusset be?” “For different sizes, do crotch gussets increase?” Like, I had no idea about these things! Do vaginas get bigger? Are some more wide set? Is that an individual thing or does that vary by size? I’ve had to make up a lot of my own “rules” and through the testing process, I am learning more and more. I had to buy some sewing designs to try to learn things for my first pattern. And actually, for my very first bikini pattern, I was so nervous to get it right before sending it to testers that I went to Target and bought bikini bottoms in sizes XS through the largest I could find, which was 3 or 4 X, and just compared those measurements to mine. Even then, I knew it would not be perfect because of how I wanted the bikini to fit, but thankfully, it worked out. It was a lot of work to make sure my design was right! It’s been kind of terrifying, but also kind of empowering – like, YEAH! I’m doing this! There’s nothing out there like this!
It’s also really awesome to have such an amazing group of women helping with these patterns. Every body is different and everyone’s preferences are different. I love that my testers are feeling empowered throughout the process. There is something magical about making something that truly fits someone’s body type. It’s definitely different, but I am really proud and happy that my testers have felt good in their bikinis. Hearing someone say, “I feel comfortable” and “I feel beautiful” in something that is more risqué or skimpy… it just makes me feel so good to help women feel good about themselves. Every body is a bikini body!
It’s been an adventure, and I am going to keep rolling with it. I will be doing bikinis all year round because: (1) bikinis can double as lingerie; (2) everyone deserves a vacation in the winter; and (3) hot tubs and cocktails are always a good idea.
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Thank you so much for reading this fun interview with Chelsea of @knittingtipsy! Be sure to check out her Instagram account, her Knitting Tipsy website, her patterns and for sale items, and her super FUN Whiskey & WIPs LIVES every Wednesday at 5 PST/8EST (on Instagram)!
