Photography by Josh Yong and Felicia Lo Wong
As the Design Director for SweetGeorgia Yarns, I have the pleasure to work with knit and crochet designers from around the world. From that first emailed submission to the final published pattern, and all the emails, planning, editing, reviews, questions, answers, pictures, and colours in-between, the process is highly collaborative and personal.
Our yarns and colours, as much as we love them, wouldn’t go too far just sitting on the shelf (despite being so pretty to look at). They need beautiful patterns for us to make! And so, we work with designers on a variety of levels. If you’ve ever considered about working with us and our yarns, here are our three favorite ways:
Yarn Support
For designers seeking to produce their own independent pattern, we often provide yarn support to assist in the design process. We partner with designers who exclusively list our yarn on the pattern (and Ravelry pages) and have an established portfolio with a consistent history. Helping each other with giveaways, promotions, and social media shares after publication enhance the collaborative process. We like to knit samples of the pattern to take to our shows or share on our social accounts.
Individual Monthly Patterns
SweetGeorgia produces individual patterns (IMPs) throughout the year for a variety of reasons: to show off new colours or yarns, for make-alongs we host throughout the year, to ensure enough pattern support for a particular yarn, in the coordination of another promotion, or in anticipation of a show. And we love partnering with designers in this process. Submissions for the monthly patterns are on a rolling basis. Besides the royalty share payments, we provide yarn support for the sample and to a test knitter of your choice, tech-editing, hi-resolution photos, pattern layout, giveaways to your customers, and social media shares across all of our channels.
SweetGeorgia Collections
We produce over three big, seasonal collections a year, working with a team of designers for each one. These are far more in-depth than our Individual Monthly Patterns, with garments, lookbooks, mood boards, themes, modeled photography, and a more detailed editing process. While the payment is different than the IMPs (we offer a one-time exclusivity fee), the support and benefits are the same. It’s a longer-term event, with the season’s planning beginning almost a year before the collection launches. We release submission calls for these to our Designer Email List and on Ravelry in the Designers Group.
What We Look For
If you’re eager to submit, there are some things we always look for: designs that are wearable with an eye for hand-dyed colour, a thoughtful submission that follows our guidelines (a swatch, schematic, sketch, notes, and contact info on one PDF page), and open communication.
However you wish to work with our team on a project, there are a few things you will always get from us: encouragement, admiration, and a deep, deep desire to see you, as a designer, succeed. Whether a new designer to the field or an established pro, there is an inspiring creative energy that everyone brings to the table. It’s an energy that motivates our whole team, bringing about new ideas, products, and zeal for the work we do. The yarn + designer world is wonderful because of its collaborative foundation and we can’t help but think of it has the most amazing thing.
If you’d like to be added to our Designer Email List, please email us at submissions@sweetgeorgiayarns.com &
