Behind the Scenes: Making of Madrugada

Sometimes it's fun to peek behind the curtain and see how a design goes from vague idea to published pattern, so today I'm sharing a few behind-the-scenes photos of my design process for Madrugada.

It all started with a sweater--yes, a commerical, store bought, not especially high quality sweater that I grabbed from Lucky Brand on super clearance. I loved the eyelet stripes, and it got me thinking about design my own sweater incorporating them. 

I sketched out a top down yoked pullover with 3/4 length sleeves and a curved hem. I am not the world's greatest artist, though I think my sketches are getting better (I actually was an art student at one time, but my specialty was portraiture!).

I created a simple swatch of the design showing the curved edge and different colors used for the stockinette and the eyelet stripes. After the design was accepted by Louet, they requested that a row of garter stitch be added to border the stripes.

I suggested that the sample use dark and light shades of a single color and they sent me this beautiful yarn in two subtle shades of blue/gray. 

I had 3 sweater deadlines in September/October, so it was a busy time. Ultimately, once the sweater was done and blocked, I had to overnight it to meet the deadline (full disclosure: I almost always have to overnight my samples to meet deadlines). But it turned out just as I envisioned, and I was thrilled with it!

Unlike with self-publishing, Louet took care of the photography and tech editing--I reviewed the edits and proofs back in the fall and then it was just lots of waiting!

The best part of publishing with a third party is seeing the photos for the first time! Of course, all the photos from Louet's Spring collection are beautiful. 

I hope you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look at Madrugada! You can grab a copy of the pattern here. 

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