I just wanted to write a brief article on what it takes to be a successful fashion designer who works with the creations from concept to finished product. Hopefully, I will inspire, motivate and encourage you with this article! If I don’t, then trust me, you’ll have a very good snooze ………………..

It’s not that hard although you DO have to possess certain qualities. However, whether you crochet, sew or knit ~ that’s irrelevant. That’s the mechanism, and the actual mechanism is irrelevant ~ it’s your needlework and your love of doing it that is among the important things.

I happen to crochet. My mom, God rest her sweet little soul, taught me when I was a very little girl about 5 years old, and encouraged me throughout the years always ~ she was always buying me stitch pattern books so I could learn the many different stitches! My oldest sister was always gifting me with crochet hooks! (You can NEVER have too many of those!)

Personally I LOVE to crochet. I tried knitting and it never really stuck. I’m dyslexic plus both hands do not really work well in tandem with each other. Actually my mom was right handed as is my sister yet I am both handed. I write with both hands, do most tasks left handed, learned to crochet right handed but switched to left handed. That change enabled me to perfect my crochet skills. My right arm always ached and my stitch tension was all over the map. Hence, my crocheting always looked pathetic.

I taught myself to crochet left handed when I was around 10 years old and have been crocheting left handed ever since. My stitch tension became perfect as I was completely relentless on myself to take it out and do it over until it was right and looked perfect.

Must confess…… I’m also a bit of a fanatic about counting the stitches on every row I do as I finish it. Better to find out right away that I skipped a stitch or two or did too many stitches right away rather than 10 rows and a sleeve attached down the line, after thinking that “it looks funny”.

So, enough about me already! What are the needed and necessary qualities to become a successful fashion designer of ladies textiles? (Mind you I am NO authority on the subject, nor am I egotistical thinking that I have all the answers! These qualities are simply my opinion from 45 years of experience!)

In no particular order, they are:

1. You must be GOOD at your particular needlecraft! You need to have the skills down pat, a thorough understanding of your particular needlecraft peppered with the continual learning experiences you pick up as time goes by, and you really need to be somewhat of a perfectionist.
2. You need to have an eye for fashion, a good color / color blending sense, and an eye for practicality, usefulness and versatility combined with a tactile sense of what “feels good”.
3. You need to have a creative original spark and be unwilling to follow the pack. A flair for originality, improvisation, and a bit of adventure, if you will
4. A willingness to move beyond the given pattern and “make it your own”. And go beyond that.

Don’t get me wrong! Patterns and pattern books are great ~ for me as a designer, they have their place. They are eye candy (”oooooh”), they are idea makers (”look, coooool!”), and they are that first stimulated electrical pulse that hits my brain that says “hey, that’s n-i-c-e, I bet I could do that” (but I’d do it differently of course………. )

I never follow them through though! All of my creations that first came about because of a crochet pattern book have all meandered down their own little skipping stone path never to return to row 3.

I use the pattern as a basis, read ahead to see what’s coming up, and end up saying “Nah……… let’s try……”

Even when I was much less experienced I did this and that’s how it all started. I just invented. Or I messed up really badly and then invented a very neat fix which became the real thing.

Patterns or not, you need to put a set of wings on your creations and make them YOUR OWN, establish your “look” ~ your trademark designer style.

Don’t be afraid to experiment! Don’t be afraid to be original, that’s what it’s all about! Not running with the pack or doing what everyone else is doing to keep up with the latest trendy stuff that just doesn’t stick. You’ll find your niche soon enough.

I’m a fall, winter and early spring sort of person, cool and cold weather make me very happy, so I gravitate towards designing those types of fashions that you see in my online store. I also lean towards the elegant, the styles that make an immediate statement about you, which is reflected in my designer handbags.

If you are the crochet type, get yourself a good set of crochet hooks, learn about the different types of yarn, meet them in person for tactile appreciation, get yourself some interesting pattern books ~ and off you go! Let your mind go off on it’s own merry, colorful, creative path! You’ll be surprised at what you can do!

This article is being featured in my Ladies and Babies Fashions Crochet and Cross Stitch Squidoo Lens ~ if you haven’t got yourself a Squidoo lens yet, start building one today! Great website traffic and revenue can be yours with a little bit of hard work and creativity!

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Jewelry Collectibles & Wedding Jewels by Maureen McCullough, conveniently located in Hackensack, Bergen County New Jersey, is owned and operated by Maureen McCullough. In business since 2002 as a artisan designer of everyday jewelry and practical jewelry such as earrings, bracelets, necklaces, eyeglass chains, lanyards, zipper pulls and more. She also specializes in wedding / prom / and formal occasion jewelry ~ ankle bracelets, bracelets, earrings and fantastic necklaces. In addition she also is a designer of textile fashions for ladies and babies such as shawls, wraps, fashion hats, and for babies ~ booties, hats, and blankets.

Happy to be a woman owned small business ~ she also a website designer and personal / virtual assistant ~ Jewelry Collectibles Design ~ as well as a wedding and event planner ~ Wedding Event Planning.