Designer Interview: Jenn from A Jennuine Life

Don't forget to check out the give-a-way to celebrate our one year in Blogdom!

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Today we have Jenn, from A Jennuine Life and Jennuine Designs here with us to talk about the designing process and to introduce her LOL top...which would be perfect for a tween.

How long have you been designing patterns? I listed my first pattern for sale in 2013 (Camper Hat), but I've been drafting for personal use since somewhere around 2011.

 Where or how did you learn these skills? The drafting part I learned through studying patterns, trial and error, and drafting texts and tutorials. Taking a pattern from a single size to a graded, digitized and illustrated pattern I learned entirely from Lauren Dahl's Pattern Workshop course, Creating PDF Patterns: From Sketch to Sale *affiliate link

  What motivates you? I really love the design process. Taking an idea and setting it to paper and then a finished garment is really fun and amazing to me. It's like the perfect storm of creative and analytical thinking. Now that I have a few patterns under my belt, I have to say it's getting to see how other sewists take my patterns and interpret it to work for their style and aesthetic. There is nothing like the feeling of seeing pictures from testers or customers sharing their garments. I love it!!

  Can you tell us a bit about your design process? Thus far my designs have all been garments I originally drafted for my daughters' personal use. I begin with either measurements or a sloper that I know works for their sizes and go from there. I like clean lines with visual interest - so far I've been a business in the front, party in the back kind'a girl!

  What do you think is most important to consider when designing something for an older child to wear? First and foremost that it's appropriate for them - coverage and fit. But not too old looking, they're still kids even if they're twelve going on twenty!

 What patterns do you have that come in sizes 10 and higher? So far my LOL Swing Top is the only pattern for sizes 10 and 12. I do have plans to offer more patterns in these sizes. Instead of having one standard size range, I've been assessing the pattern and deciding what age range is most appropriate based on the design itself. The LOL Swing Top happened to work beautifully for newborn through size 12, though I don't expect all patterns to be flattering on that wide of a range. The next pattern I'm working on is a coat which will definitely work for older kids and will be unisex to boot! You can see in the gallery of pictures all of my tween testers. Several of these girls have said it's their favorite top to wear, which makes me soo so happy! The LOL Swing Top is available in my shop and I'm offering Sew Cool for the Tween Scene readers 20% off with the code "sewcool" in my Jennuine Design pattern shop.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing Jenn! It's always fun to hear the though process behind these great designs! And thanks for the discount code!