How To Make Money With Crochet

I have been a mentor for 4-5 crocheters who had dreams of making money with their original designs. These talented gals were published within a year. They each had tremendous talent and all I did was just steer them in the right direction and give them tips along the way. I've taught them about how to go about contacting a magazine or other book publisher to submit their designs. Also, most publishers who publish knit and crochet books for just 1 author (like me) also publish books on their own that will have a combination of designer's designs in one book, and this would be a good way to start. Contact them (a publisher you know does this) and ask to be put on their designer list  and you will get their email sending out a "Call for Submissions". Of course, it's better if you've already had something published in a  or other venue, such as selling your own designs on your blog or Ravelry.  I never had to ask any publishers to add my name to their list. They somehow found out about me (probably by seeing my crochet books or my designs in magazines). To this day I still get those emails with "Calls for Submissions." I don't answer every call because I don't have time to fill up my schedule with more designing, but occasionally I do answer the call and write up a proposal (with sketch, description, swatch, yarn suggestion, etc). I recently turned in 5 designs to a publisher in NYC who solicited my designs for a book full of designs by several different designers.

Crochet Calendar

There used to be a yearly Crochet A Day crochet calender that was always looking for designs to publish each year. Every year they needed 365 shorter patterns, but if someone submitted a pattern like an Afghan or top that required more space they would dedicate 2-3 pages/days for that. 

When I hadn't been designing very long and had just a few designs in magazines, I submitted some small designs for the calender just to mainly get my name out there. You could send them your own picture of the design or they would take a picture of it for you to be in the calender. The calender did not pay for you to have your design in it, but the reason I or anyone else would do this without pay is to get exposure. They always put your name and other info such as your website or blog with your pattern. Another good thing about not being paid is that YOU still own the design! Therefore, after the calender has been published you can do whatever you want with your pattern. You can sell it on your blog, website or social media sites who allow that. Oh, and of course they send you a free calender! The calender also choose the design they thought was the best and that person won $1,000 for being the best design for that year! One of the designers I mentored, Natalia of Outstanding Crochet, won the $1,000 prize! I was so happy for her! In my opinion, she's is one of these best crochet designers out there, but she makes her money mostly by selling her own patterns on Etsy and other places. She is very very successful and I am so happy for her!

I believe I had designs published in 6-7 of the "Crochet A Day" calendars, but I don't believe they are still around. Someone needs to start publishing another crochet calendar, because I think it was a good thing!

Make A Living with Crochet?

Then there are others who contact me wanting to know if they can make a living with crochet. I tell them that yes, it is possible, but you really have to be dedicated and have a passion for what you do. Some people get paid to teach crochet in a chain store such as Michael's or Hobby Lobby, while others may teach at a LYS (local yarn shop). You can do this if you are a professional designer, or if you are just someone who is experienced and love to crochet. You usually don't need any credentials to teach at these places. 
As soon as you get paid to have a design published in a book or magazine, you are considered a professional, as with any craft or skill you have. When my siblings and I started getting paid to sing at different places (when I was 14 & the others were 10, 13 and 16)), they told us we were considered professional. 

If you want to be known in the crochet design industry as a professional, you can join CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) and they will give you the label of Professional as long as you have met the criteria. For more info on that, go to their website here where you can find all kinds of info on the subject. You'll also learn about conferences, and many subjects about what is going on in the world of crochet. 
Some professional designers who make money by having their designs bought by a magazine or publisher, also make money by traveling around the country teaching classes at local CGOA or speaking at retreats, workshops and conferences. I have done this several times in my designing career, but I would not want to travel all the time like some do. Of course it all depends on whether or not you have a family and how much you are willing to be away from them. Usually the people who get asked to speak at conferences or retreats have a specialty. By this, I mean that some are known for Tunisian Crochet, Freeform, Lace, Afghans, Hairpin Lace, Broomstick Lace, Bruges, or some other technique people are interested in learning. I have been asked to teach on my signature Graduated Stitch Method of making shaped garments without having to use increases or decreases. This is a method I came up with when I was writing my book, Crochet That Fits. A passion and priority with me is to make crochet as easy as possible. So with this method, people who have only made Afghans, scarves or washcloths all their lives are now making garments. They're so excited, but I'm here to tell you, it's so easy. If you are a beginner, you can be making garments in no time. The book was voted "Best Crochet Pattern Book of 2008", due to this new easy method of making garments. My crochet books have also been published in other languages and that is very exciting!
If you come up with a new idea you should consider submitting a book proposal to a publisher. I have other posts on this with more detail. Publishers are always looking for new ideas. This is the main way I make a living at crochet, which is from my book royalties.
So whatever genre you like to work with, you can become a specialist in that and be known for it. You may soon be known for this and will be asked to come teach others.
I've also given talks on "How to Get Your Designs Published" or "How to go About Writing a Crochet Book." (See my other posts).

Other ways of making money with your crochet would be to become a Pattern Tester or a Contract Crocheter.
 These are actual job titles if someone is looking to make money with their crochet. 

Pattern Tester
Whether a designer is planning to sell their patterns on their blog, Ravelry or other sites, they are usually looking for someone they can trust who will test their pattern before going to print or being published. In my case, since the majority of my patterns have been published in books or magazines, I too, have my written patterns tested, before sending them off to the publisher, even though they do not require this of us. I want to make absolutely sure my pattrns can be understood and they are error free BEFORE going to the tech editor! I have another blog post on Pattern Tesing here if you want more info on the subject.

Contract Crocheter
Most designers prefer to stitch up their own designs, but occasionally we need to hire someone to get it finished before our deadline, especially if we are working on other designs ourselves. I had to hire some other professional crochet designer friends to stitch up about 4 of my designs that were going in my book, Colorful Crochet Lace. It was mainly because I got behind when I stayed with my sister in the hospital for 15 days  when she had a heart attack. I tried but could not keep my mind on designing crochet! 

Chain Link Conference (Knit and Crochet Show)

There are many ways to get your name put on a list of Contract Crocheters and Pattern Testers, by looking online. Those groups would be Ravelry, Crochetville, Facebook, through word of mouth or by searching on the CGOA (Crochet Guild of America) website. 

We also have a yearly conference called The Knit and Crochet Show where we network with others and get information on who needs a Contract Crocheter or Pattern Tester. Another name for this is the Chain Link Conference, which is what most people call it. 

Selling Your Own Patterns or Selling Projects you Make

Like I said above, you can make money by selling your own patterns on sites such as Ravelry, Etsy, EBay or social media sites. If you have a good design that's very popular, it's possible that you can make even more money doing that than you can by selling that one design to a magazine! I'm very serious about that! The best thing to do, is to do some research. This is what I did when I think I want to send a book proposal to a publisher. Find out what kind of crochet items are in demand but you can't find a pattern for those things. A pattern will always sell when that particular item can not be found anywhere. Doesn't this make sense? I think that's one reason all my books have been top sellers. I came up with things that were different and not just like everybody else's crochet patterns.

 Another thing I did was to look at as many runway shows as I could whether they were a New York or Paris runway show. You can always get ideas from high fashion designers, but keep in mind the designs in a current runway show may not catch on with the public for anywhere from 2-6 years! That's the truth! I had several designs in my books that were published but they became really even more popular a few years later and are still to this day in style. There are also fashion magazines that most of the public do not even know about, that are meant for designers. They were very very expensive and I could not afford to buy those. I think they were around $70-$100 each, (called either Runway Magazine or Look Book) but I found some on eBay that were not too old. If I can find those magazines, I'll come back and tell what they are here. Since they are about 4 or more years ahead, it's worth having those books. But I also subscribed to several other fashion magazines, such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, Allure, In Style and others. These magazines can inspire you in designing your own projects.

There are other ways you can make money crocheting, but I'll let that be another post later.