What to include on your pattern sales page
You may know that I hosted the Scrappy Project MAL a few months ago to encourage myself and others to knit from our stashes. It's good for the environment and your wallet, and you can create something out of yarns you never would have thought to pair together.
As I was looking for patterns to knit, I spent time on a lot of pattern pages on Ravelry and it got me thinking about what I like to see on that page as a knitter when I’m browsing. When I was shopping for a pattern, there were specific things I needed to know, and if that info wasn't there, I'd just move on.
This landing page is a place to include all the info a person needs to be aware of when deciding whether or not to buy a pattern. A high quality landing page is often an indicator of a high quality pattern, so it’s to your advantage to put the same quality of work as you do inside the pattern itself.
If a sales page is riddled with errors or has me confused in any way, that doesn’t exactly give me much confidence in the pattern. So why would I take a chance and buy something that might not be the quality I’ve come to expect?
Here are a few areas that I think are important to give detailed information on in that page.
Sizing
I need to know if this pattern will fit me. Some designers will even give the full schematic upfront and I love that. My bust and waist are about the same size, while a size chart would tell you my waist would be several inches smaller than my bust. Bodies are different and size charts are averages of key measurements and it's not a one-size-fits-all thing, so giving all the body measurements upfront can help people know how your pattern will fit them and decide if they even want to knit it.
Yarn info
I don't think I've ever purchased a pattern and THEN bought yarn. Usually there's a yarn and I'm trying to find a pattern to go with it. So I need to know exact yardage amounts upfront. This goes with the previous requirement because I need to know what size I'm knitting to know the yardage. I also want to know the yarn weight and fiber content.
Even if I was planning to buy yarn specifically for a pattern, it’s still nice to have a sense of how much I will need so I can see how it will fit into my budget.
Gauge
Sometimes I'll knit a gauge swatch before buying to see if the yarn I have will work with the pattern. I am currently knitting Roseability by Victoria Marchant and she provides a PDF upfront before you buy that includes a pattern for the gauge swatch, which I so appreciated because it let me see how the lace panel would look in my chosen yarn before I even decided to buy.
I wish more designers did this! I think it’s a trend that is catching on and some designers do offer a preview PDF with important info like that, but I wouldn’t say it’s the norm yet, sadly.
Needle size
See above - If I'm knitting my gauge swatch before I buy, then I need to know what needles to start with.
Special notions
Common sense will tell me I'll need a tapestry needle and stitch markers, but if there are any wacky requirements, it's good to be upfront. I’d consider buttons, beads, or a stitch holder to fall under this category.
Techniques
If there are special techniques that are used in the pattern, you can list them here to let people know what they're getting into. Examples include provisional cast on, brioche, i-cord, cables, garter tab cast on, intarsia.
Construction
I like to know if I'm getting into a seamed or seamless garment, and if it's knit top down or bottom up. (I probably would not want to knit a bottom up top with scrap yarn because then I can't just knit until I run out of yarn!)
And do you need to get this sales page tech edited?
As long as you're copy+pasting all of your info straight from your pattern that has already been tech edited, then no need to do it twice. But if you're writing a new description or changing the way something is worded from your pattern, it might be good to have it looked over. (I've edited over 100 patterns at this point and have never had a client ask me to do this though.)
