Picking a cover for Ruby
I thought it would be fun to show you something that Elli is working on these days, a little behind-the-scenes post of sorts. We took a break from new pattern production this summer after Beatrix (honestly we all just needed to step away, that one was really intense), and I wanted to work on putting a few more of our women’s patterns into print before we started on something new. Ruby seemed like a great candidate because it would make the perfect beginner garment sewing class, and we’ve noticed that the shops that carry my print patterns often use them for sewing classes.
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It takes quite a bit of work to turn a digital pattern into a print pattern because not only do the instructions have to be laid out differently, we also need a cover for the pattern. A few years ago I hired Lauren Dahl to create a cover for the Washi Dress pattern, so Elli (who does all of our graphics work now; she also happens to be my sister) used the layout Lauren created for Washi to make something similar for Ruby.
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You can see we narrowed it down to two candidates for the cover sample. I made the yellow Ruby top out of some double gauze and lace I had left over from other projects (the yellow double gauze was from this Josephine, and the lace was from this lace top). I’ve worn the top a few times this summer but I made it mainly thinking it might make a good cover photo for the print pattern. Here it is on the hanger:
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And on me:
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The other candidate for the cover shots was this Ruby Dress (if you follow that link you’ll see I’ve been thinking about the cover of this pattern for over a year). Here it is on the hanger:
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And on me:
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Jess and Elli and I spent a little time discussing which one of these shots was better for the cover. If we chose the yellow top cover, the lace might scare people away if they thought they could only use lace for the yoke (any fabric will do!) or were worried about it being see-through, but on the other hand, the solid yellow is really pretty universally appealing whereas the red feather print might be more of a personal taste thing. The red dress cover is my favorite photo of the two, but we were worried that the point on the bottom of the skirt might look too A-line; the dress hangs a little straighter normally and we didn’t want to give the wrong impression about its shape. So we zoomed in a little for the cover draft you see above, but then you can’t tell how long it is.
What do you think? Which is your favorite? Can you believe we spend so much time talking about such tiny details?? Sometimes I think I overthink this stuff way too much. Anyway, we’re sending the proofs to the printer this week so you’ll know which one we chose soon!!!