Patterns, pattern writing----my thoughts

Some background:
My friend Norma and I often chat on the weekends via instant messenger, her being way up there in BC and me down here in Alabama.   We surf, we share links of patterns, blogs, tutorials of things we might be interested in making--been doing this since 2006.  We have more ideas than time but it is fun to look and comment.  Sometimes Cher, Pat and Pam join in but primarily it is Norma and I who really get revved up about this project or that, filing it away in that "someday" file.  We tease each other about who is the instigator, which of us in the bad influence over the other.

Sometimes we actually settle on a pattern, pick out our fabric, set up a time and sew "together" over the miles, again with the help of IM and  "check your email".   Other times we work individually sewing during the week and send progress reports.  This recent purse pattern was one that she suggested, that she already owned.  She wanted to make it and I thought it was cute, a bit intriguing with the snap closure.  Who can't use another purse in your own choice of fabrics??  I got the pattern too, figuring she would join in at some point. 

Well, this time it evolved differently.  She wanted me ( or Pam) to go first as she was not understanding the pattern.  We both thought Pam should be the "guinea pig" as she makes a lot of purses and has a lot of general sewing background.  In the end I was the "test pilot" for this pattern.  I have a background in garment sewing, learning from my mom but when quilting came along, clothing, purses, craft projects, more or less, fell by the wayside.  Who has time for that when a pile of quilts await?? 

I am between blog hops and had a few days I could spare and decided to try out the pattern.  I found most of the fabric on my shelf, added a tad more of one since I only had a fat quarter and got started earlier in the week.  It did not take long to see why Norma wanted someone else (Pam or I) to try it first and give suggestions. What would you change or do differently??  There were a few things that had us both going " HUH?  I don't follow"--- her in the reading and me, in the follow through. This is all documented in recent posts.

Norma in reading my post commented---

"I really think pattern designers should be doing more testing before putting their patterns out on the market. In fact, there should be a "this pattern was tested on real live quilters" designation that pattern designers could earn if their patterns were indeed tested on people like us. This would definitely help in the decision on whether or not to buy the pattern. Are any pattern designers out there listening? Obvious things like how to treat directional fabric should be included in patterns-- I know when I was in home-ec in high school the patterns we were using to make clothing definitely included comments on how to deal with directional prints. I am thrilled you are my test pilot on this bag!"

Thought provoking, I thought.  Something like the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval then?  Some emails flew back and forth.  Some points I am going to include here, actually.

Later she told me via chat---

"when we used to have horses, there was a saying that it cost the same to keep an ugly horse as it did to keep a pretty horse - and who wants an ugly head hanging over that barn door!  

Well something similar can be said for quilt patterns.  It costs the same to buy a well written quilt pattern as it does a poorly written pattern so why waste your money on a poorly written pattern!  The cost of fabric and other materials can not be dismissed these days.  If I am going to spend the money on the supplies to make a quilt, I as the quilter, want some assurances that the pattern is written to a certain standard.  Perhaps we need to start the FAB stamp of approval.  Atkinson getting 5 stars and others....."

Good points, my friend.  Honestly, I am not really picking on this particular set of designers.  Neither is Norma.  It is not the first time, or the last, that something is going to have me confused. No one wants to waste their time or their money on a "bad" product.   As I said, I am a quilter.  I understand quilting.  I am a student of quilting, not home dec and purse making.  I can do a passable job, I understand construction and what something should look like in the end.  It is a process, like a recipe, that depends on your doing the preceding steps correctly before you continue on to the next. 

For the sake of discussion and taking into account my sewing past experiences, what makes for a good pattern and why are some "bad" or seemingly incomplete? Is it just me having problems comprehending or it is them??  Probably a combination of both?

My theory:

1) Some design but cannot sew in a practical manner.   They are artists, not sewists, perhaps lacking the basic sewing skills that some of us learned at our mama's knee, in 4-H or high school home ec.  Some, I know, farm the actual making whatever it is out to someone else to do the grunt work. (Look at the magazine credits sometime or on the downloadable patterns---it is enlightening)   Then that person brings their own sewing skills into the process and makes it work.  They have a picture for the pattern jacket or the magazine article.

2)  Now we know that we are going to get a good pattern with Atkinson Designs. She would most deservedly get the Quilter Seal of Approval. We know that these were actually tested by real, live quilters.  We see them sewing on her blog.  Any pitfall has been addressed down to which direction to press the seams.  Thorough,well thought through and it shows.  I may not agree with how she does long sashing rows, but that is about the only thing I ever change. 

3) Some people are not pattern writers, technical writers.   I'm not but sometimes I have to try to write a hand out for the Belles.  It is far easier to DO something step by step than write down those steps.  You have to think out every blessed step, like a recipe. Leave out one sentence or assume that they know more than they do and you will have someone going "HUH? I don't follow".

Recently I walked Bev through the process of making a needle roll like mine, giving the girls a handout I had written. One of the girls was taking pictures and scribbling notes in the margins. Was it bad directions or her pictures will supplement the reading?  Don't know but she must have felt it was needed to cement the steps in her mind.  This leads into my next point. 

4) Lack of clear diagrams or graphics.  Which is the right or the wrong side of the fabric in that picture, for example.  A lot of it has to do with how I learn, how our brains are wired.  I daresay many of us are visual learners. Read, yes but pictures help--- what should it look like at this point.  Does it match what I am holding in my hands?  If it doesn't, then where did I go wrong?

5)  Looking at this a little further, where do we go when we need help, when we don't understand?

• A local friend/quilter who we feel knows more than we do?  Uh, I am usually the person someone asks, not answers, LOL. The "go- to" gal. Of course, I don't know everything and it is possible that they might have the answer.   I miss having my mom close by and my dear friend Joy who left us a few years back.  These two are and were, respectively, MY go-to gals.
• Reference books in my quilting library---I love you Quilter's Complete Guide. 
• Maybe a magazine article on the subject if I can lay hands on it 
• Oh yeah, the internet! Google any topic and you find PDF files.  You tube videos.   Sewing/quilting forums.  Feedback in blog comments.  In our case it was "every pilot needs a co-pilot" and she came up with some links to bail me out for that final step.
• Mostly though, think about how spoiled we are by quilting tutorials!  Less head scratching. BUT how do traditionally written paper patterns that fold into those plastic envelopes compete with that and NOT end up being a book instead??  Bless those who share and are only a click away.
• email the designer--most have a website and a "contact us" means or an email listed on the pattern.

I guess what it all boils down to, it is not WHAT you know or share but how well you can communicate it.   It may make perfect sense in your brain but will it be understandable to someone else?  As a pattern user, we each bring our own skill set to any task we undertake.  We each have a certain level of confidence or discomfiture in undertaking new things.  In that case there is bound to be a little stumble along the way, some frustrations and "I am not following this".  Perception becomes one's version of reality and it colors our execution of the task at hand.

OR that is what I think and to quote my friend, a lefthanded quilter "But then again, it’s probably just me."   See if anyone reads this or agrees with my theories.