Honestly, just getting through 2020 feels like a win. I’m doing my best to take the important lessons learned from 2020 and look forward to 2021 with hope. I wish the very best for you, and I want you to know that our team is actively working on ways we can serve you better and bring more value to your sewing practice this year and in the future.
If you’d like to help inform the decisions we are making. We would love it if you could fill out our brief survey. || Update: the survey is closed. Thank you for the feedback! Feel free to contact us directly if you would like to submit any additional feedback!
2020 RECAP
Taking time to look back reminds me of all that we accomplished last year, but I didn’t do it alone. I want to thank the fantastic team of women who make all of this possible: Nicole (Marketing), Emi (Copy Editing), Tracy (Web Developer), MaryAnn (Grader), and Carolyn (Graphic Designer).
2020 PATTERN RELEASES
We started the year with new releases: the Page & Mini Page in March (released on the 11th, right before we went into lockdown on the 13th).
This was followed by the Marcel & Mini Marcel, which were released in July, our best release to date!
By the end of July, we switched our focus. With the sewing community’s encouragement and support, we added three more sizes to our size range. Our new size range is 0-30 with two bust cups. It was important for us to have these pattern updates available as soon as possible.
To help with this project, we batched our work to update eight of our most popular patterns. Carolyn (our graphic designer) got all of our branding updated, and Nicole took on more hours and ran all of the testing so I could focus on the pattern updates. It made for a good system.
We are thrilled that all of our knit patterns have been updated in our new size range! Check out the updated Pony, Page, Pixie & Waterfall patterns. Thanks go to Leanne, Sierra & Amanda for sewing and styling photos for the releases!
In addition, our most popular woven patterns have been updated! Check out the updated Orchid, Fringe, Victory & Marcel patterns. Thanks go to Abbie, Sierra & Savannah for sewing and styling photos for the releases!
While we were at it, we also released a few new Mini Patterns: the Mini Pixie and Mini Pony. We now have six Women-and-Mini bundles in our shop.
We still have three more patterns in our library that need to be updated (the Farrah, the Joy & the Crews), but we are really excited to have all of our most popular patterns available in our new size range!
BLOG CONTRIBUTORS
Adding more blog tutorials was a goal for us in 2020. At the beginning of the year, we hired a group of sewists to contribute to the blog and write a series of hack style tutorials for our existing patterns. We are really excited to have expanded this library so that you can get more styles out of C+N patterns. If you missed any of these tutorials, make sure to check them out on the blog and follow these ladies by clicking on each image below.
COLLABORATOR TEAM
Along with our blog contributors, we wanted to invest in our community and hire sewists to sew and photograph their C+N makes. We were lucky to work with these talented makers, and we look forward to continuing and growing our collaboration team in 2021. Make sure to click on each image to follow all of these ladies on Instagram.
SEW ALONGS
We want you to have all of the resources you need when sewing C+N patterns. Along with the release of the Marcel, we added a Sew Along that includes step-by-step photos and videos and a new Sew Along landing page on our blog. We hope that you find the Sew Alongs helpful; we hope to grow this resource for more styles in 2021!
2021 PLANS
I have been thinking a lot about C+N 2021 plans. It seems ridiculous to make plans after the year we just had, but having a plan to reference does help me focus. I find that having a focus can also help with stress relief. So take these goals with a grain of salt and know that inevitably we will adjust. That said, we are very hopeful for 2021.
PATTERNS
We are really excited about releasing more new patterns in 2021. Bringing you professionally drafted patterns with all the fitting resources you need is our main job! If I’m being honest, I only know what one of those patterns will be at this moment, and I have only started drafting it. However, we will do our best to bring you as many new patterns as possible this year in addition to more Sew Alongs to provide sewing support.
I would love to continue with updates, but I am not sure how many we will get to this year, if any. We will be updating all of our patterns, but the priority for 2021 will be new patterns and something I’ve been trying to work on for a while…paper patterns. You might have heard me talk about it before. I’ve wanted to get our patterns into print for a long time. There are still a few obstacles in getting the patterns printed, but I’m going to do my best to make progress on this goal in 2021.
Along with new patterns, I look forward to being able to have photoshoots again in 2021. We are still under stay-at-home orders in California, but once it’s safe, we plan to reshoot many of our updated patterns so that our listing images include more diverse bodies.
While we are on the topic of patterns, we often get requests about joining our pattern testing team. We don’t have a set testing team, but we do have a testing email list. You can join and be notified when we are ready to test our next pattern. We usually do an open call (that lasts about 24hrs), and everyone who applies is contacted whether they are chosen or not. We do our best to provide an enjoyable testing experience. To avoid wasting anyone’s time, we pre-test all patterns and have them professionally copyedited before we proceed to testing. Please be advised that our testing positions are volunteer positions and not paid at this time.
COLLABORATOR TEAM
Collaborating with sewists was a highlight for us in 2020, and our priority will always be to work with a diverse group of makers in our community. We put out an open call on Instagram, and we received a lot of interest, so we are excited about putting together a new team for 2021. Collaborations are paid, and all fabric and supplies are also reimbursed.
NEWSLETTER
We value connecting with you through many channels: here on our blog, on social media, and through our newsletter. We hope to share more behind-the-scenes information with our newsletter, and provide exclusive discount codes and free resources. We’d love your feedback on what type of resources would be the most valuable to you! If you don’t already receive our newsletter, you can sign up here.
SURVEY
If you’ve made it this far, I’d like to thank you for following along and supporting Chalk and Notch patterns! Ultimately our goal is to bring you more of what you want. Getting more specific feedback from our customers is really helpful to guide us in our plans. So if you have the time, we would love it if you could fill out the Chalk and Notch survey. || Update: the survey is closed. Thank you for the feedback! Feel free to contact us directly if you would like to submit any additional feedback!
Lastly, I’d like to wish you and yours a happy and healthy new year!
XO, Gabriela & the C+N Team
