PPC22: Revealing the OutBreaker Pattern Cover

So…

in our last post we had a little fun letting YOU be the designer and choosing which of our bag samples YOU would choose to grace the pattern cover for our next design for 2020, the OutBreaker. Thanks SO much to everyone who participated! Pattern design can be rather solitary work and I always enjoy hearing the logic behind which bag my customers would choose. But as much as I enjoy these interactions, this really isn’t a democratic process and in my estimation I have good reasons for having chose the bag I have for our pattern cover. Sometimes I agree with the majority of you, but sometimes I don’t. Only time will tell which one of us was right I guess! I’ll share these details below, but right now…

It’s time for the BIG reveal!

But now let’s talk a bit about WHY we made this choice!

Cork It! – July 16, 2020

The cork I utilized for this sample is truly impressive and I fell in love with it from the moment I saw it! And the thing is… this bag is really beautiful and if I were to choose any bag I wanted to carry long term, it likely would be this one, but….

even though its’ an undeniably classy sample, it just doesn’t seem to have that certain “something” that would make it overwhelmingly compelling if it were placed on the pattern cover…. so for that reason…

it’s OUT!

Dragonflies at Night – 7/21/20

And here’s the deal… after waffling back and forth about what contrasting fabric to use for the base of this bag, (a black faux suede or this blue swirl), I was actually quite pleasantly surprised at how wonderful this bag turned out and especially at how superbly it photographed! Maybe it was the gold zipper teeth that set it all off?

I did give it serious consideration as our cover model, and even though it ended up being a VERY close 2nd….

it was OUT!

The Cat’s Meow – 7/25/20

As a full-on Laurel Burch fan, this fun bag was a personal favorite of mine and is sure to also be a hit “on the road” if ever we’re able to go back to having Quilt Shows again, but as much as I LOVE this print, I was fearful that this print was a bit to busy for the cover.

I LOVE all the color in this print, but since the cats in this panel print are somewhat camouflaged and overshadowed by the color distribution, I was concerned that customers might be concentrated more on this print than they would be the pattern design! So because of that…

it was OUT!

More Kaleidoscopic FUN! – 7/29/20

And lately it seems that at some point in the lead-up to a new pattern we ALWAYS feature one of Paula Nadelstern’s fantastic kaleidoscopic panel prints and this design is no exception! On the negative side though, it seems to have the feel of “been there, done that”.

I love the look of this bag but somehow the pictures just didn’t seem to do it justice…

so it was OUT!

Cork & Flowers – 7/XX/20

The exterior of this bag is ALL cork and believe me when I say that this cork is amazing! It’s absolutely vibrant with flecks of shiny gold highlights but somehow I just couldn’t capture this in the photographs. Of course the bag looks beautiful anyway, but sadly just a bit flat…

so it’s OUT!

Denim Sunrise – 7/XX/20

And you might remember that the only reason the we even made this particular sample was to photograph one key section of the process for a pdf download, so I purposely chose fabrics that I liked, with no thought of ever using it for a cover sample!

But here’s the deal, this bag has such an eye-catching & compelling look that I actually gave it serious consideration for the cover. In the end though, it was no competition for the bag below, which had me at the word GO…

so it was OUT!

So… And of course by now you already know that this is the bag we chose to grace our pattern cover for the OutBreaker pattern design! Can you believe this was the very first time I’ve EVER used Kaffe Fassett fabric for one of my designs? Well it certainly will NOT be the last time based on the outcome of this beauty!

I loved this look immediately even though I had low expectations for it initially. This bag is spectacular and will be a fantastic representative of the design both on the cover and also in person at the shows we vend at for the following reasons…

1- The super-saturated colors are fabulous! It’s one of those bags that really GRABS your attention without being right up “in your face” or taking centerstage over the design elements of this bag! In general I think it has a classic look that would have a multi-generational appeal!

2-It looks a whole lot different than any other bag exterior that we’ve EVER featured on the cover of one of our bags! And actually, this is a pretty big thing because afterall, this is the 45th pattern we’ve brought to Market and at this point in my career I think our regular customers know my style well enough that they could probably pick out one of my bag exteriors in a police lineup! But the best part of this is, that even though this exterior is way different from our “norm”, I still doubt anyone would be shocked to learn that this bag design is ours!

3- It photographs like a dream. No matter what feature I want to highlight in a picture, that feature is easy to see (even if the picture is quite small)! Additionally, this bag is pretty from all angles and that’s important, because remember, a pattern cover needs to tell a story and since we may only get to tell that story once, our goal is for the story to be SO compelling that a customer won’t want to put it down!

So did we make the perfect choice?

Only time will tell. Truth is, the OutBreaker design has been very well received so far, so I easily could have gone with another choice and it probably wouldn’t make a bit of difference “sales-wise” but I’m pleased with how the cover came out.

But you know what?

Call me crazy but I always love knowing if you agree with our selection or if you think we totally blew it! So please feel free to leave your comments and/or questions in the space provided below!

AND PLEASE NOTE!!!! — Just as we did in our last pattern rollout in May of 2020, we’ll be announcing our pattern release with a SPECIAL edition of our Newsletter SOON! It will be complete with a time-sensitive discount offer that will be extended ONLY to our Newsletter subscribers and to members of the StudioKat Designs Pattern Group on FaceBook! So don’t miss out… you still have a small window of time to get in on the fun and pick up a nifty discount coupon too by clicking here to join our mailing list, OR by joining our brand new FaceBook Group!

Check out the best sewing pins with me on Pinterest, join our Facebook discussions, get your daily sewing fix on ourFacebook Business Page or get behind the scenes scoops on Instagram, and be the 1st to know about new patterns, discount codes and sample sales by signing up for our monthly newsletter.