How to get over 100K subscribers on YouTube

It is time for a second interview in Coffee & Crocheting’s interview series. Last interview was with Sally who taught us how to be a great pattern tester. Find the interview here if you missed it.

This time the interview goes more into a designer’s world and I welcome Grace from For the Frills. Ever since I first saw Grace’s designs I’ve been really impressed with her work and her blog. Grace recently hit 100 000 subscribers on YouTube and she continues to impress with every new pattern.

What’s her inspiration? How did she learn it all and how does she stay productive? Read on and she’ll tell us all about it. Take it away, Grace!

Hi Emilia, thanks for having me on your blog! And hi everyone! I'm Grace, a crochet designer / blogger from Auckland, New Zealand :) When I'm not crocheting you'll find me at the beach or curling up with a good book and a hot chocolate!

For how long have you been crocheting? How did you learn?

Growing up I always loved making things and I've tried pretty much every type of craft from crochet to knitting to watercolours to pottery! I've learnt the majority of crocheting 'knowledge' from YouTube, crochet books and just from experimenting with different yarns and hooks. 

How did you come up with the idea of “For the Frills”? Did you always know you wanted to design yourself? 

For The Frills came about as I started to design garments for myself and people were often shocked when they realised I'd crocheted them. I'd hear comments like 'I can't believe crochet can look like that!' or 'Wow, it's so modern!' and I thought that there were probably lots of other crocheters that were looking for modern and wearable patterns as well! The name 'For The Frills' came about because as I was brainstorming names I was also crocheting a ruffle sleeve top haha. I remember playing around with a bunch of different options and when I thought of 'For The Frills' I quickly checked to see if the domain name and all the social media handles were available. When they were, I thought that 'For The Frills' must be it :) From the beginning I knew that I wanted a name that could stand on its own and become a brand without being centred around me. 

After I crocheted my first sweater I remember trying to look for more patterns but couldn't find one that was similar to what I had in mind. From there (even though I didn't know it) I was a crochet designer but I never thought that this would become my job!

How would you define your style and what is your goal for your creations?

The style of 'For The Frills' focuses on timeless silhouettes with modern and feminine flair. The goal for my designs is to inspire a new generation to start crocheting while making the designs as wearable as possible. It's absolutely incredible to receive messages from people that have started crocheting from my YouTube tutorials! At the same time, it's also wonderful to hear from grandmothers and mothers telling me how it's the first their granddaughter or daughter has shown an interest in crochet :) 

How does a regular day as a crochet designer look like? Do you get up early and start crochet at once? Or do you perhaps have another job as well that you share your time with?

A regular day for me starts at my computer and I respond to as many emails, questions and comments as possible! Everyday looks quite different but generally I try to film video tutorials in the morning to make the most of the natural light. In the afternoons, I often spend my time taking and editing photos, writing blog posts and crochet patterns, recording voice overs and figuring out the 1001 things you need to learn to run your own business! For The Frills is my full time job now (thank you so much to everyone for your support!) so my life pretty much revolves around crochet :) However, I think you'd be quite surprised to learn that I only spend about 10% of my time crocheting and the rest is everything else! Being a crochet designer and a blogger require two completely different skill sets, so I think if you were solely a designer you'd spend a lot more time crocheting. 

What is the most fun during the designing and pattern release process? What do you enjoy the most?

The best part of the designing process is when you swatch a yarn and it turns out exactly like you imagined! Even though you might have a crystal clear idea in your head, there's no way of knowing if it will work out until you have the yarn. I've had dozens of designs change because the yarn doesn't drape or feel like I thought it would. My favourite part of the job is the moment when you've woven in all of your ends and you try on your finished garment for the first time! I think with designing you can kind of develop a 'sixth sense'. You know that you'll be happy with the end result even before you look in the mirror because the garment just feels 'right' :) It's so incredibly satisfying to turn something that was just an idea in your head into a physical item in the real world!

As a fellow designer I know that crocheting is only a small part of all the work behind a pattern design and release. How much time do you spend on For The Frills a normal week?

Since For The Frills is my full time job I spend anywhere from 40 - 70 hours a week. I would say that including the crocheting time - which can be 'active' working, if I'm recording video or just crocheting and watching Netflix haha - it averages out to about 50 hours a week. The beauty about this job is that if I want to take a week off and go on holiday, sure why not? But at the same time you need to be self-motivated to make sure you meet your deadlines.

You’ve managed to grow and start a new crochet business to great success in a short time - do you have any tips and tricks to share with a fellow maker or designer that are thinking about starting a business?

Thank you so much for your kind words Emilia! I still have so much to learn :) However, so far I think the most important lesson (for anyone starting any type of business) is to create value for your readers / customers / followers. It's so important to listen to the feedback and adjust your strategy accordingly. Once you start to understand how you can provide the value that's when your business will start to grow!

Except for Instagram, an amazing Pinterest account and your blog, you have a YouTube channel with 100K subscribers and videos with millions of views. How do you manage to balance your time and stay productive?

Productivity is still a work in progress for me and I try to be kind to myself. You can't be operating at 100% efficiency all the time! When you're starting your own business (especially if you work from home), I think it's very important to have clear working hours and then relaxing hours. More often than not, giving yourself a break will make you more productive! Post-its (old school I know :) ) are my favourite way to organise my tasks and stay on time. I like to colour code my tasks, stick the post-its on the wall and then pull them off when I'm done. At the end of the day I'll have a small stack of post-its and I find it's a very visual and tangible way to track your progress.

What are the next steps in For the frills ? What does your plan for the future look like?

Wow, the next steps for For The Frills? I tend to not think too far ahead! Since I started For The Frills last year I feel like I'm finding my 'voice' as a designer and in my photography (I still take all of my photos by myself on self timer haha). My current goal is to create a cohesive and consistent aesthetic so that when someone sees a crochet design they'll know it's from For The Frills! I'm so excited to see how For The Frills develops and where it'll go. If the past year has taught me anything, it's that you never know what can happen so you just need to make the best of opportunities as they come :)

Thank you so much Grace for sharing this valuable information with us. Is there anything you would like to add? 

If you've been thinking of starting a business, just start! Today! You'll already be one day closer to your goals than if you started tomorrow :) 

Thank you Grace for the interview!

It is some really valuable information you have shared with us. Good luck with all of your upcoming projects. I look forward to see what you’ll share with us in the future!

Follow and visit Grace on www.forthefrills.com and she is @forthefrills everywhere :) (Instagram, Pinterest, Ravelry, YouTube) !