The Louvre Beret, Behind the Scenes

How does a pattern end up in a magazine?

The Louvre Beret is a pattern of mine in the newest issue of Tauko magazine, with the theme of architecture. I gave a show and tell on this blog last week.

I thought you might be interested in the process leading up to publication, which covered about a year.

August 2024: I wrote a submission for the beret, via the submissions page on Tauko’s website. Most magazines have a submissions page on their website, outlining the things they’re looking for for forthcoming issues. Often there’s a theme and a mood board. Tauko’s is here but is not always active between issues.

I have no idea what other people send in, but here’s what I submitted:

At this stage, I had a successful sample in green linen, notes for construction, a manually made paper pattern, and knew that it was possible to grade to multiple sizes.

October 2024: After a submission is accepted, there’s a contract to sign. Every magazine needs a declaration that it’s 100% your own work, not stolen. The due dates for the project are outlined with expectations of what they need, payment arrangements and what happens to your work after publication (ie who has use of the copyright etc). Tauko sends a file with their style guide and a template to submit the project instructions in.

I had a short zoom meeting with Kaisa from Tauko and Stefanie their patternmaker, both of whom I already knew, to discuss the pattern.

Tauko had only done one hat (in issue #1), and didn’t have a size chart for hats. I proposed doing seven sizes, to fit 52-54-56-58-60-62-64cm heads (two sizes more than I’ve ever done for hats). However, neither Stefanie nor I had ever graded a beret before, and there was the added issue of zero waste. It’s not like this sort of information is available in books or anywhere. So we embarked on some fit testing. With pattern grading, if you’re doing a large number of sizes, any wrong grade rules will be amplified by the time you reach the extremes on the size chart, so it has to be correct. If you were only grading one or two sizes close to the original pattern, it might not be noticeable.

November 2024: I recalled that Sue Stoney and her husband Mark had the smallest and largest head sizes, and asked Sue for help. I knew she’d say yes! I had to swear her to secrecy, as Tauko asks (quite reasonably) that you keep your mouth shut until publication.

Sue and I both live in Australia, but half a continent away. Stefanie and I exchanged thoughts on the grading, then I sewed samples and posted them to Sue. The post took a week and I ended up sending two lots. Then Stefanie, Sue, Mark and I had a zoom session checking the fit. With grading, all the sizes need to have the same proportions and fit in the same way. I’d never done zoom fittings, but it’s far better and easier than photographs. I really enjoyed this part as I’m at home all the time and miss working in a team.

Alongside fit testing, I also made berets in different fabrics including stripes, checks, knits and denim. Some were reversible. I made about 13 berets in all, in various sizes and fabrics. The Haywood Household was awash with berets.

December 2024: With the grading done, I tidied up the instructions and sent them off. Tauko requires all the instructions to be written, without relying on illustrations. However, you can send illustrations for the tricky parts which they may or may not use. I illustrated every step as I’ll use the drawings later, and sent them all in so they could choose, space permitting.

For the garments that you see photographed in the magazine, normally the designer does the sewing, but since I live so far away it’s a bit risky with the post, so the magazine staff sewed them.

March 2025: I made a video sewing guide as an extra. Tauko doesn’t include links the magazine, but anyone can find it on YouTube.

May 2025: Tauko sent a pdf of the project as it will appear in the magazine, for a proofread.

June 2025: Tauko’s Make & Share Community sewed projects from the soon-to-be released magazine.

July 2025: The magazine is published.

This was my second pattern in Tauko, and both times it’s been a very positive experience.

Cheers!