Today is a pretty special week for us here at Helen's Closet Patterns. Since the start of this blog in 2015, I have not had a chance to really create the brand and website that I wanted for Helen's Closet. Frankly, I was having too much fun doing the actual sewing and pattern development! I just kept putting it off and eventually, I wasn't even sure how to approach 'branding' my company so far into my journey.
Last year (yes, this has taken us a whole year), I started working with a branding agency to figure out what our focus is, what our voice is, and what really matters to Helen's Closet Patterns. What makes us stand out?
It has been immensely valuable to work through those questions and I feel that the vision for Helen's Closet Patterns has become much more clear. You can read more about the company on our shiny new about us page!
As a part of my brand development, we also identified keywords and feelings that represent who we are and how we want to been seen and heard. This was one of my favorite parts of the process! We are playful, we are modern, we are approachable, we are hand-crafted. We believe in fashion for everybody.
We have a couple of logos for the new brand so that we have options for various placements. Our main logo has a hand-drawn feel and was designed to be at the top of our website. Our circular logo fits perfectly on our social profiles and is just so much fun. Both feature a hand with a sewing needle that adds a touch of magic to the design. We are smitten!
In addition to the new branding, we have a new website! I worked with a local web developer, Katherine Mills, to take my brand and make a fresh new home on the web for us. This has been in the works all summer and it feels so good to finally share the new look.
So what has changed? Well, we have a new home page that features our pattern designs, blog posts, a bit about us, and the Love to Sew Podcast! We used to direct people straight to our blog, but now we have a proper landing place for visitors to Helen's Closet Patterns.
We have also updated the pattern shop and product listings! New images on the shop page, as well as a new layout for products. We are moving all products to a new design that showcases the corresponding Instagram hashtag right there in the listing! Check out the new Blackwood Cardigan page!
One thing I have been wanting to do for AGES is offer pricing in Canadian currency for Canadian customers. If you live in Canada (like us!), the new site will automatically display the prices in our currency.
The other major improvement to our site is the checkout and pattern file management system. Our checkout is smoother than ever and we have improved the experience so you can easily find and download your files after purchase or in your user account. You can log in and check it out here!
In addition to the new look, we have an FAQ page and more robust search functionality. We hope you also take a moment to read our About page to learn more about the company, what our mission is. and how we give back to our local community. You can also reach out to us via our contact form or leave a comment on this post to let us know what you think of our new look!
Thank you so much for all the love and support over the years, and if you are just joining us now, thanks for stopping by! We have grown so much since we started in 2015 and we are thrilled to finally have a brand that resonates with us and inspires us to keep creating.
Happy sewing!
Helen
