The Closet Core Instagram Hashtag Challenge: How to play along!

Hello! It's a new year, and what better way to start than with a deep re-organization? If you haven't noticed yet, we just gave our logo and website a little makeover (do you like?) and now it's time to look in all our cupboards of shame to see what else could use some tidying up. One thing that has been plaguing us for a while is our pattern hashtags. As we've grown over the years and added patterns, changed our name, and gained thousands of new IG followers, our original hashtag strategy has stopped serving us. We've always used the name of the pattern as a hashtag (ie. #KalleShirtdress) but over the years it's gotten pretty messy. Some garments have multiple hashtags (#Kalleshirt, #Kalledress, etc) so it's hard to see everything in one place. There are also lots of sketchy businesses out there who like to squat on popular hashtags so we've seen some of them get taken over with completely unrelated content. All in all it's a mess!

We decided last year to completely overhaul our hashtag strategy so it was simple and intuitive to tag your makes. From now on, all Closet Core makes should be hashtagged using this simple formula: #ClosetCorePatternFirstName. So, our Kalle Shirt + Shirtdress pattern would now be hashtagged #ClosetCoreKalle. Our Ginger Jeans will now be #ClosetCoreGinger. Our Elodie Wrap Dress would now be #ClosetCoreElodie, etc etc. This means regardless of what view or variation you make, everyone can see everything made using that pattern in one easy, simple to remember hashtag. To help you remember, we've updated all our digital files and all future files with this hashtag clearly indicated on pattern files and in the instructions (and FYI, it makes no difference whether the first letter is capitalized or not - we just do that so it's easier to read!)

As you can imagine, making a change this big with tens of thousands of makes tagged using our old system is a bit daunting, and we need your help! In order to populate the new hashtags with your makes (and ensure everyone can see them going forward), we've decided to host a Hashtag Challenge next week! Each day we will be featuring a handful of our patterns to concentrate on, but you can participate at any time. If you've ever made one of our patterns, all you need to do is comment on your original post with the new hashtag. You don't need to edit the old hashtag or update the post - simply commenting on your own post with the new tag will ensure it shows up when browsing the hashtag (please note commenting on someone else's post with the hashtag will not work - you have to comment on your own post!) Easy Peasy!

We will be randomly selecting 10 winners every day from the hashtags featured on that day, but if you're so inclined now, there is no reason to wait. Scroll your feed, comment with the new hashtag on your relevant posts and let the prizes come to you. Obviously the more posts you have under each hashtag, the more chances you have to win, so don't feel bad if you've posted those #ClosetCorePietra's 10 times. Tag them all! The more the merrier! (Also well done on getting a lot of wear out of those pants!)

Every day you'll have the chance of winning a free PDF pattern (10 per day!) as well as a chance to win our grand prizes at the end of the week.

• 3rd Prize: A Bohin gift set which includes a whole bunch of French luxury sewing goods. Fancy!
• 2nd Prize: A $100 gift certificate to Closet Core Patterns (get a kit! A course! Or both!)
• 1st Prize: A $250 gift certificate to the Core Fabrics Store so you can indulge in some gorgeous, sustainable fabric for you next special project 

We will be drawing the grand prizes on Jan. 24th, so make sure you get your comments in before that day for a chance (or several) to win! 

A huge thank you goes out to all of you for even posting your makes to begin with! Seeing what you do with our patterns is the reason we're still so excited to be here and every day you blow our minds with your skills and creativity. It's an honour to be included in your sewing journey. Here's to more making in 2022! The world might feel like an uncertain place but we can always count on this community to keep the creative fires burning. Happy New Year!