Pivoting Isn’t Failure: What Changing My Dog Wear Business Taught Me

Jill Bartlett Author

Jun 04, 2025 |

Follow journey from fabric to sellable dog coat pattern – sketch, grade, digitize, & package – includes free sketch templates – for aspiring designers

🎧 Rather listen than read? 

This blog post covers the key takeaways, but if you’d rather hear the full story—including the twists, turns, and behind-the-scenes reflections—I dive deeper in the podcast episode: 👉 Pivoting Isn’t Failure – What Changing My Dog Wear Business Taught Me

What If That Twist in the Road Wasn’t a Mistake?

You know that feeling—when you’ve spent time, energy, and effort building something… but something still feels off?

Maybe you’ve been offering custom-fit dog wear, tailoring each order to suit a unique pup.
Maybe you’ve been designing ready-to-wear dog clothes and trying to figure out how to make it profitable.
Or maybe you’ve been dabbling in different directions—testing ideas, chasing inspiration—and nothing’s really landed yet.

It’s easy to second-guess yourself. To wonder if you’re doing something wrong.
But what if that twist in the road wasn’t a mistake?

The First Chapter: Custom-Fit Dog Wear

My dog wear journey started with custom-fit coats—because honestly, I didn’t fully trust my base patterns or my measuring skills at the time. I figured if I could adjust every coat to fit the specific dog, it would all work out. And it did, in a way.

People loved ordering from me because their weirdly shaped dogs finally had something that fit. There was a real sense of satisfaction in solving that problem for them.

But I quickly ran into the harsh reality of custom work: it’s nearly impossible to scale.

I was spending hours on each coat, redrafting and adjusting every time. And because handmade items already carry a higher price tag, charging what a fully custom dog coat was actually worth just wasn’t realistic.

Takeaway:
Whether you're making ready-to-wear or custom designs, you're trading time for money—and that makes growth hard. My mistake was trying to custom-fit every order, which made it even tougher. If you’re in that space, ask yourself if there’s a niche you could own. Poodle mixes, for example, are notoriously hard to fit off-the-rack because of their deep chests and long backs. And let’s be honest—there are a lot of poodle mixes out there right now. That’s a real, scalable market.

The Pivot to Teaching: My First Membership

Then I pivoted. I created a membership with dog wear sewing courses—something that felt like a natural fit because of my eLearning background.

When I ran my eLearning company, I loved building training programs and mentoring people. Teaching has always been a core passion for me, and this was a way to combine that with dog wear.

And honestly, it worked... to a point.

The model I had—creating a new pattern every month—just wasn’t sustainable. You need a steady stream of new content to keep members engaged, or you need to be constantly marketing to bring in new ones. I wasn’t doing enough of either.

That said, I came out of it with six full courses and six solid patterns I can continue to sell. So while it didn’t become a long-term business model, it laid the foundation for everything that came next.

Takeaway:
If you’re considering a membership or monthly offer, think long-term. How will you grow? How will you sustain it? How will you consistently add new members and keep your current ones engaged? And always ask yourself—are you building something that you can sustain?

Knitting Courses for Makers: A Passion Project

Knitting has always been a love of mine, so this direction made a lot of sense. I created knitting patterns and tutorials for makers, and I still run these courses from time to time—because I genuinely enjoy them.

But I realized that if your audience is mainly hobbyists, there’s a ceiling. People only need so many dog sweaters. And unless they’re planning to sell what they make, it’s hard to turn that into a repeat customer base.

Takeaway:
If your Ideal Customer Avatar (ICA) is primarily making for themselves, ask yourself how many times they’ll buy from you. That clarity might shape your entire business model.

When Everything Started to Click

There was a moment—mid-outline, planning a grading lesson—when I realized I was completely in flow. The ideas were coming faster than I could type. I was waking up brimming with excitement and couldn’t wait to get to work.

I was teaching pattern design, editing video, mapping out content. It felt like everything from my past experience—eLearning, design, hands-on creative work—was finally gelling into a business model that felt aligned.

And more than that, it felt clear.

But let me be honest: before that moment of clarity, I was completely overwhelmed. I had pages of ideas. Notes everywhere. Projects half-finished. It felt like I couldn’t make progress no matter how hard I tried.

And then… something shifted. Suddenly, it felt like I could see the path in front of me. I didn’t know every step—but I knew I was heading in the right direction.

Takeaway:
If everything feels confusing or forced right now, pay attention. When things start to feel right—when ideas come easily and you’re energized by your work—that’s often your intuition showing you the way.

Letting Go of the Old Versions of Me

Letting go of what wasn’t working was the hardest part.

I recently listened to Episode 282 of The Mel Robbins Podcast called “A Process for Finding Purpose: Do THIS to Build the Life You Want.” In it, Jay Shetty shares timeless wisdom on finding clarity, unlocking passion, and cultivating peace with where you are.

The episode didn’t spark my pivot—it came much later—but it reinforced my belief that I had made the right move. That letting go of older versions of myself wasn’t failure. It was growth.

Because honestly, letting go always felt like I’d messed something up. I’m a perfectionist. Admitting that something wasn’t working was hard. But when I looked at everything I had learned, everything I had created, I realized: none of it was wasted.

Every version of my business taught me something. Every so-called detour became part of my direction.

There Are No Wrong Turns

If you’re so focused on what didn’t work, you’ll miss the lessons each stage is offering you.

You weren’t put here to choose one job and stick with it forever. You’re here to build a creative, joyful, and meaningful life—and sometimes that means changing direction. That means letting go of what you thought you were supposed to do in order to make space for what actually lights you up.

So here’s what I want to leave you with:

If you knew the perfect path was out there waiting for you, how would you move forward?
Would you still be doing what you’re doing now—or is something else calling to you?

Trust your gut. If it’s pointing you in a new direction, follow it. And trust that everything you’ve done up to this point has been building something.

There are no failed attempts.
No wasted seasons.
Just experience, growth, and momentum toward what’s next.

You’ve got this.

Want to Go Deeper?

If you're feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure of your next step, I highly recommend this episode of The Mel Robbins Podcast:

🎧 A Process for Finding Purpose: Do THIS to Build the Life You Want, featuring Jay Shetty.

In it, Jay shares timeless wisdom on finding clarity, unlocking passion, and cultivating a deep sense of peace about where you are and where you’re headed. It didn’t spark my pivot—but it absolutely helped reinforce that I was on the right path.

And if you haven’t already, don’t forget to check out my podcast episode that shares the full story behind this post:
👉 Pivoting Isn’t Failure – What Changing My Dog Wear Business Taught Me

Categories: : Blog, Business, Pattern Making, Sewing