If someone had told me last September, when I finished my first prototypes, that it would take me nearly a year to get the clothes into production, I would have treated it as a bad joke. And yet, here I am, eight months later, and the job is still not done!
It doesn't help that I've had to learn how to launch and operate a business along the way (and I've still a lot to learn on this front!). I typically put in 80 hours of work a week to stay on top of both my jobs, my university job and my fashion business. I get to do some design work, but far less than before I started my own company.
The trickiest thing about doing this is getting the garment production on track and up to speed. In retrospect, I spent about four months working on moving the garments forward more or less on my own, whereas that work might have been done more profitably and faster by experts. I have now been referred by one of the businesses with which I'm working for the sewing, to a full time "patternist", someone who works with patterns 24/7. Although this feels a bit like a setback, in fact I think this is going to move things forward faster, once we get the "bugs" out of the patterns I've developed on my own. She's going to do the grading to get different size versions as well as clean the pattern up.
Before I started, lots of people said to me, "you don't need to sew to be a designer - you get other people to do the manufacturing". Sounds simple and straightforward, but the reality if far from this. In reality, it's a good thing that I can sew, and manipulate patterns, even if I'm not doing the final work. In reality, the more "techniques" you can do yourself, the more control over the whole process you have. Even with these advantages, however, it takes weeks, months even, to develop the set of contacts and business partners you really need to have a "production chain" in place. In addition, everyone seems to think that they "know better" than I do - I constantly have to "fight" to get my ideas/needs/goals recognized and keep them front and centre, even though I hold the purse strings! As in many other industries with which I've worked, people have a "standard" way of doing things, and when you innovate and step outside of normal practice (which is what innovating means!), people resist. It is a real struggle to get them to work with you, rather than working at cross purposes or even, in some cases, against you!
I'm not at the end of my learning curve in this regard, but already with what I know now I would start "at the other end" of the production chain and work backwards if I could do it all over again! That is to say, I'd start with the patternist, work back to the manufacturer and then work with the seamstress to get the prototypes ready... It sounds "backwards" but it would be far more efficient than the process I've used. Still, I had to go through it to learn the "right way" to get things to work!
It also doesn't help that the garment manufacturing business in North America is in a shambles, due to the offshoring of manufacturing contracts. Although the tide is beginning to turn on this, the past decade has led to massive bankruptcies in the garment industry, and finding reliable outfits to do the work is a real challenge. In Quebec City, for example, the manufacturing businesses that are still in operation have specialized, for the most part, in providing medieval garments for the burgeoning cosplay movement, or into developing uniforms and specialized garments for industry.
Maybe by August we're going to be "in business", that is, finally selling our products, but it's been a long haul to get all of this underway. And you have to be persistent, keep your moral up, and push and push until you get things to work. Otherwise, we'd still be at it next year without any products for sale!
I have a whole new respect for businesses that break into the "garment business" and make a successful go at it. There is nothing particularly "simple" about it. I still get a great deal of satisfaction out of each major step forward, and am looking forward to the day when our products are actually available in our online store (also under development). But it's been a tougher road than I expected, even knowing it was going to be tough!
Showing posts with label pattern manipulation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pattern manipulation. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Monday, September 29, 2008
Moving house
I'm rather frantic right now... today is my last day in Quebec City before moving for a three month stay to Toronto, as part of my sabbatical leave. I've almost got everything done, today is for tidying up a whole slew of small loose ends. Over the weekend I packed away my clothes and tried to keep my list of what to take updated. Tonight, I'm going to be packing up my sewing supplies and machines... Of course I'm taking my sewing machine and serger with me, I couldn't survive now without them! I sorted my fabrics on the weekend and picked out a subsample to take with me - things I hope I will make, although I probably have too much. I'm going to need a box to store all my thread and accessories into as well. It is amazing how much space my sewing life takes up, not just in my life, but also in my house!
I spent some time on the weekend constructing a new bodice sloper, using Aldrich's book on metric pattern cutting. I've been using one that I scaled up from another book, but I'm ready to start making garments in standard sizes, and Aldrich's book provides clear instructions to making the pattern "blocks". It is an interesting process following her drafting instructions to come up with the blocks, which aren't really yet a sloper, they are like a precursor to a sloper. So now I have a pattern block for the bodice in a standard size 14, ready for the next stage. I am planning to make up two women's shirts using some very bold fabric I have, as the beginning of a collection. Something for my weekends while in Toronto.
I can't wait to make the rounds of the fabric stores there, too. The last two times I was there this year, I found some fabulous fabrics, unfindable here in Quebec City. I just have to be careful not to go overboard on buying them!
I spent some time on the weekend constructing a new bodice sloper, using Aldrich's book on metric pattern cutting. I've been using one that I scaled up from another book, but I'm ready to start making garments in standard sizes, and Aldrich's book provides clear instructions to making the pattern "blocks". It is an interesting process following her drafting instructions to come up with the blocks, which aren't really yet a sloper, they are like a precursor to a sloper. So now I have a pattern block for the bodice in a standard size 14, ready for the next stage. I am planning to make up two women's shirts using some very bold fabric I have, as the beginning of a collection. Something for my weekends while in Toronto.
I can't wait to make the rounds of the fabric stores there, too. The last two times I was there this year, I found some fabulous fabrics, unfindable here in Quebec City. I just have to be careful not to go overboard on buying them!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Learning to Sew and Manipulate Patterns - Basics
Once I had decided that I need to learn to sew, I made the rounds of the fabric/sewing stores in town and purchased a sewing machine. I bought a Brother XL-3500, a basic machine, for about 150$. I didn't want a more sophisticate sewing machine - I used to have one and found it difficult to learn to use. In those days I was less motivated to learn to sew, but still, I decided to go for a basic machine and upgrade eventually if I needed to. Overall, however, I'm very happy with the machine. It does what it needs to do.
Next, I looked around on the internet for "how to" sites on sewing and on pattern manipulation. I also looked at Amazon for books on pattern cutting. I took a chance on the Hollen and Kundal book, which was clearly a textbook. When the book first arrived I was a little daunted by the complex looking figures and diagrams, but I've found that although they look complex, they are well done and extremely useful when one is actually working on patterns and clothes. The book has been a very useful guide. I've recently acquired some additional books on pattern cutting, including "Metric Pattern Cutting" by Winifred Aldrich and "Make Your Own Dress Patterns" by Adele Margolis, both excellent books that were recommended to me. I find all three books to be complementary references - there is some overlap, but a lot of the material in each book is substantially different from the others.
I found two extremely useful websites. The first of these is a collection of video tutorials made available by the Brigham Young University Family Life programme. These exceptional videos present a whole range of sewing and draping tutorials, some of them quite long (the one for the two part collar is an hour and forty-five minutes in length). These tutorials, made with video closeups on the sewing machine itself and the hands as they manipulate the fabric and the patterns, are chock full of tips, information about traps, and careful step-by-step advice on doing jobs that are often considered to be difficult (such as sewing in a zipper or button holes, sewing a collar, manipulating darts, etc.). 
The second website, very different in style to the first, is the BurdaStyle site. Promoted as the first "Open Source Sewing" website, it offers a community of sewers from all over the world who are sharing ideas, techniques, problem-solving, expertise and, of course, patterns. In addition, the site is managed and supported by staff from Burda, the pattern manufacturer. This means that no one is left "hanging" for long before an answer is forthcoming, and some of the best advice around on the web can be found through the site. The site includes a wikipedia-style glossary of terms, community-uploading of patterns, how-tos, and photographs of creations, an extensive set of forums and a blog updated on a nearly daily basis. Notice that although the site has been open only since the spring of 2007, as of this moment it already incorporates 100 000 members!
Equipped with a collection of "how-to" video tutorials, access to a community-based web site for additional advice, a book on flat pattern cutting, a commercial dress form and a sewing machine, I set about making one of each of the basic garment types - a blouse, a skirt, a dress, a shirt and a pair of pants. For each project, I began with a basic "sloper" (the name given to a basic pattern) and a set of ambitions. I wasn't particularly interested in making "demo clothes" - I wanted to make, even at this stage, real clothes that would be worn. So I identified a recipient for each effort, measured them and adapted the patterns and adjusted the fit as a consequence.
Learning Strategy
I approach the problem of learning to design fashions and make clothes the way I usually tackle new areas.
First of all, even though I'm a teacher at least some of the time, I don't particularly care for courses. I prefer to learn on my own, doing my own research and learning from my own mistakes.
Secondly, I follow a learning strategy that I have learned over the years is unusual. Most advice on learning will tell you to learn "in small chunks", to "reinforce what you learn" by repeating steps, and to tackle problems that are not too challenging so you don't get disheartened when you make slow progress". I have always been interested in "learning to my maximum potential", however, and I realized as a young man that the best way to maximize my learning potential was to aim well beyond what I think are my limits. If I aim for 400% of my perception of my limits, and only achieve 30% of what I've aimed, I will still be learning at a rate 30% above what I thought was my maximum reach. Years ago, I made the mistake of assuming that other people like to learn this way and taught using this model. I quickly discovered that most people find this strategy to be too stressful - they want a steady stream of reassurance that they are doing "OK". That's what the grading system is all about, in fact. You have to be highly motivated and self-disciplined to follow this other route.
Third, I learn in "grasshopper" fashion. I jump from one topic to another, from one orbit to another, rarely following a set or ordered system. I am a chaotic learner, and I've learned to trust my intuitions about what I need to learn next.
My understanding of the "learning landscape" regarding fashion design and fabrication is that one is presented with a suite of possible paths to follow :
The main route followed is to go to fashion design school. I notice that lots of people interested in fashion do this, but then drift into other activities after finishing. So design school is not only for those who choose this as a career, but also for "interested others", although it represents a significant investment of time, money and energy. The other main route followed by many people is to learn to sew and make clothes from patterns (the yellow road in my diagram). Learning to sew may be achieved by following classes or by independent study and practice.
Another possible learning path is to study how to drape and make clothes from draping. This is covered within fashion design schools. I have not found many sources of information about this approach outside of the formal context of such schools.
Finally, the green road in the diagram is the one I have chosen to follow - learn to manipulate basic pattern slopers, and to develop garments from these. It is an intermediate path between the "sewing from patterns" route and the "design school" route.
My basic idea is to use pattern manipulation (and possible draping, if I ever master it) to develop a technical understanding of clothing fabrication, and to then combine this technical understanding with a design-oriented approach to develop garments that interest me.
I decided to begin this as a summer 2008 project, hence starting in June 2008. Over the course of the summer, I set out to design and make one garment of each basic type (blouse, skirt, dress, men's shirt, pants). Since I knew nothing about garments and clothes, I entered into an intensive learning period. I bought and studied fashion magazines, surfed the web for blog sites and "how to's" on sewing and design, investigated software for design and pattern construction, bought books, bought a sewing machine (and later a serger), taught myself to sew, bought fabric, made a dress form and then bought a commercial one, and became active within the internet sewing community. It is now late summer, and I am moving into the next phase of my learning - a kind of "knowledge consolidation" period and some risk-taking into new, more ambitious projects. More later.
First of all, even though I'm a teacher at least some of the time, I don't particularly care for courses. I prefer to learn on my own, doing my own research and learning from my own mistakes.
Secondly, I follow a learning strategy that I have learned over the years is unusual. Most advice on learning will tell you to learn "in small chunks", to "reinforce what you learn" by repeating steps, and to tackle problems that are not too challenging so you don't get disheartened when you make slow progress". I have always been interested in "learning to my maximum potential", however, and I realized as a young man that the best way to maximize my learning potential was to aim well beyond what I think are my limits. If I aim for 400% of my perception of my limits, and only achieve 30% of what I've aimed, I will still be learning at a rate 30% above what I thought was my maximum reach. Years ago, I made the mistake of assuming that other people like to learn this way and taught using this model. I quickly discovered that most people find this strategy to be too stressful - they want a steady stream of reassurance that they are doing "OK". That's what the grading system is all about, in fact. You have to be highly motivated and self-disciplined to follow this other route.
Third, I learn in "grasshopper" fashion. I jump from one topic to another, from one orbit to another, rarely following a set or ordered system. I am a chaotic learner, and I've learned to trust my intuitions about what I need to learn next.
My understanding of the "learning landscape" regarding fashion design and fabrication is that one is presented with a suite of possible paths to follow :
The main route followed is to go to fashion design school. I notice that lots of people interested in fashion do this, but then drift into other activities after finishing. So design school is not only for those who choose this as a career, but also for "interested others", although it represents a significant investment of time, money and energy. The other main route followed by many people is to learn to sew and make clothes from patterns (the yellow road in my diagram). Learning to sew may be achieved by following classes or by independent study and practice.
Another possible learning path is to study how to drape and make clothes from draping. This is covered within fashion design schools. I have not found many sources of information about this approach outside of the formal context of such schools.
Finally, the green road in the diagram is the one I have chosen to follow - learn to manipulate basic pattern slopers, and to develop garments from these. It is an intermediate path between the "sewing from patterns" route and the "design school" route.
My basic idea is to use pattern manipulation (and possible draping, if I ever master it) to develop a technical understanding of clothing fabrication, and to then combine this technical understanding with a design-oriented approach to develop garments that interest me.
I decided to begin this as a summer 2008 project, hence starting in June 2008. Over the course of the summer, I set out to design and make one garment of each basic type (blouse, skirt, dress, men's shirt, pants). Since I knew nothing about garments and clothes, I entered into an intensive learning period. I bought and studied fashion magazines, surfed the web for blog sites and "how to's" on sewing and design, investigated software for design and pattern construction, bought books, bought a sewing machine (and later a serger), taught myself to sew, bought fabric, made a dress form and then bought a commercial one, and became active within the internet sewing community. It is now late summer, and I am moving into the next phase of my learning - a kind of "knowledge consolidation" period and some risk-taking into new, more ambitious projects. More later.
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