Comments on: Pop Quiz: Are you a manufacturing expert?

By: Three reasons you’ll be knocked off pt. 1

Three reasons you’ll be knocked off pt. 1 — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 01:42:01 +0000

[...] style numbers (if they have them at all), lack of continuity, it’s endless (you must know all of these things). It’s the number one reason I won’t sign NDA’s because once your product is in [...]

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 22:37:22 +0000

Thanks to everyone who entered. We have a winner!

By: Cindy

Cindy — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:10:31 +0000

I’ll give it a shot! I read all of 1-19 and my answer is “false” to all. From here on out it’s my best, uneducated guess!

Who is at fault if…

The stripes don’t match. (the person who cut it out and forgot to match them)
Pockets are crooked. (designer)
Too much fabric is wasted. (designer)
Sleeve caps pucker. (designer)
Costs too much to sew. (?)
Vest points curl up. (designer)
Collars won’t line up correctly. (designer)
What are the three basic stages of manufacturing?
1. ?
2.?
3.?

General questions: Yikes, I’m out of my depth entirely…

What is a style number?
What’s the difference between a sloper and a block?
CM&T means C_____ , M______ & T______ .
What is a marker?
What is allocation?
What is a stock or base size and what size is it?
What is grading? increasing or decreasing the sizes on a pattern
What is a prototype?
What is torquing?
In which stage of manufacturing are patterns graded?

By: Valerie Burner

Valerie Burner — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:26:58 +0000

I’ve never won anything in my life, but I would like to put myself in for the draw. I thought I had all the answers correct before opening one of Kathleen’s line sheets the other day. Out of the blue, I opened the pdf file, and there was the answer to the 3 Basic Stages of Manufacturing: 1) Design, 2) Marketing, 3) Production. I would have gotten that one wrong. These line sheets are great BTW.

By: lorrwill

lorrwill — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 04:38:52 +0000

I am not ashamed to admit 99% of this is way over my head. I am just a home sewer, and not a stellar one at that. But I could benefit from the book!

By: Amanda

Amanda — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 01:45:39 +0000

Wow. Most people have answered the same as me. I’d say 1-19 false. The pattern maker is at fault if, but the owner should be checking things from samples too.

The three basic stages of manufacturing are
1. pattern making and markers
2. sewing
3. shipping

A style number is an identifier per pattern to show the manufacturer what pattern pieces go together.

I have no clue what the difference is between a sloper and a block.

CM&T means Cut, Make & Trim.

A marker is placed on top of the fabric to cut out the pattern using the least amount of waste.

I’m not sure what allocation refers to.

A stock size is the basic size, medium, that is created to be graded. Grading is making the pattern larger or smaller for different sizes.

A prototype is like a sample for testing what a product will look like.

Torquing is twisting of the garment – this always happened to cheap store bought jeans for me.

The first stage of manufacturing is when patterns are graded?

By: Ann

Ann — Sun, 31 May 2009 18:22:58 +0000

Looks like most answers are covered…
Just checking my memory that allocation is the % of the fabric, as shown on the marker, that is used and not waste. One could place pattern pieces slightly off-grain for better allocation, but that could result in torquing or twisting in the garment.

By: Maggie Smith

Maggie Smith — Sun, 31 May 2009 14:34:52 +0000

1. F
2. T
3. F
4. F
5. T
6. F
7. F
8. T
9. F
10. F
11. F
12. F
13. T
14. F
15. F
16. F
17. F
18. T
19. F

As I work by myself then EVERYTHING would be my fault

1. design
2. costing
3 marketing

1. design identification
2. sloper – making a pattern curve
block – for pressing
3. cost, manufacture, and ?
4. for marking on fabric to match up when sewing the garment together
5. ?
6. whatever size you decide it should be
7. pattern sizes
8. sample
9. something to do with the grain?
10. when you are happy with the design you make the pattern in multiple sizes (if you are using a pattern maker then it would be more economical to have this all done at the same time)

By: irene

irene — Sun, 31 May 2009 06:11:10 +0000

I’m going to go with…

1-19 false

Who is at fault: the patternmaker and marker maker… although “costs too much to sew” seems like it could be a design or sourcing problem, too.

3 stages:
1. planning/sampling/sourcing
2. write orders
3. production

general questions:
1. A style number is a unique number that identifies a garment according to its pattern–the same garment made in a different fabric still needs a new style number if the pattern is even slightly different.
2. Not sure, but I think a sloper is specifically the most basic darted pattern shape, while you can have various blocks–princess seam blocks, raglan blocks, etc.
3. Cut, Make, Trim.
4. The layout of all the pattern pieces necessary from that specific lay of fabric… they’re all arranged by grain and fit together as efficiently as possible.
5. Allocation… I don’t know! I would guess it involves sourcing the different materials and trims needed, but not sure.
6. The size from which other sizes are graded, either up or down. The base size varies but is generally near the center of the size range.
7. Increasing the pattern’s dimensions to obtain larger and smaller sizes than the base size.
8. A prototype is a sample, and suggests to me at least that it’s a sample to be used as reference for production more than as a selling tool. Is this true?
9. I think torquing is when the grain on the bolt is skewed… or more accurately, when the crossgrain is skewed so it’s no longer perpendicular to grain. If this is what torquing is, it’s annoying.
10. After the sample of the base size has been made up, checked, adjusted, and perfected. Or before, if you’re using CAD. =)

By: Alicia Hahn

Alicia Hahn — Sat, 30 May 2009 03:12:43 +0000

Hi,
I’m a fashion student from Australia, I have just discovered your page. the book sounds excellent. I will be recommending it to fellow students and lecturers. I apologize if any terminology does not translate, here goes!
1-19 false
Who is at fault if…
* The stripes don’t match. A) Designer for not specifying
* Pockets are crooked. A) pattern maker
* Too much fabric is wasted. A) pattern maker, or marker maker
* Sleeve caps pucker. A) pattern maker
* Costs too much to sew. A) pattern maker
* Vest points curl up. A) pattern maker
* Collars won’t line up correctly. A) pattern maker

What are the three basic stages of manufacturing?
1. planning
2. construction
3. dispatch

General questions:

1) a numerical code which defines each particular style (sample garment) to be produced, used in all paperwork and components (patterns) referring to that style.
2)not sure about this one
3) cut make trim
4) like a jigsaw puzzle, the plan of how the pattern pieces are going to be laid out on the fabric prior to cutting, creating the least waste possible.
5) again not sure about this one
6) the size in which all sample prototypes are created, the same size of the fit model and blocks
7) the process of increasing or decreasing the size of the base garment to a specific set of size measurements, while still retaining the features associated with the sample garment.
the ‘first’ (after alterations) garment, or approved sample, identical garments will be made in production to the standard of this garment
9)just a guess, torquing is when the garment has been cut off grain, and it twists after the first wash?
10) grading happens after the final sealed sample approval by the manufacturer and designer/company

well, I hope I have not embarrassed myself with my ignorance!