Comments on: What does it cost to prototype a bag or clothing line? pt.2

By: Dia in MA

Dia in MA — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:00:14 +0000

Oops, correction: I was never a stitcher. Just a marker using the blocks to mark stuff for the stitchers. Sorry, about that error.

By: Dia in MA

Dia in MA — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:58:32 +0000

Theresa, I was a stitcher but I was a button/buttonhole marker and, when needed, did the final cleanup to get the threads, etc. I have to agree with you. The work could be relaxing and the people were wonderful despite the pressures and hardships most were going through. As I recall, the term sweatshop was literal. Our pressers used to boast about the day they popped a thermometer with the steam.

Most people don’t know that once nearly every major city had a shop that produced for the local mid to high end departments stores. The workers were generally poor and many had no english. Owners could and did take advantage of this. Mine did. But he had little choice, the shop was running in the red and dying. (It died shortly after I returned to college.) There were two sides to that sweatshop coin. It was a good job.

By: Renee

Renee — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:46:56 +0000

Barb, I wasn’t very clear. The pattern I was referring to is not a prototype pattern. It has already been used to make thousands of pull-up cloth diapers by my troop of local cottage stitchers. I do the cutting myself with a 6″ straight knife stack cutter. I have modified the pattern and the number of notches several times for exactly the reasons you state, and I fully expect to further modify with the help of a seasoned industry patternmaker as I have the pattern digitized to prepare for use by a sewing contractor.

I truly have my background as an apparel product developer / technical designer to thank for making it as far as I have with a self-made pattern. Many specs written, factories visited and many quality checks conducted over the years preparing other companies’ products for mass production in the tens and hundreds of thousands of units. It has been so enjoyable managing the same process for my own product.

By: Barb Taylorr

Barb Taylorr — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:11:21 +0000

” I’m looking forward to hearing what a professional patternmaker will say about my design-school-grad-and-apparel-industry-veteran-but-not-actually-a-professional-patternmaker pattern. ”

Renee, I expect they would tell you there is a lot of refinement needed when making patterns that are going to be used to produce 100’s or 1000’s of uinits. A miniscule mistake in the allignment of seams, or the shape of a curve, becomes magnified when graded for a much larger size. Aftyer you get the fit and design as beautiful as possible, one must spend time figuring out the optimal way to put it together. Determining that will affect the way you make your pattern and can have a huge impact on the final quality of the garment & the cost to produce it. So will adding notches that (if used) will make it impossible to sew the wrong seams together, but not so many notches as to slow down the proccess. It is very different than patterning one custom-made garment that will be sewn “in house” where the stitchers can ask you questions as needed. It can also be a very fun challenge if you like to be meticulous!

By: Theresa

Theresa — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:01:44 +0000

When I was a factory stitcher (hate the word sewer!) it definitely wasn’t well respected. I had gone to college to be an astrophysicist but I enjoyed the more tactile job of working with many different components and then making something useful out of it. I also found that while doing the repetitive jobs, I would think out the processes in my mind and spend most of the time thinking of faster, better, cheaper ways to do each product. I’d then sketch, write, explain, etc. to the owner and was soon promoted to stitching supervisor and then factory manager. I found all of the steps to be useful in my growth as a person and eventually my career. It has definitely helped me tremendously now that I’m on the other side of the business because I’m not just a person sitting in an office that has never been in a factory before. I understand what my factories are telling me and it helps with communication on both sides. If I had listened to those early snears from my former friends and family for doing factory word, I would never have had the career that I did or spent so many years doing what I love.

By: Suresh Bhatia

Suresh Bhatia — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:46:58 +0000

I started my company 5 years back because, unfortunately, we could no longer produce cost effectively, and more importantly, with the quality required within the United States. Now I am finding that our customers are not only asking for sewing outside of the US, but also they want us to find the least expensive alternative for fabric and trim sourcing as well as the manufacturing.
Costs overseas for any sampling, patterning, etc., are significantly lower, yet, in most cases, of equal quality to United States apparel sampling and production-The reality of the business these days is that retailers want to generate the profits and product development, sampling and production must be done cost effectively for any new company to stand a chance in this new era of business

By: Amy

Amy — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:41:58 +0000

I love production…sitting at a machine and doing the same thing over and over again is a welcome change from the craziness of the rest of the day…it’s fun to see how fast and efficient you get without even really trying too. However, it might drive me a little nuts if I didn’t also attempt to challenge myself with patternmaking and other parts of the game as well.

I also tend to enjoy the company of the “blue collar” folks that manufacturing/production employ far more than the “I am SO above THAT kind of work” folks…but that’s just me.

By: ken simmons

ken simmons — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 16:15:42 +0000

When young I too thought manufacturing for mass production would be the worst thing to do for a living, but later when I had my own boutique I got more sheer joy and satisfaction from being able to make 4 RTW garments an hour from a great pattern, than designing one of a kind gowns for the rich and fabulous. It was so personally rewarding somehow.

By: Renee

Renee — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 07:55:17 +0000

Maybe I’m nuts, but I’m looking forward to hearing what a professional patternmaker will say about my design-school-grad-and-apparel-industry-veteran-but-not-actually-a-professional-patternmaker pattern. If someone has ideas to shave a few minutes of production time off of my product without stripping any functionality I would be all over that.

Maybe I’ve just achieved a certain degree of humility along with life’s lessons?

By: Dawn B

Dawn B — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:38:05 +0000

Very thoughtful post. The more I refine production the happier I am that certain efforts toward growth didn’t pan out.