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By Kathleen Fasanella on Mar 25, 2013 at 3:21 pm
There are many occasions in which I don’t publish a post because I can’t think of a title to reflect it. As this is one such post, your titling suggestions are appreciated.
So -I’m speaking to a caller this morning. She’s upset because the pattern makers she’s hired cannot fit a child’s size 6 dress to meet her expectations. She also said something to the effect that it seemed that the pattern makers expected her to find a child fit model to put the dresses on, fit them and then get back to the pattern maker with any needed changes -and she said “As if . What do they think I’m paying them for?” She said that the pattern makers were out of line because she didn’t have a size 6 child to fit it on and that it was unreasonable for them to expect her to advertise, interview and hire a fit model and she sure didn’t have the time.
Being in the throes of task avoidance, I gently explained that fit is subjective; it is largely in the eye of the beholder and pattern makers cannot guess what a client has in mind. I described to her, the image you see at right. Pictured are two celebrities wearing the very same dress to very different effect (larger version). A pattern maker cannot read someone’s mind to know the fit a client has imagined.
Continue reading "Mindreading: a fitting lament of good, cheap and fast." »
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By Kathleen Fasanella on Mar 21, 2013 at 4:17 pm
As I mentioned yesterday, thanks to the generosity of Laurence King Publishing, we’re having a give-away of Drape Drape Volume 3
. Yay!
For my review, I constructed style #14 which is on page 74. I picked it because one couldn’t tell what the style looked like because it was cut in black fabric or close enough to black as to make no difference. Which reminds me, for fitting purposes, you should never cut a style in any dark color even if the final design takes said color. It is too difficult to see problems or fit issues in dark colors.
I cut this style in garage sale nasty fabric; its only saving grace being its light color -which I would describe as the decor du jour for US Army offices. Chairs, desks, walls, bookshelves -I tell you, this dress would fit right in. But I digress.
Continue reading "Giveaway: Drape Drape Vol.3" »
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By Kathleen Fasanella on Mar 20, 2013 at 5:22 pm
At long last, the site is being moved to a whiz-bang provider that won’t knuckle under with too much traffic. It’s been a significant problem over the past year -frankly, I’ve become afraid of my own site- hence my reluctant posting of late. The site has become too large and with too many visitors for middle of the road hosting. So, we’re being moved to a VPS. That will happen tonight at 9:00 PM CST. You’ll know you’re landing at the new location when the most recent entry is a give-away for Drape Drape Volume 3. I even sewed up a sample for you.
Speaking of, the sample shown at right is not from Drape Drape #3. The red and yellow bodice is a mock up of style #109 from my completely re-filmed video, Pattern Making for Professionals which I hope will be ready for sale mid May. Those of you who bought the 1996 edition will recognize this bodice; I used the same styles in this video as the earlier one. I didn’t make color blocked mock ups for all the styles, only this one because it has unique style lines. I’ll be sure to let you know when the DVD is available so you can learn how to remove darts and shift them into style lines (such as this one) via flat pattern making.
So, give or take 48 hours (probably much less), we shall meet again. Until soon!
Continue reading "Ooh pretty. And another site migration" »
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By Kathleen Fasanella on Mar 12, 2013 at 2:56 pm
Rather late in the game, I’m adding another tutorial to the welt pocket series (links at close). It did not occur to me that one would need specific instructions but I was obviously wrong. Not the first time and certainly not the last.
I took several photos of the process but they seem difficult to follow. That is my opinion, you may find them perfectly clear. In the interests of clarity, I created illustrations too. If you’d like to compare, I uploaded the photos and am posting the illustrations below. Perhaps between the two, the process will be clear.
The below presumes you’ve completed the first part of the welt pocket and only need to attach the under welt and pocket bag. If you lack patterns for the under welt and pocket bag, here are some suggestions:
Continue reading "Tutorial: Finishing the welt pocket" »
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By Kathleen Fasanella on Feb 17, 2013 at 7:53 pm
Courtesy of Timo Rissanen who found out about it from Holly McQuillan -those links aren’t gratuitous, you should be keeping an eye on those two- comes word of a a Ph.D dissertation. It is a treatise (I hope) on sleeve drafting written by Morris Campbell, lecturer at Massey University in New Zealand. The full title is The Development of a Hybrid System for Designing and Pattern Making In-Set Sleeves.
At right is but one of many images from the dissertation. I picked it because it illustrates the primary range of motion as I illustrated in my book on page 168 (chapter entitled Fundamentals of Fitting which as far as I know, remain undisclosed in any fitting books today).
I am not suggesting this work is the definitive beginning and end of all things sleeve drafting (although I hope it is) because I have only scanned parts of it. I won’t have time to read it until, oh, June or July, as you should safely surmise by now considering my posting tardiness of late. Other than looking at the many interesting pictures and the many math equations that I don’t have the understanding to process, I did scan the bibliography.
Continue reading "A Treatise on Sleeve Drafting" »
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By Kathleen Fasanella on Feb 6, 2013 at 5:25 pm
Continuing on with my saga (pt.1 and pt.2) I pick up again in Medellin where we went for the Colombiatex trade show. If I’m not mistaken, it is the largest trade show in Latin America, spread over several pavilions. If you coordinate your stay with the show’s management, there is organized transport to and from from the show so it is very convenient to get there and back from your hotel. The image at right is one of the show decorations, a planter made of a spool of cording. I thought it was a neat idea (I imagine that will go up on Pinterest soon).
The show itself is very high energy, not as loud as Project but just as vibrant. It wasn’t what I expected but it was good anyway. I had expected to find more contract services and equipment but it was mostly a fabric show. Designers come from all over Latin America to source their lines. If I had any constructive criticisms to suggest to show management it would be to have more contractors exhibiting -I only found one dedicated contractor. There were some exhibitors who also did contracting (the bra fabric and cup suppliers mostly) but contracting bra manufacturing was an adjunct to their core business. For those of you producing bras, I think Colombia is the closest resource you’re going to find. Colombian bra and mold suppliers are keen on innovation and technology -see the photo of this unusual bra cup supplier below:
Continue reading "Trip report pt.3: Colombia January 2013" »
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By Kathleen Fasanella on Jan 30, 2013 at 5:53 pm
I neglected to mention that Mr. F-I is also contributing to the trip reports. However, I’m responsible for any oversights because he’s not seeing them until they’re published. The other thing specific to this entry is that my photos of the mentioned places went *poof* so any photos are lifted from the sites I linked to (apologies all around). Okay, that out of the way, onto part two in continuation of the first.
As I mentioned yesterday, we hired a guide (Hernando) to drive us each day, taking us to recommended places around Bogota. If you have more money than time, this is a great solution. Fees can vary quite a bit. We found our guy at the airport (or rather, he found us); he wanted $110 per day. In retrospect I’m glad I didn’t bargain the fee because I got a quote from another service (after the fact, they responded late) that was significantly more; $110 for one person for 5 hours and $75 for each additional person (there were 3 in my party).
Places to go:
In Bogota we went several places, first was the Gold Museum which had a stunning array of pre-Colombian artifacts. By the way, there is a good place to exchange currency off to the side in the same building. At least our guide said as much, we got there too late. They do charge a fee to enter but I guess it is free on Sundays which is when we went. Afterwards we walked catty-corner over to the Emerald Museum which was closed at the time. However, our guide, being an employee of the tourist ministry, arranged a private tour for us. Pretty amazing, no? We felt like VIPs. That said, the museum seemed a bit commercial and indeed, it was a partnership with the department of Tourism and a private collector -who, conveniently enough, had emerald jewelry for sale. Everyone (not just at the museum) knows more about the geology and extraction of emeralds than one would have expected. We certainly learned a lot -supposedly, Colombian emeralds are the finest in the world. I wanted one of those rings but the ones I liked ranged in price between $7,000 and $15,000.
Continue reading "Trip report pt.2: Colombia January 2013" »
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By Kathleen Fasanella on Jan 29, 2013 at 7:36 pm
So. We are back from our week away in Colombia! Mr Fashion-Incubator and I went there for the Colombiatex trade show and stayed additional days to get to know the country a little better. Accordingly, this first entry will tell you about the trip, where we stayed and what we did in the event you plan to go yourself. After all, we now have a free trade agreement with Colombia and if I can’t convince you to do domestic production or you can’t find a way to make it work, Colombia is a much closer quality option.
We arrived in Bogota (the capital) on the 19th of January on a direct flight out of Houston (at right are Avianca flight attendants). Flying time from Houston is 4 1/2 hours. It seems closer from Miami, maybe 2 hours but I don’t remember now from the last time I went in 2008. Getting to the hotel (Embassy Suites, I’d recommend it) from the airport was easy; like anywhere, cabs line up outside the terminal. The first driver we contacted is actually an employee of the tourism ministry. These drivers wear official identification on a lanyard. Basically, the setup is like a rental car with a driver. He was an outstanding driver and suggested several good places to go. We had him for two whole days. I would definitely not recommend renting a car in the usual way there – the rules are too fluid. He told us that it used to be that you didn’t even need to demonstrate the ability to ride a bike to get a truck driver’s license.
Continue reading "Trip report pt.1: Colombia January 2013" »
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By Kathleen Fasanella on Jan 19, 2013 at 8:15 am
Here is the second of the two archives entries I’m posting today. Again, if you’re new here, I’d been in the habit of posting a selection of entries because the site is so dense one can’t hope to read it all. So, the archives entries help visitors to sample a broader selection of content that’s been published on this site over the past (almost) 8 years.
I”ll be away until Sunday January 27th but more on that later.
November 16, through November 30, 2005
A question of collars
The battle of retailers vs manufacturers
Advantages of selling what you produce
Establishing payment terms
Saran wrap pattern making method #1
The skinny on retail
Selling your company
Compromising with Retailers
Sleeve cap ease is bogus
Saran wrap pattern making method #2
Stock size update
On becoming a pattern maker
Industrial sewing machines
Continue reading "Archives 11/16 -11/30 2005-2011" »
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By Kathleen Fasanella on Jan 19, 2013 at 8:12 am
Horrors, I’m so behind on archive entries that it’s embarrassing. If you’re new here, I’d been in the habit of posting a selection of entries because the site is so dense one can’t hope to read it all. So, the archives entries help visitors to sample a broader selection of content that’s been published on this site over the past (almost) 8 years.
I”ll be away until Sunday January 27th but more on that later.
November 1, through November 15, 2005
Piece naming conventions
Pattern puzzle: Junya Watanabe
Color coding implementation
Garment design copyrights & patents
Lean manufacturing is resiliency
Designers at craft fairs
Patently arrogant
Yet more marketing hype
Children’s wear & web marketing
Continue reading "Archives 11/1 -11/15 2005-2011" »
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