July 4, 2008
Archives 6/27-7/3 2005-2007
Here's this week's entries from the archives...
June 27 through July 3, 2005
Home again
This changes everything
The myth of vanity sizing
Tivi
Site updates
Fit and sizing entropy
June 27 through July 3, 2006
Sales rep training
3Free
700 lb Gorilla
How much can you make the first year?
Millicent Rogers Museum
Ingeo & Top 10 online retailers
Taos Solar Music Festival
Anybody working today?
June 27 through July 3, 2007
Liz Claiborne dies
How to find sewing contractors
Pop quiz #465 pt.2
Sponsors
Selfishness, secrecy and jealousy
News from you 6/29/2007
Batch, UPS and Modular (Batch pt.1)
Pop quiz #463
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 11:51 AM | Comments (0) | Email to a friend | TrackBack (0)
July 3, 2008
Problem pattern maker pt.2
Today we have a guest entry written by one of our members who lost a great deal of money after using the services of a recommended bra pattern maker. From what I can tell, the pattern maker is guilty of gross malfeasance and the client is entitled to a substantial refund. As much as I'd like to put the word out, I can't divulge the name of either party just now. If you're a forum member and want to connect with the author of this entry or want to know the identity of the pattern maker she's describing, you can contact her via the forum.
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I first contacted the pattern maker in December of 2006 to discuss my idea about a molded foam cup nursing bra. She had advertised as a pattern and project manager. We discussed my project at length and she agreed to take it on. Five months later in April of 2007 I still had not received a prototype even though we had lengthy conversations on the phone. I had paid a $500 deposit and had received nothing. I had also been given a grant by the Canadian government to help with my self employment goals which I did inform her of. I had certain time lines I needed to meet by government standards and asked her if it was unrealistic to plan to launch in November of 2007. She said that was plenty of time unless I wanted to develop my own molds. She said she had some molds that she had developed for someone else that I could use. I questioned her about this because I didn’t understand how I could use them if someone else had paid to develop the molds. She said she got permission and I didn’t think anything else of it.
Continue reading "Problem pattern maker pt.2"
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 4:09 PM | Comments (2) | Email to a friend | TrackBack (0)
July 2, 2008
Last Laugh
Last April I mentioned:
I think the recent spate of fashion criticisms directed at women belonging to the polygamist sect in Texas to be distasteful. I'm not defending their religious practices but I think it's the height of tackiness to level superficial criticisms during what must be the most stressful event of their collective lives.
I am dismayed by people who feel compelled to kick people while they're down and over something that doesn't even matter. In that vein, John sent me a news piece today. Now who is having the last laugh?
Mothers say Texas raid forced them to market their clothing style. A new clothing brand may be born out of the Texas raid on a polygamous sect. FLDS women for the first time are offering their handmade, distinctive style of children's clothes to the public through the Web site fldsdress.com. Launched initially to provide Texas authorities with clothing for FLDS children in custody, the online store now is aimed at helping their mothers earn a living. The venture, which has already drawn queries from throughout the U.S., is banking on interest in modest clothes, curiosity and charity to be a success.
Personally, I'm thrilled. I wish them all the best. I'd send them a book if they'd think it'd help. They certainly have the patterns down and they've got the workforce. What an exciting experiment to witness; barn raising a manufacturing company overnight. I wish I were closer and had an invite.
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 4:18 PM | Comments (7) | Email to a friend | TrackBack (0)
Project Runway casting call
Project Runway is accepting applications for prospective contestants for the sixth season of the show. For more information, see application guidelines. The deadline to apply is Wednesday July 9th.
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 9:21 AM | Comments (4) | Email to a friend | TrackBack (0)
July 1, 2008
Pop Quiz #473 pt. 2
These pop quizzes are always so educational for me. I should do them more often so I'm grounded as to changing visitor competencies and frame of reference. It's possible there's a myriad of issues but I was looking for the broadest, most obvious and most costly considering the potentiality for error. From a sewing perspective, that'd be the notches. Someone in a sewing line would never have occasion to see the pattern and know whether there were a grain line or not. It's the notching that's noticeable from a sewing perspective. Grain line or lack of one, is only obvious from a cutting perspective.
In the previous entry, there's no way to tell which piece goes where. In industrial sewing, notching is coded and offset. Anyone, anywhere should be able to pick up a cut piece and know instantly whether it's a back or a front piece regardless of whether they know what the garment looks like. It might not matter if you're only sewing one at home. It matters a great deal if you're sewing whole stacks of these. Then you'll become very annoyed.
The system of offsetting notches was discussed at length in the production pattern making section of my book (pp.176-180) precisely because this is one of those little things that is never mentioned in textbooks and it really matters. This explains why it's easy for a practitioner to know at a glance whether they're looking at a home pattern that's been put on oak tag or if the pattern maker is a little green. In industry, notching isn't considered to be arbitrary. I know pattern books seem to stick them where ever with no rhyme or reason but that'll get you in hot water at work. Below is just one possibility; of the side front (SF) being sewn to the center back (CB):
Continue reading "Pop Quiz #473 pt. 2"
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 12:40 PM | Comments (9) | Email to a friend | TrackBack (0)
June 30, 2008
Pop Quiz #473
Reminder: posting will be slow this week. I'm working with a trainee. He's doing really well, exceeding all my expectations.
Okay people, here's the quiz for the day. Here's a jpeg of a pattern sample I found on the internet. The pattern maker's identifying marks have been removed (he charges $75 an hour!); I have no desire to cause anyone embarrassment. The question is, explain why a pattern like this is a problem. It's something rather obvious and not a trick question. Don't read anything extraneous into it.
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 4:45 PM | Comments (33) | Email to a friend | TrackBack (0)
June 27, 2008
Archives 6/20-6/26 2005-2007
Here's this week's entries from the archives...
June 20 through June 26, 2005
Welt-Reece machine operations
Marking & Cutting
Welt and paper jig
Welt pocket construction
June 20 through June 26, 2006
Plant organization pt. 2
Pleating
How I Got Started
Camping
Line sheets revisited
Camping pt.2
June 20 through June 26, 2007
Roundup: The birds and bees
Pop quiz #462 pt.2
News from you 6/22/2007
Are designers, designers? Dedicated to the incompetent
Pop quiz #465
Shopping carts pt.2
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 2:03 PM | Comments (0) | Email to a friend | TrackBack (0)
June 26, 2008
Colombia bleg and misc
FYI: Blog+beg=bleg
I'm going to Medellín Colombia; considered by many to be the fashion capital of Latin America. I'll be gone July 29th through August 2nd. I'll be attending the famous Colombiamoda show. I'm staying an extra day to see the sights. Anyone know anyone there or have suggestions? I'd like to visit a fashion school if possible but only find one.
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I imagine posting will be light over the next two weeks. The boy (now 21 but I've always called him that from birth and am unlikely to change now) is returning home tomorrow for a two week vacation from his training program. While his prognosis will not change, I'm pleased he hasn't been dis-enrolled. I wasn't so sure of that when he started nine months ago. The tentative plan is to teach him to digitize patterns into Optitex. Because digitizing in Optitex is really simple; I have high hopes. I'm also thinking of teaching him to sew since the sewing experiment with Eric went so well. The boy hasn't sewn anything since he was six years old. Then, it was a welt pocket which came out perfectly. He was the case study for the method. Let's see how well he can learn to bag a jacket...
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A note to the powers that be at Apparel. You're stuck under "Sites I don't like but visit anyway" for two main reasons:
- I think it's funny.
- More people will visit you than if I stuck you anywhere else and I do think they need to visit you.
I did an experiment with WWD. They got three times the traffic in that slot. Besides, you're in good company. The link to my husband's site is there too.
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 1:43 PM | Comments (4) | Email to a friend | TrackBack (0)
June 25, 2008
Designing uniforms
I've always thought that uniform design would be very challenging. I recently found a blog entry that talks about EMS uniforms that explains why. Frankly, it didn't occur to me that styling would be an issue for EMS -maybe it is for airline attendants and fast food workers- but it is. The writer (Dan) explains that their uniforms are styled like police uniforms and this reduces their task efficacy and moreover, is dangerous!
They are really just police uniforms, evolutions of military designs, sometimes with only a change in fabric color from what local law enforcement officers wear... I think we place our EMS staff at high risk by wearing these style garments. The drug crazed patient does not care you wear light blue while the police in your community wear dark blue. He reacts to the visual styling cues and will often mistake you for a cop in the first few seconds. In most parts of the world this is no big deal, but in any modern American big city it can get you killed.
My first thought centered on functionality (range of motion), durability and fiber (comfort) so it doesn't surprise me this is another problem with uniform design. Think about it; EMS workers have to do their jobs in dirty, dangerous environments. They need apparel that won't restrict their movements, won't tear readily, washes easily without staining, protects them from the elements but not be too hot either. While Dan was less graphic, another site described how often patients bleed and regurgitate on them.
Continue reading "Designing uniforms"
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 1:15 PM | Comments (6) | Email to a friend | TrackBack (0)
How do you cut notches?
We're having a bit of a debate in the forum on how you should cut notches. Obviously, we're talking about multiple plies, not single or double layers.
The central question is, can -or should- you use your main cutting tool to cut notches? Those using a round knife have figured out this doesn't work. Being round, the blade doesn't cut far enough into the top or bottom layers and can nick too deeply into central layers. So, the question becomes, do you switch to a knife and use that for general cutting and notching, or do you buy a stand alone notching tool?
Continue reading "How do you cut notches?"
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 11:33 AM | Comments (3) | Email to a friend | TrackBack (0)
June 24, 2008
Vanity sizing: generational edition pt.2
Apparently, our attempt to inflate the egos of the public has reached new lows; we're after babies now. My first generational edition was about geriatrics and whether pre WW2 women in Japan would describe today's clothing sizes as "vanity sizing". Today's generational edition is about infant's wear. This was the quote I found that brought this idea to mind:
Max now weighs 14.5 pounds. And yet, due to baby vanity sizing, he is wearing NB in the picture I took this morning of him in a white long sleeve onesie, brown pants, and a blue cabled sweater. All are labeled newborn. And he is 12 weeks and 2 days old.
Sizing to the mean (what "vanity sizing" really is) is an interesting question in infant's apparel. In many respects, the expression is the exact opposite of adults. Specifically, as wealthy people tend to be thinner than average, expensive designer fashion runs truer to "size" (smaller). However, it's the opposite with infant's apparel. In infant sizes, it's babies born to wealthier parents who are larger. In other words, while the median size for lower income adults is larger (than that of wealthy people), the corresponding sizes for lower income infants are smaller as baby size is an expression of general health.
Continue reading "Vanity sizing: generational edition pt.2"
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 12:45 PM | Comments (8) | Email to a friend | TrackBack (0)
June 23, 2008
Sustainable packaging
I could use some help with this. Pia writes among other things (snipped):
This is Pia the woman you sent the book to in Norway. What I am most interested in is in the contamination that the packaging and distribution of goods involve. All of us deliver the clothes in plastics, some even with plastic hangers! and as soon as the garments come into the shops, the shop managers rip off the plastic and throw away the hangers because they probably have their own. What happens with all that plastic??? I have been researching on the use of either oxo-biodegradable plastics or bio plastics (from corn starch) for packaging my goods. I have read about both and there are advantages and disadvantages on both. I'm am more in favour of using the biodegradable plastic but I'm a bit insecure. Some of the information i have collected state that the additive they use to make the plastic easier to degrade is very contaminating, but some other reports completely deny this information.
Continue reading "Sustainable packaging"
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 12:16 PM | Comments (4) | Email to a friend | TrackBack (0)
June 20, 2008
News From You 6/19/2008
Happy happy Friday! It's another edition of News From You. If you're new to these parts, News From You is an ongoing series best described as an eclection of news, the weird, the arcane and the downright useless of interest to F-I infovores. We've got a lot of material today (hope I didn't forget anything) so let's get started.
Send your submissions to News From You.
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Do you wear pantyhose? Supposedly, whether you do or don't is a sign of the generational divide. Although no youngster, I forget those things exist. I've turned down jobs if hose was required. Insult to injury, they're not a legitimate business expense.
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This is claimed to be entirely cake and frosting. Amazing. {Via}
Continue reading "News From You 6/19/2008"
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 1:51 PM | Comments (6) | Email to a friend | TrackBack (0)
Archives 6/13-6/19 2005-2007
Here's this week's entries from the archives...
June 13 through June 19, 2005
Discussion Forum
Misc Pattern Tip: trim darts
Solar Fest -Taos NM June 24-26
Zippered welt pockets
Design help? Blegging for blogging
June 13 through June 19, 2006
20 Questions
Fit model's blog
Sell through guarantees?
Bluff pockets
Guilt Cloth
Shirt making tips
Latest is greatest?
Plant organization
June 13 through June 19, 2007
What will become of us? pt.2
Happy Birthday Kathleen
Who do you hang with? pt.2
Who do you hang with? pt.3
News from you 6/15/2007
Radial grading
There's More to Green than Money
Price fixing
Pop quiz #462
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 1:47 PM | Comments (0) | Email to a friend | TrackBack (0)
June 19, 2008
Studying for the California garment exam
Kind of off topic but pertaining to employment law, Yahoo posted an article today about five reasons one can be fired for lifestyle choices, leaving one without recourse. All states except Montana and Arizona are "at will" states. At will means someone can be fired for no reason at all.
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Ellen (thank you!) sent me the study materials used to prepare for the California garment manufacturer's licensing exam. I'm not linking to her in case she wasn't supposed to do that. Having had time to look over the information, I don't know why they don't post it to their website. This would save paper and educate lots of people about labor law in general. I realize state laws vary but if someone wanted an orientation to labor law while in the research process of considering the responsibilities of hiring, this would be a good start (California is picky). Ellen also put an asterisk on the materials she says from where the exam questions were taken. It is because I adore you and want you to start your enterprises with the utmost integrity that I won't tell you which these were.
The first booklet (blue cover) is thirty pages and printed in six point font making for difficult reading. It is comprised of excerpts of The laws relating to the time, manner and payment of wages. Two pages are a useful FAQ cross referencing questions to the pertinent section of law. This is also on the web and while it's prettier, cleaner and easier to read, it's not question guided from the main page, something I liked in the booklet.
Continue reading "Studying for the California garment exam"
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 2:20 PM | Comments (9) | Email to a friend | TrackBack (0)
June 18, 2008
Investing in a clothing line 2
I don't get many valid questions about getting financing for a clothing line. Most inquiries are how to find investors (consisting of one paragraph explaining how talented and creative they are) or the occasional stray query from someone who wants to sell their designs to a manufacturer or even, how they can use their design sketches as collateral for a loan from investors or a bank. Really. The question on loans I got the other day wasn't bad and gives me an opening for a type of financing that may work out well depending on the goals of each party.
This question comes from an attorney who had a sideline (hobby as he describes it) selling small runs of tees, hoodies and hats which he sold to NYC boutiques. He sold all the goods but says he "sorta just broke even". Now he's interested in making a higher end product complete with pattern making and production rather than using blanks. This is where the loan comes in.
A friend of mine said 'Look, make samples, and get orders. Once you get the orders, I will fund you." Is this a good idea? What sort of ROI or profit split is typical in this scenario? I'm not looking to make money off the bat, I know it will be better to get our name out there, and worry about bigger ticket items, outerwear, etc in a few years. Is there any advice you can give me?
Continue reading "Investing in a clothing line 2"
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 1:38 PM | Comments (6) | Email to a friend | TrackBack (0)
June 17, 2008
How to issue style numbers pt.130
Sorry, yes, it's yet another entry about style numbers. I apologize if this bores the old-timers.
Today we'll review two concepts related to style numbers. Thanks to Lisa who brought need of it to my attention.
- Please do not add letters to your style numbers. The exceptions are rare.
- Do not code for fabric type. Again, exceptions are rare.
There's four other previous entries in this series. If you only have time to read one, it should be this one.
Adding letters to style numbers
I'm aware there's a new consultant on the block who's charging a lot of money for her seminars and telling people to add letters like "F" for fall or "S" for spring etc. I'll tell you not to -for free. There's at least three good reasons why you shouldn't and I don't see one good reason you should (but I'm all ears). This is the first reason. The second reason is unnecessary complexity. KISS (keep it simple stupid).
The third reason is less obvious. If you’re re-running the style for subsequent seasons, the only thing that’s changed is the fabric you’re using but it’s still the same pattern. This means you’ll have to change the style number for the exact same product when you really didn’t need to do anything. That it is being re-run for another season is obvious from costing sheets, line sheets etc. If you need to assign designation by season, that's what skus are for. Skus are not style numbers. Now sure, if you have a professional firm like PatternWorks who is managing your pattern and sample production, then that's just fine. Their internal processes insure this won't be messed up. But most people aren't using them or are not sufficiently managed internally and need a system that won't confuse outside service providers like pattern makers, contractors or sales reps. It's just unnecessary complexity. Manage seasons (and costing) with skus, not style numbers.
You shouldn't change style numbers according to season because these provide guidance to buyers. Buyers notice style numbers. Numbers SAY something. Let’s say a buyer sees style numbers 21134, 22345, 13468, and also stuck in there is 21001, 31001 etc. In other words, all low numbers. What do you think that says? To buyers (and service providers) it says that these are strong sellers, probably your signature pieces, pieces that consistently sell well for you and have from day one. If a buyer is considering picking up your line, they will view those pieces with low numbers as less risky buys. That you’re obviously re-running those because they’ve sold well in the past and buyers should probably buy those too being solid performers. In summary, if you reassign numbers according to season, the buyer has no way of knowing that those styles have a good track record and have performed consistently season in and season out. Don't you think that Levi's 501 (a style number) got some of it's cachet by being a classic? The low number conveys it, decades after the style was first created.
Continue reading "How to issue style numbers pt.130"
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 10:48 AM | Comments (8) | Email to a friend | TrackBack (0)
June 16, 2008
It all stops here 1
As you know, I've been following the cotton crop for the past three years in the It All Starts Here series. This year, my plans were thwarted when the acreage was bought by another concern who decided to plant corn rather than cotton. Wahhh! Foiled, I thought the agricultural series was doomed but then I realized that the trend of rising prices for corn causing cotton acreage to shrink was important considering rising costs of energy.
First an update to the local field. It was being irrigated when I went by but Piporro and Juan were nowhere to be found. It was about 5:30PM so I imagine they were fetching dinner. I was pleased to see the new owner had invested in infrastructure updates. Up and down the length of the irrigation side of the plot, new water gates have been installed. A considerable expense, these were very nicely done.
Continue reading "It all stops here 1"
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 12:58 PM | Comments (15) | Email to a friend | TrackBack (0)
