27 - SAMPLE MAKING

Sample makers are highly skilled. 

 

A sample garment is an item of clothing used in the fashion industry to represent a clothing style that will be, or is being mass-produced in a range of sizes. The methods used in making sample clothes are the same as those used in mass-production with one exception: one person sews a sample garment together. Many people are involved in the making of a mass-produced garment.

How sample making differs from mass-production:

Mass-produced clothing is made in a factory where each sewing machine operator does one to three or more steps of the assembly process.

Samples are usually made in designing departments.

A sample maker is a seamstress who can make an entire garment using industrial sewing procedures. Sample makers are intelligent and highly skilled. They women work closely with the patterrnmakers and designers, making suggestions and criticisms that are carefully listened to as their suggestions and criticisms will offset problems on the factory floor when the garment is put into production. Traditionally sample makers begin their careers as piece workers in clothing factories where they learn first one operation and then another until finally they know the entire sewing procedure involved in manufacturing clothing.

One sample-maker is responsible for sewing the entire garment together, checking for errors as she does so, and often deciding, as she sews the sample together, the sewing procedures that will work best for that garment when it is mass-produced. Some sample-makers also cut the garments they sew.

Hand sewing is done  in designing departments on high-end garments

Gowns made in 1969 for Atlantic City's Miss America contest.

 

Sample making procedures are also used in the fashion industry to produce high-end garments for retail and special events. Hand sewing is seldom done in mass-production. But this is not the case with high-end garments that often cost thousands of dollars. These garments are usually cut and sewn in the designing departments. The exclusive right to a style garment may be purchased by a high-end store such as Sax Fifth Avenue. A customer will see the sample and decide to order the garment. It will then be made to size in the manufacturer’s designing department.

The very best machine and hand sewing I have ever seen has been in the industry. One might ask what could possibly be so wonderful about a garment that has a price tag of $10,000. But if you were to see such a garment you would fully understand. These clothes are so beautiful and feel so good on the body one might think they were made in heaven.

Sample making is a responsible job. It requires a thorough understanding of how a garment is manufactured.

Laurel

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