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

www.Laurelhoffmann.com- published books
www.ContemporaryFashionEducation.com- school
Facebook: Contemporary Fashion Education, Inc.
http://contemporaryfashioneducation.blogspot.com/

Link for Laurel's books on Amazon
P:215 884 7065, C:610 908 7222

26 – PERSONAL DESIGNING & SHOPPING

Ever wonder how designers organize a line of clothing? Ever wish you could do that for yourself? Come learn how August 28, Thursday evening from 5:30 to 7:30 at the Wadsworth Public Library, 1500 Wadsworth Avenue, Philadelphia where I’ll be presenting a free seminar, Personal Designing & Shopping.

Learn how to efficiently produce an exquisite wardrobe utilizing the same procedures as the industry pros! These techniques from the fashion industry will make organizing your and your family members’ wardrobes much easier. You will find that analyzing individual color and wardrobe styles are not all that difficult to understand. Combined with personal wardrobing, dressing becomes just so much easier.

Included will be tips on how to better organize your closet. You will be given information on how to successfully shop for even the pickiest family member.

Because the most important aspect of anyone’s clothing is color the seminar will include information about color analysis. Done correctly it brings out the very best of a person’s looks. The difference wearing one’s best colors make in one’s appearance is almost unbelievable.

 

In the above picture Fati is being color analyzed. It’s obvious, just by looking at the picture that one of Fati’s best colors is dark green. Not surprising if you have some knowledge of Johannes Itten’s seasonal color theory. You would therefore be aware that her best season is winter and her second best, autumn. I’ve always found Itten’s seasonal color theory the easiest to understand and use. But no matter what color theory one uses, an individual’s best colors are always the same.

In my classes students drape each other and discuss which colors look best. You will learn how to do that at the seminar, August 28. Having a group determine its members’ color palettes works well, enabling the members to become more knowledgeable about color theory.

 

 

Once one is aware of one’s best colors and style shopping becomes much easier. It is important to first analyze one’s wardrobe, eliminating the clothing that doesn’t work, determining what is needed to complete clothing that does work. A swatch book in one’s palette is helpful with selecting what works, with organizing, and when shopping.

 

 

 

 

 

After eliminating what doesn't work, one should organize what is left. Piling up fabrics that work together spark ideas of what to make that will look good and be enjoyable to wear.

If you sew, organizing a swatch book of fabrics already owned to take with you to the fabric store is a very good idea. The swatch book enables buying fabrics that coordinate with what one already has. It also prevents buying fabric just like that already owned.  Writing the yardages of favorite patterns on the front cover prevents over buying. 

 

 

 

 

Colors vary in different lighting. Those that match in fluorescent light may not match in incandescent light. Natural light is almost always the best lightening to use when checking color coordination. This is why it is important to check the colors of purchases with each other and with swatches and clothing brought from home.

 

 

 

                   

Organizing solves the problem of what to wear, creating a wardrobe that not only works, but provides clothing ready for use whatever the occasion. When one looks in a closet of a color-coordinated wardrobe, one sees the owner’s color palette. That’s when you know you have done it right.

 

For more information about the seminar
Contact: Juanita Vega-DeJoseph at 215-685-9293 - Wadsworth Free Library

or Laurel Hoffmann at 215 884 7065

Here are some links to color and wardrobing information and materials on the net that my students and I have found helpful:

For information about personal color and wardrobing I’ve always found Carole Jackson’s books, Color Me Beautiful and Color for Men to be outstanding. Each presents a practical application of seasonal color palette system, combined with a realistic approach to individualistic wardrobing .  

In her book Always in Style with Color Me Beautiful Doris Pooser proposes Color Flow, which she discovered and developed into 12 seasonal color palettes. Her book includes her color charts which explain exactly how this color theory works. Her discovery takes the seasonal color theory one step further, making it much easier to understand and use.

Determining one’s best colors is not always easy. Of all the disciplines involved with designing and making clothing the most difficult is color. Help with this can be found on the net at Stylemakeovers. http://www.stylemakeovers.com/swatchbooks.html They offer free, on-line color makeover. They will color analyze from a photo for a very reasonable fee. They also sell excellent color swatch books.

Style and the Man by Alan Flusser, noted NYC expert on men's high-end tailoring. Excellent information on impeccable dressing, plus global sourcing of men's clothing stores.

The Triumph of Individual Style by Carla Mason Mathis and Helen Villa Connor. Through some of the world's greatest artists this book shows the beauty of all figure types and aspects, and how to conceal or highlight them.

Women of Color by Darlene Mathis. Excellent book on determining personal color palettes for women of color.

 

Laurel

www.Laurelhoffmann.com- published books
www.ContemporaryFashionEducation.com- school
Facebook: Contemporary Fashion Education, Inc.
http://contemporaryfashioneducation.blogspot.com/

Link for Laurel's books on Amazon
P:215 884 7065, C:610 908 7222

 

 

 

 

 

POST 25 – MUSLINS

The fashion industry and top custom designers make muslins (test garments), often substituting the woven or knit fabric that will be cut in mass-production instead of dressmakers’ muslin. Dressmaker’s muslin is an inexpensive, heavily sized cotton fabric traditionally used during the drafting process to test a pattern’s fit and style.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cathy tested her blouse pattern in inexpensive fashion fabric, substituting the fashion fabric for muslin.  This is a good idea when testing a blouse pattern. When sewing at home it is usually better to test jacket patterns in muslin because of the extensive construction involved and because fabrics used to make jackets are often quite expensive. Muslin comes in various weights. It’s best to use muslin with a weight as close to the weight of the intended fashion fabric as possible.

In this video link Janet models her jacket muslin. The bodice shell patterns have been cut and corrected several times and now fit correctly.  The next step is to test the sleeve patterns. They need corrections drafted in so they will sew into the armholes.

 

In the industry muslin tests are essential as they prevent problems that, when multiplied by the sheer volume of garments mass-produced from one pattern, could easily add up to thousands and thousands of dollars of lost profit.  Because so much is at stake each pattern that is to go on a factory line needs to be thoroughly tested. Even patterns from styles that have been previously mass-produced should be tested again before they are manufactured in a new fabric.

Muslin tests help you prevent the same problems in the garments you design and make.  Testing a pattern in muslin allows you to check your pattern’s style and fit, decide if corrections are needed, and determine the best way to make the corrections.

Shira’s first muslin on the right shows why testing Shira’s Bat Mitzvah dress several times in muslin enabled success with the finished garment, shown on the left. All problems should be corrected BEFORE the fashion fabric is cut. The rule is, The pattern must fit before the fashion fabric is cut.

 

A designing department is a lab where the patterns' style and fit are corrected. The work done in the designing department makes mass-production possible.  

 

A muslin is quick and easy to make and fit because a muslin is cut from just the shell patterns (all supporting patterns are drafted from the shell patterns). The muslin is sewn with the longest stitch on the machine.  Hand or machine finishing is eliminated or replaced with pinning. A muslin can be written on, ripped, pieced, and pinned. Shira shows how she marked the darts on the muslin for her Bat Mitzvah dress.

 

 

In the above picture a front bodice, layered between tracing paper, is being cut from muslin. Care must be taken when cutting muslin, or any fabric, as this, with careful pattern drafting, and precise gauge sewing ensures that the fit is maintained throughout the construction of the garment.

 

Here are some of the reasons muslin tests are worth your effort:

1.       The only way to know if ta garment fits is to try it on. A muslin allows you to do this before you cut the fashion fabric.

2.       Testing in muslin helps you to finish your projects sooner. Using a muslin to correct your pattern eliminates the possibility of spending hours of misery, ripping and altering the finished garment.

3.       Fit and style corrections that would be impossible to make in the finished garment can be easily made in the muslin and then quickly transferred to the pattern.

4.       Making a muslin gives you an overall view of the problems involved in the designing of the garment. It allows you time to think through your solutions before beginning work on the garment.

5.       Running up a muslin makes you familiar with the garment’s construction, making the garment easier to sew.

6.       After you have completed your muslin test and pattern corrections you can cut and sew your garment without any fittings whatsoever, confident your finished garment will fit and look the way you designed it.

7.       Taking the time to test and correct your patterns enables you to produce clothing that is more professional because finished clothing looks more professional when it is cut and sewn with as few corrections as possible.

Laurel
 

www.Laurelhoffmann.com- published books
www.ContemporaryFashionEducation.com- school
Facebook: Contemporary Fashion Education, Inc.
http://contemporaryfashioneducation.blogspot.com/

Link for Laurel's books on Amazon
P:215 884 7065, C:610 908 7222

 

 

 

 

 

24 – HAIR

“Oh, Lawd, not another conversation about black Hair.” began Elizabeth Wellington’s  Mirror, Mirror column in the Inquirer Magazine section on March 01, 2013.  

For the full article see:  http://articles.philly.com/2013-03-01/news/37354731_1_black-women-noliwe-rooks-hair 

My answer then and now is:  

OK Elizabeth, I ‘m not going to talk about black hair. What I’m going to talk about is women’s and little girls’ hair. I’m white. My family produces little girls with straight hair. May sound good to women of color, but that’s not good to white women. Curls are a MUST! 

 

 

 

At age 6 my straight hair was braided. But by the time I was 9 my hair had to be curled. As is very evident from the picture on the right, curls didn't work well for me. When straight hair came in in the sixties I thought I had died and gone to heaven! People asked me how I got my hair so straight. Did I iron it? I said No, it just grows that way. Oh, they replied, obviously impressed. Finally I had the RIGHT hair. It was a wonderful feeling!

 

As a child I sat under a miserable contraction with wires that came down from overhead and that were attached to big clips that where clamped on my hair that was tightly curled up. I had two fears, electrocution and that if I were to bend my head even slightly the weight of this contraption on my head would cause my head to separate from my body. The glorious result?  Thanks to the need for curls I spent most of my childhood dealing with split ends.  And, just in case anyone is wondering, the perms never really worked. Right after the ordeal my hair frizzed, then over the next several weeks it gradually became straighter and straighter.  The split ends, though, were constant. 

My friends of color were undergoing some crazy procedure that was probably just as nasty. Their mothers were just as determined that they would not have nappy hair.  

So there we were, growing up with the constant reminder through these crazy hair rituals that we weren’t right. Needless to say the boys’ hair was always the way hair should be. They didn’t go through any of this. But we girls were wrong. We knew that because of the extreme effort our mothers made to correct the curl or lack of it in our hair.

NO MORE! I campaign for natural hair. Mother Nature gets it right! So why argue with her? I lead the battle for natural hair. Mine is cut about once a month and the rest of the time I wash and blow dry it and that’s it. I don’t color it either – because if I leave it alone it then matches my natural palette. 

I refuse to take up with all these stupid advertisements that try to convince me that if I just buy some coloring product or spend hours in the beauty chair that this will somehow make me more attractive to the world in general. The REAL attraction is that of Wall Street to my pocketbook.  

My advice to the women of the world?

 

Leave your hair alone!



Laurel

www.Laurelhoffmann.com- published bookswww.ContemporaryFashionEducation.com- school
Facebook: Contemporary Fashion Education, Inc.
http://contemporaryfashioneducation.blogspot.com/

Link for Laurel's books on Amazon
P:215 884 7065, C:610 908 7222

 

23 – DRAFTING ACCURATELY

Drafting accurately is extremely important. Patterns drafted for manufacturing should be accurate to 1/32 of an inch. This accuracy also enables someone sewing at home to produce professional clothing. Drafting on the computer ensures accuracy to an even higher fraction. When drafting hands-on it is important to check one’s work, measure, and make sure that straight and cross-grain lines are parallel and at right-angles. 

In this post Shira is drafting a pant sloper. A sloper is a basic pattern from which other patterns are drafted. Once Shira has a pant sloper she will be able to draft many pant styles from her sloper without worrying  about fit.

As Shira drafts she is referring to the instructions in the Second Edition of Drafting & Fitting Pants and Skirts, the book I am currently editing and that I plan to put back on the market this fall.

Shira is tracing the underlying lengthwise grain line on the yellow tracing paper on which she is drafting her pant sloper. She is using a 4-foot metal straight edge, available at hardware stores. 

Shira first marked a lengthwise grain line down the center of the underlying grid paper. She then taped her front and back skirt sloper to the grid paper. She make sure that her skirt sloper’s side seam laid precisely over the lengthwise grain line before she laid the yellow tracing paper over her work.

 

Shira now adjusts the 4-foot metal straight edge before drafting the hip cross-grain line.  She is checking that the hip cross-grain line will be drafted at a perfect right-angle to the lengthwise straight grain line.

Next she marks the hip, crotch, knee and ankle cross-grain lines. She is drafting all of these cross-grain lines to her measurements, taken before the drafting began. 

 

 

 

 

Shira checks that her cross-grain lines are squared (at right-angles) to the straight grain line by laying an L-square against the 4-foot straight edge. 

 

Shira finds her work is correct. It’s now time for a great big smile.

 

Happy Drafting!

Laurel

www.Laurelhoffmann.com- published books
www.ContemporaryFashionEducation.com- school
Facebook: Contemporary Fashion Education, Inc.
http://contemporaryfashioneducation.blogspot.com/

Link for Laurel's books on Amazon
P:215 884 7065, C:610 908 7222

22 - HENNA - MUSLIM WEDDING FASHIONS

Here are more fashions from the Pakistani wedding, featured in Post 7- Pakistani wedding-clothing.html.

 

 

Henna 

The bride’s hands were painted with henna for the wedding ceremony.
According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia online:

The name henna also refers to the dye prepared from the plant and the art of temporary tattooing based on those dyes. Henna has been used since antiquity to dye skin, hair, and fingernails, as well as fabrics including silk, wool, and leather. The name is used in other skin and hair dyes, such as black henna and neutral henna, neither of which are derived from the henna plant.^[3][4]

Historically, henna was used for cosmetic purposes in the Roman Empire, Convivencia-period Iberia and Ancient Egypt, as well as other parts of North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Near East and South Asia. It was also popular among women in 19th century Europe. Today, bridal henna nights remain an important tradition in many of these areas.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henna


The book I bought to experiment with henna is The Art of Henna, by Pamela Nichols. It gives step-by-step instructions on how to apply the dye, which, within a reasonable time disappears.

The Bride's Wedding Dresses 

 

 

 

The bride also wore the traditional white gown to symbolize the couple's new life here in the USA.  The gray-maroon dress on the right is included in this post, even though it wasn't worn, as it is a Moroccan wedding dress now out of style.

To see the belly dancer's costume please visit my business Facebook page where I've posted the video I took of her dancing at the reception. Please excuse that the video is sideways. It enabled a closer view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This has been a fun post to put up.
But I have to go now,

Laurel

www.Laurelhoffmann.com- published books

www.ContemporaryFashionEducation.com- school
Facebook: Contemporary Fashion Education, Inc.
Twitter

Link for Laurel's books on Amazon 

 P:215 884 7065, F:215 884 3727, C:610 908 7222

21: SEWING ON GAUGE, FEET & PLATES



Many people are aware that the industry sews without pinning. It's true, a considerable amount of sewing can be done on gauge without pinning. In fact, pinning where it isn’t needed, can distort the sewing and waste a lot of time. Sewing without pinning is especially effective when sewing long straight, or gently curved seams. Once learned this is a very fast way to achieve beautiful, precision sewing.

 

Here are the secrets to successful sewing without pinning:

 

1.  The pattern must fit before the fashion fabric is cut.

2.  The pattern’s seam allowances need to be modified so no trimming is needed after the seam is sewn. (See Post 18 REDUCING SEAM ALLOWANCES)

3. The fabric must be cut correctly.

4.  Notches must be cut, with just a snip of the shears, no deeper than 1/8 inch to help with controlling the seam as it is sewn.

 

 

To see video please visit

 my business Facebook page.

 

 

In this video Shira shows how to sew edge-to-edge, notch-to-notch, the way seams are sewn in industry.  Notice that Shira stops in the midst of sewing the seam, adjusts the top ply, makes sure the top notch lies directly over the bottom notch, before finishing the seam.  

 

Shira is making sure the edge of the seam allowance is running along the gauge on the machine. This is extremely important as sewing on gauge ensures that the garment will fit correctly.

 

Shira is wasting no time with pinning or removing pins.

 

Correctly sewn the top ply at either end of the seam is not even 1/16 inch shorter or longer than the bottom ply. The top long edge of the seam lies edge-to-edge to the long edge of the bottom ply. The seam allowance measures the exact amount drafted on the pattern.

 

In industry pattern makers check the seam allowances on the sample garments with transparent rulers to make sure the seams have been sewn on perfect gauge.  This is extremely important as it ensures that the garment will fit.

Essential to successful sewing is the gauge. Using a gauge eliminates the need to mark sewing lines on the fabric. If the sewing machine does not have a gauge, one can be put on the machine. Cut a small piece of masking tape. Tape it to the machine as shown in the diagram on the left.  Measure and mark the gauges from the sewing machine's needle.

 

Also extremely useful is the straight stitch foot and plate. Their use prevents the fabric from jamming down in the race (the race encases the bobbin and bobbin case). Unfortunately straight stitch plates are no longer manufactured for many home sewing machines.  However, using just the straight stitch foot will help to prevent the fabric from jamming in the race. The plate shown in the diagram is from my 260 Pfaff. Plates vary in shape, depending on the machine.  If you have an older machine you may be able to purchase a straight stitch plate. It is worth the money. Straight stitch feet can be purchased on line below.

The zigzag plate is standard on today’s home sewing machines. The zigzag foot is excellent for finishing many seam allowances, especially if a very small width is used – as is done in France.  Unfortunately the zigzag foot and its plate have become the standard foot and plate used in home sewing here in the USA. That’s not the case in industry where precision sewing is essential.  In industry the straight stitch foot and plate are standard.

 

 

Straight stitch feet and others can be purchased from pam@sewingmachinesplus.com. If you decide to order, please enter the brand and model number of the machine you are purchasing the foot for.

This is the Straight Stitch Foot 45321 - old style Singer  

pd60-45321 $8.99

Here are two other feet you might consider purchasing that I find essential when sewing.

 

I love the adjustable zipper foot. Set to the left of the needle it sets zippers; set to the right it makes cording. It should be used with a straight stitch plate.

Adjustable Low-shank Zipper/Cording Foot 55510

pd60-55510

$11.99

 

 

 

I use the buttonhole foot when I make buttonholes.  This foot is used with the zigzag plate.

 

 

Low Shank Slide Step Button Hole Foot pd60-828ML-N

pd60-828ML-N

$11.99

 

More later,

Laurel

 

www.Laurelhoffmann.com- published books
www.ContemporaryFashionEducation.com- school
Facebook: Contemporary Fashion Education, Inc.
Twitter

Link for Laurel's books on Amazon
P:215 884 7065, F:215 884 3727, C:610 908 7222