Vintage pattern design update

This post refers to the previous vintage pattern design contest. All of this belongs under comments of that post but not everybody will know to look there for updates so I put it here. Also, some people are writing me directly or posting to another list instead of placing their comments here so I have to summarize and address those. Btw, I'm very pleased with the response. Invite some more friends.

People seem to be interested in the project but they either want to personalize it or they don't have the specified fabric in the specified color (white rayon). This is not a problem, this was just supposed to be for fun, I didn't think anybody would actually do it so let's just play a little first until we get to know each other and can work together. Okay, I agree that not everybody may have access to rayon for the project. I understand that but I had to specify something. I picked rayon because it has some drape to it and it's not anything close to silk in price. I think a poly georgette would work if somebody had some of that. As it was, even I couldn't come up with some white rayon so I got a length of coral micro-fiber something. What happened to rayon? There wasn't any in the store. weird.

Also, this exercise is from an industrial perspective because it's useful to learn a different mind-set. Keep what's useful and leave the rest. As an industrial exercise -to have a pattern made- you have to specify the fabric type so you can draft for it. There was also a little trick in my contest. Rayon shrinks. I was hoping people would catch on and either pre-wash their fabrics or cut to compensate. Now, if you don't have any rayon, do what you can. Use the lightest colored fabric you have. The fabric restriction -a light colored solid, no prints- is important because it's very difficult to see problems if your eye is chasing detail all over the piece or it's too dark to see ugly lines. So cut it out of the lightest color possible This is just for the try-outs. If you like the way it comes out, maybe you can cut it out of something else. Please do not assume your project will be final-form on your first try. If it is, you're a better pattern maker than I am and I'd like to meet you, so please call me.

Styling. Again, this is just for fun, so have fun. Let's call the style depicted as the source of your own vision of what you'd like it to look like. As it is, I was going to cheat myself (don't think that I didn't know that a lot of you were going to cheat either because I did). The block I'm using is a V-neck bias cut dress that I knocked out of the book _Madeleine Vionnet_ by Betty Kirke. I was going to adjust the neckline before I slash and spread to shape it to match the basic neckline but now I'm not. Just do something that folks could readily identify as relating to the design. As it is, I've decided to make mine a dress so I'll be attaching a skirt. I don't know about sleeves tho. I'm looking for an excuse to use my Klein Bottle sleeves but I don't think it'd work on this. Btw, have I mentioned I've done a lot of experimental type pattern drafting? It's all math, I wish I knew more about it. I'm horribly obsessed with topography, origami math, Escher and Erte. I wish I knew more math.

Cheating...welcome to my industrial mind-set again. C'mon chicas, what's the goal here? The goal is to have the best looking prototype based on this design. That's it. Not only is draping not cheating, who said you even had to make the thing yourself? Someone was concerned whether draping was cheating which brought up my whole belief system of just what is cheating. First off, who said you couldn't enter the contest by hiring someone to draft and sew your design for you? Nobody. I surely didn't. In my opinion, the person who did that should be the winner! That's the point of manufacturing. You can't do everything yourself and once you figure that out is when you start to make broad strides. Hire out to others what they do best and nurture a talent.

I don't see cheating the same way you do. For example, I once gave a class in Manufacturing 101 here in El Paso and about 20 people showed up. Three of the attendees came together, three sisters who already operate a going concern, a laundry facility that processes denim for local manufacturers. Anyway, I always give an opening quiz designed mostly to open people's eyes to the myths of the industry but it also included some practical questions, and I look over and these three chicks are working together on the test, sharing answers, passing their sheets back and forth amongst each other. I'll bet you'd consider that cheating just as some of the others in the room did but I didn't, they were smart. The test wasn't really about what any single person knew about the business, it was knowing how to know, it was knowing where to go to get the information you needed. These ladies just shared information, there was no contest amongst them to see who was the "smartest"; they just wanted a positive result (they got the best scores too). There's a lesson there for all of you. To me, cheating means taking something that's not yours and saying it is and that's in word, thought or deed.

Conclusion? Take smart short-cuts. The goal is not to be the smartest person in the room; it's to be the most successful. Being successful doesn't mean stomping on other people but nobody's getting hurt if you're paying for the work.

Brief notes

Tomorrow I'll post regarding the vintage pattern design contest, I'm glad to see the interest. I also plan on writing about Project Management and Quality...guys, I just don't know how much longer I can sit on my hands. I'm afraid if I start writing about these two things, I'll never stop. For those interested in dynamic new business models in the information age, the topic will only be Lean Manufacturing. I'm starting to see that designer-entrepreneurs are craft-manufacturers, and I'm trying to figure out what that really means and what it takes to bump you guys up another level or two, with a growth and learning strategy that's effective and fast. I don't know how to teach you this and I wish I did. I'm trying to learn how myself. I'm reading _The Machine that Changed the World_. There's 128 used copies if you're short on cash.

Just a brief mention that pledge week is coming up soon on your local NPR station so get those pledges in now if not sooner. Nobody likes pledge week so there's no reason to prolong everybody's agony. Cough up now so we can all go back to focusing our NPR-related attentions on more trivial things, such as still harboring resentment over the dismissal of Bob Edwards, host of Morning Edition for over 20 years...I still don't know what that was all about.

I'm reading a book written by a friend of mine. He says not to mention it but this is my blog and I can do what I want (my blog is not a democracy). The book is called _The Truth in a Moment_. It's interesting (to me) because the main character owns several sewing factories so a lot of the story line revolves around the industry. It's a work of fiction, not a design-house back door tell-all.

My new toy arrived today. It's a pantograph for those who didn't know. This thing looks to have a high learning curve...could somebody please explain to me, the utility of a brass bob with these things that look like fish hooks on the end of it? And what's with the guy wires? I had no idea it was so complicated and I'm just grateful I even know what a guy wire is. Good grief! Where's the _Pantograph for Dummies_ book when you need one? It's so cool tho. Of course I've already taken it apart once and -yes- forgot where to put a crucial part and I hope I got it back together correctly.

The boy and I have started a continuing ed class in Aikido. Tonight was the first meeting. I'm really, really bad at all of it and I committed a major social faux-pas. The class is all guys and mostly big ones. They're very nice but I don't think they're comfortable handling me which seemed most apparent when they'd grab my wrists. I could see the size surprised them. I am feeling very small in there. I hope I don't break any bones, I'm such a klutz. The boy is doing lovely. His forward-falling is already natural. Somehow it doesn't seem fair when he's only 3" taller but outweighs me by 80 pounds. I've just noticed that it's midnight. Obviously I'm still processing the over-stimulation. g'night.

I'm not ignoring you

I've never made a secret of the matter that I am autistic. Resultantly, I am adversely affected by changes in my environment. Specifically, I haven't been productive or posting because the boy has been out of school for the Easter break. I've written several drafts while he's been here but nothing has pulled together with any cohesion. Mike returns to school tomorrow and I expect my productivity to return soon after. I guess I should have said something sooner but I'm always so sure that this time, I'll be able to beat it and do things differently. I'm a little embarrassed about it. In exchange for my candor, I'd appreciate your compassion and patience.

4 day meal plan

The boy has been away judging from the view of my kitchen sink:


I think the boy misses me too. He's called twice today, once pretending to be a telemarketer and then again to confirm I've eaten. Make that three times. Evidently we need to buy more christmas lights, some muffins and did I feed the little cat outside.

I've heard that cereal-for-dinner and astrology is the province of single women over 40. While the cereal evidence may be compelling, I don't believe in astrology. Nonetheless, I'll never date another Scorpio and look forward to Saturn's departure from my second house.

Vintage pattern design contest

Sometimes I cruise the online homesewing world; they tend to be an optimistic cheery lot who manage to share projects and compete in contests. I enjoy their comraderie. So I thought we could do something fun, albeit from a different perspective. Homesewers have contests sewing up the same pattern so I thought we could each design the same pattern from a sketch. Then we'd walk through sewing it up and photograph it for giggles. Game?

This is the scenario. your boss (the designer) has just handed you a sketch of style #24001. To keep things as real-world (and easy) as possible, "their" design is -obviously- photocopied from a book. This is the illustration you're given.



Now -because I like you and because I have the book- I'll include the drafting instruction for this which comes from pg 290 of Hillhouse & Manfield's _Dress Design_. Of course you'd start with your own block or a style close enough to one. You'd start by tracing it off and making the amendments to your duplicate as shown here:



We'll use the same fabrics -a basic pre-washed rayon- and we'll use the same color (white). The reason is that other than sizing, if the design has been well-rendered -according to the designer's 'vision'- each completed prototype should look more or less the same.

About the sleeve of the blouse, since the designer wasn't clear about what the sleeve looks like, and nobody is around to ask -but you're supposed to finish this thing by 5pm- you get to design your own. Similarly, you really can't tell if this design is a dress or a blouse so rather than twiddle your thumbs, -unlike in real life- you get to do what you like there too, have fun! But other than sleeves or with or without a skirt (attached or not), all tops should look the same. If it matters to you what I would do, I'd worry about getting the blouse portion done just so and then decide by visual inspection (or online jury poll) if the thing needs a skirt. But you do as you like. I'll be showing my sample in various stages which may be helpful because you all may not know the best way to construct it, the neckline being the biggest finishing issue, no? If not, what strikes you as most difficult to sew about this style?

If anyone should enter the vintage pattern design contest other than yours truly (doubtful), I'll put up photos of each. Oh wait...we need some kind of a pathetic, useless, and trivial prize to award the winner (the one person who enters other than me)....any suggestions? I know, we'll call it the Golden Nippers Prize (TM). Nippers are something no factory sewing person can do without. It'd be like going to school without pens, pencils and paper. Btw, if you need nippers or any other needle-trade tools, paper or supplies, I heartily recommend SouthStar Supply.

Regarding industrial criteria; if we took this contest to another level -you could use this as a training exercise if you really wanted to get into the business- we'd do this again but intended for silk. Obviously one would start with the rayon-based pattern and cut a silk one to see what was going on, wash it etc and check this silk sample against the original rayon one. Then, if you needed to, you'd have to make alterations to the rayon pattern which would mean keeping the rayon style intact and tracing off another and making alterations to the duplicate. Then, you'll need to issue the silk blouse a different style number (24002) because it is it's own pattern. It doesn't matter if the rayon and silk blouses look the same, it needs a different style number. The folks in the back of the house are going to grab the pattern of the style number you specify so be careful. They won't know to look for a style 24001-rayon and 24001-silk. They'll just cut the first version of 24001 that they find, out of whatever fabric they're supposed to be cutting (and it isn't their fault) so prevent a nightmare in the making. And if you ignore this advice thinking I'm too picky or anal retentive -while admitedly true- get out now! Save yourself while you still can. Trust me.

My new toy

Actually, I'm testing whether I can upload files that become visible within my posts. It'll be so much easier to explain things that way. Anyway, this is my new toy that I bought on ebay (the photo is hijaked because I don't actually have the thing yet). Anybody who can figure out what this thing is gets some sort of prize but I haven't figured out just what yet.

The size of the thing is misleading in the photo. The dimensions of the wooden case are 76" by 7" by 6" if that gives you any idea of the tool's size. If you want to know what this is, I'll put the answer in under comments. There you'll also figure out the utility of the thing too.

Tv, blogs, girlie-girls & call of the mall

Josh submits (pasted from his comments under product review 12658
"Project Runway" was this incredible reality show on the BRAVO network. They took 12 up and coming designers and each week they had a challenge. As an example, make a dress out of what you can buy in the grocery store. And each week one person was eliminated. There will be a seaon 2 this year. This is the website. Michael Kors was a judge on the show and he would say the funniest things. Like once he called someone's outfit "Farty". You can catch reruns of it all the time. It's on tonight.

Has anybody seen this show? Unfortunately I got Josh's post too late to watch the show. While I'm thinking of it, are there any shows I should be watching? Please let me know. I'm trying to watch more tv -a new year's resolution- and I even got cable. I'm thinking tv is a good socialization exercise. Consider the alternative of my daily reality; it's difficult to chit-chat or converse with the average person if you haven't watched tv since reagan's first term in office.

Speaking of social nicities and the fluffier side of things, you may want to check out DailyCandy and select daily delivery of news from the fashion mecca closest to you. Daily Candy seems to be good at getting the skinny on designer sample sales among other things. If you're a girlie-girl, this is right up your alley. A sample info-byte:
Every industry-insider's secret weapon, Bluefly.com is like a sample sale that never ends, carrying high-end designer clothing, shoes, accessories, and home wares at prices up to 65 percent off. Fresh merchandise arrives on a daily basis, from runway classics like Marni, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Marc Jacobs, and Christian Louboutin to quirky young designers like C. Ronson, Juicy Couture, Capital Tailors, and Temma Dahan.

This blog will be migrating to either Movable Type or WordPress . I am undecided as to which platform I'll use. If you have an opinion on the matter, I'd love to hear it. Speaking of blogs, I'm geeky enough to have gotten my own blog code which is: B1 d+ t k- s- u-- f i- o++ x e-- l c+ If you want to know what this means, you can decode it here and a paragraph of text spits out. You can generate your own code by checking off the boxes and it spits out automatically, no programming knowledge needed! A blog code amounts to a bio file of yourself that you can include in postings as part of your signature.

I've finished reading _Call of the Mall_ by Paco Underhill and while I'm not sure what or how I feel about it yet, I do know that you all should read it too. There are 93 used copies if you're short on cash. As it is, I'll have to buy a copy -mine is borrowed- because he validates what little I wrote of retail in the entrepreneur's guide. While Paco Underhill is often described as a "retail anthropologist", there's nothing academic about his writing style. _Call of the Mall_ is an easy evening read. If I had any complaint about the book it would be that I wanted more meatiness -and I'm a vegetarian- more facts, more hard statistics and data that were merely alluded to within the text. I do not believe he was being intellectually stingy or building room for potential consultancies because he's just too open with his information. I believe he omitted these things from the book to increase readership amongst laymen and retailers. If you browse research on his website, you'll find some stats and charts to append the text. Lastly, while you're checking out this book, go ahead and get _Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping also by Paco Underhill. I certainly will be.

I am looking forward to reading Edward Tufte once I manage to pry, bribe, contrive, lie, steal, seduce or otherwise crudely manipulate the book away from its owner, so expect influences. His work explains the elements of high-quality instructional design, graphs and charting, validating the necessity of conventions and schematics in technical or instructional renderings (including patterns). For one thing, iconography is highly useful in labeling, hang-tags and as signage in retail environments as well as instructive in plants particularly where multi-languages are common. The New York Times describes Tufte as "the Leonardo da Vinci of data".

kathleenfasanella.com

My personal website is up and running again; no, it hasn't been updated (but will be soon). It was just off-line whilst I attempted -yet again- to wrest my domain name from the steely-oiled grip of enterprise solutions. I would never recommend that anyone do business with them unless you don't mind paying 400% over current market rates for domain registration. They'll manage to snag you for a coerced renewal -at least once- too! So if you registered through them but have since moved your hosting elsewhere, do not assume the domain transfer has been effected, in spite of any reassurances from your web hosting company! Just a warning to my friends.

You may consider reading the comments under the posting "Product Review Style 12658". It's clear I should have explained the difference between a style review and a product review before I started doing them. Until I do, there's worthwhile comments to browse there.

Intolerable ugliness or the shape of things to come?

"Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months." Oscar Wilde said that, a known dandy of his day. As someone more inclined to read the science pages rather than fashion at the New York Times, I offer Origami as the Shape of Things to Come. If you're in the mood for a day-long stimming-jaunt, google MIT professor Dr. Erik Demaine (the subject of the article) to explore the world of emerging origami mathematics. Some of his ideas are easily rendered as pleated skirts; something I've been doing for several years now, specifically shaped pleating, far beyond the straight knife edges that define pleating for most designers. I wonder if I should write him, to tell him we can make clothes based on his research. Math skirts may be a way of bringing math to the masses and the necessity of scientific and intellectual rigor to fashion designers.

In keeping with today's theme of beauty, ugly and fashion comes Maureen Dowd's editorial Frozen Mermaids, Scary Sirens (reminds me of Nancy Etcoff's _survival of the prettiest_). Ms Dowd states in part, "In the future, there will be only one face. And if the Oscars are predictive, there will be only one body - big chest, skinny body - and one style. It was bizarre how actress after actress came out in the same mermaid silhouette: a strapless sheath with a trumpet-flared or ruffled skirt....In decades past, each top glamour girl aimed for a signature face and measurements, a trademark voice, a unique walk. You never saw Katharine Hepburn and Ava Gardner showing up in the same dress, or Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe looking like a pair of matching candles."

For those who may not know, the New York Times offers an array of fashion news and slide shows on its interactive website. First there is Style Magazine with a focus on women's fashions, Spring 2005. And lest you suspect that the NYT is all about fashion worship, see You Do The Math; an examination of McQueen's uber poof skirt and the many quantities of objects that can be fitted within its volume such as 15 golden retriever puppies, 1,638 italian breadsticks and 3.76 Apple IMacs.

Then finally are the slide-show and wrap ups for the Fall 2005. The index of all the shows in Milan, Paris and New York. Cathy Horyn of the NYT narrates the shows and during the display of young designers of NY, voices her curiousity at their tendency to launch with vintage styles. Maybe someone should tell her the influence could be due to their use of vintage pattern design books such as _Dress Design_ by Hillhouse & Mansfield (you'd think someone would have reprinted this text by now). These designers could have used books of far less value and influence. It'll take time; all designers grow into their own voices.

Product Review Style# 12658

This is a jacket I made for a friend. I love this wool and have made other coats out of it. It washes and wears well. About the sketch sheet; what you see on this one is the most minimal of information that you need to provide to any technical person working with the style. None of this is proprietary information. I intentionally did not use a form but drew it up by hand so you can do this too. The sketch sheet describes this style as a men's bomber jacket of boiled wool with grey and black stripes on a red background. The jacket has contrasting black lamb sleeves, collar, and trim (welt pockets, facing and waistband). It has a sport collar that zips closed with heavy knit ribbed waistband and cuffs. There's an inner breast pocket and it is fully lined in a heavy black satin quilted onto 8 oz. wool. It is a size medium.

Now, if you looked at the sketch sheet, you should notice a problem with the above description; specifically, the sheet says black pig suede and above I indicated lamb. This matters. You should not go into a product review without making the correction to the sketch sheet as there is a significant price difference between lamb and pig.

Design:The coat is designed to suit the purpose. It provides adequate body coverage, the wool is dense and warm. The inside pocket was designed to hold -and retain- a palm pilot *without* zippers, snaps or buttons. The wearer can stand on his head and the pilot won't fall out. Similarly, the coat was specifically designed to be washed. All of the inputs (wool, leather,
lining) were pre-washed. Actually, some of the inputs -most notably the leather- were washed more times than was intended due to "shop conditions". While you may not have a cat with a lamb fetish, you'll need to account for your particular shop conditions too. Due to shrinkage of the hides, I ended up with a 4oz leather when I intended 2-3oz. This ended up not being a problem but begs a correction (later). You'll need to examine the style on the fit model with your reviewers in attendance.

Sizing: overall the jacket looks good but it is a bit too large even for a standard size medium. The largeness of this medium is due to the pattern maker's preference (me). I'm accustomed to making western wear which tends to run larger than mainstream because cowboy types often do strenuous work so I cut to reflect that. My fit model is a standard medium (5'10" about 180lbs) so I should really cut it smaller to fit my intended target consumer. It still irks me. I may yet cut it apart again.

Fitting (is not the same thing as sizing): It looks pretty good although I think the armhole can be raised at least an inch. Raising the armhole does several things. 1. The wearer will have greater range of motion. 2. Lower costs; with a higher armhole, the sleeve is correspondingly smaller hence leather cost savings.

Features: When the model places his hands in his pockets, there are comensurate stresslines radiating into the shoulder which means the pockets are too high and they may need to be re-angled (now at 45degrees). They definitely need to come down an inch in placement. Similarly, the inside pocket is too high and needs to be lowered about 2".

Construction: When discussing construction, viewpoints from differing perspectives must be addressed. The sample maker should report any problems they had with construction regardless of what caused it (pattern, fabric, machine etc). The production manager or contractor should be looking at the fabrication to determine what if any problems it represents. In this case, the sample maker (me) would say (my comments), "the pattern worked well, all the notches matched, it was clearly marked, the only problem I had was with the wool. Somehow, it's growing". At that point you should ask if the sample maker has any ideas to control it to which I'd respond "The front of the jacket needs to be fused. If we can't do that, we need a strip of fusing in the armhole, shoulder line and center front along the zipper inset".

The contractor/production person will be factoring in the costs and extra care needed to lay the fabrics out correctly so the stripes will match. Since the stripes match on the sample , the contractor will assume the match-stripe convention on the pattern is correct as well. The contractor will also be evaluating the style for the types of machines that may be needed to sew it. Regarding this particular style, the whole thing was made by single-needle on a home sewing machine so this shouldn't be a problem other than the pockets. If the contractor's shop doesn't have experience making welt pockets via single needle and doesn't have a welting machine, they may not do the job. This shouldn't be a problem tho. Lastly, the contractor will be factoring time (under 30 minutes for total sewing time) and evaluating the item in terms of the skill level of sewing operators. If they've made jackets like this before, this will be no problem.

Costing and allocation: This information is absent in this review. There are certain things you must have on hand for the review. You need to have allocation figures (provided by the sample cutter or whoever cuts it out) and the quantities of inputs and types needed (zippers etc should be described by size, length and type on the sketch sheet). Normally you would not discuss sewing costs if any floor people are around; that's usually a management topic only. I think you should share these cost figures with your pattern maker provided he/she is a private contractor separate from the sewing contractor. If the sewing costs are out of line with past experience, your pattern maker can troubleshoot the reasons for that with you and the contractor. It could be a small glitch is costing unnecessarily.

Review Summary: This style would pass review. Notes regarding the changes must be detailed. These are:
1. The style is not a medium, it is a large. It needs to be graded down one size.
2. The sketch sheet is incorrect. The sleeves and trim are lamb, not pig.
3. The armholes, shoulder, neckline and centerfront must be fused.
4. Outside pockets to be lowered at least 1" and re-angled.
5. The inside breast pocket must be lowered 2".
6. Raise the armhole at least 1".
7. Allocation, inputs and costs are missing.
8. Sewing specifications (may or may not be needed).

The designer is responsible for correcting items 2, 7 and 8. This is not to say the designer is responsible for knowing the answers to those questions but they are responsible for collecting and compiling the information from those who do know. The rest of the changes are executed by the pattern maker. All of these changes will require the pattern to be re-cut but it'll go faster this time. The changes are easily quantified and it's about a 4-6 hour job. Had more specific sizing information been available and the sizing was cut correctly, it'd be a 2 hr job at most. This is just one reason why you must be a specific as you can when detailing size specifications. Also, you will need to cut a new sample from the corrected pattern because the changes are too significant to use this sample as the final prototype.

I hope my "customer" will provide his comments regarding this style as well.

Oh joy

Oh happy news! I've decided to start posting product reviews for the enjoyment of all three of my readers. I'll bet you're clapping your hands and jumping up and down with joy at the prospect.

Seriously. You can learn a lot from a product review. Perhaps I should explain what that is. Well, it's where you have a panel of people get together to discuss the merits of an item, the downsides, the potential problems, associated costs et cetera. Usually you have to pay a consultant a fee (not cheap) to tell you in painful excrutiating detail, everything that's wrong with your product. While it's in your best interests to do so, it's not exactly a jolly time. It's no fun to watch other people rip your dream idea to shreds. It doesn't have to be that ugly and it's usually not, I'm exaggerating. But still, you need to learn how to develop a critical eye and the best way to do that is do observe someone else's product review. So that's what I'll be doing.

I'll be reviewing items that I've made because I doubt anybody's going to jump up and volunteer their products for public execution. I don't care, I've made a career of making a fool of myself so I'm used to it. The first style I'll do is style #12658 which is a coat I made for a friend of mine. And yeah, you may safely surmise I'm such a style-number nut-job that I even issue numbers for things I make for myself.

Did you get your yahoo ice cream? I thought that was really cool; that was a really neat thing to do for your customers. The boy and I went to Baskin-Robbins; he was kind of embarrassed -he looks like a mummy- but couldn't pass up the free ice cream. The boy -admitedly PDD-NOS with high pain tolerance- scrubbed his face so hard, he burnt his skin raw. He's been out of school two days this week. And in case you wonder, I've called him 'the boy' for years because calling him 'my son' doesn't feel honest. He's not my property; he's his own boy and always has been. His name is Mike and officially, I am not allowed to talk about him, lol.