Today I’ll show you samples of a work instruction that is similar to one I made while at a customer’s plant. The customer was frustrated because their stitchers were not sewing boning strips to specification. In this case, the boning is sewn before the top and bottom of the corset is ...
Are sewing machines designed for the left handed? Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on May 6, 2013 at 10:46 am / Sewing / Trackback I had no idea that sewing machines favor left-handed people. Did you? Quite a few people do, I guess I was late to the party. One explanation is that the inve...
But anyway, since clothing production is the first industry to be developed in an untested nation, they’re lacking a lot of know how. It’s like anything -like you in your businesses- you don’t begin to learn what you need to learn until boundaries are pushed and you get a failure. I l...
Pattern Puzzle: Style #22005 pt.2 Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on Apr 25, 2013 at 5:16 pm / Pattern Puzzle / Trackback At long last -having been interminably delayed- comes the solution to last week’s pattern puzzle . The upper bodice of which you can see at right. As I’d mentioned in...
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on Apr 19, 2013 at 3:40 pm / Pattern Puzzle / Trackback The site feed has been broken. Let’s hope this entry is delivered… This style amounts to an experiment I’m working on, it’s being cut as I write so I have no idea if it will come out as I envision*. I...
How to prevent theft by bad contractors Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on Apr 11, 2013 at 4:43 pm / Contractors , Operations / Trackback Following the theme of yesterday’s entry , I’ll post some suggestions on getting your stuff back from a sewing contractor. The first step is to know w...
I’m being taken advantage of, how do I regain control? Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on Mar 28, 2013 at 4:44 pm / Patterns / Trackback A young lady I will call Mary writes: While working at a fabric store, a business owner asked if I could sew prototypes for him. He said he only needed...
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on Mar 21, 2013 at 4:17 pm / Contest and Projects , Patterns / Trackback 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 i...
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on Mar 21, 2013 at 4:17 pm / Contest and Projects , Patterns / Trackback 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 i...
Ooh pretty. And another site migration Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on Mar 20, 2013 at 5:22 pm / Admin , Patterns / Trackback 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 yea...
What kind of designer are you? Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on Jan 10, 2013 at 8:18 pm / Design / Trackback Can a designer teach her/himself needed skills? If so, how? This was an interesting question posed on the forum today ; it speaks to the subject of what kind of designer you are...
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...
The bibliography was interesting in two ways. The first is that Campbell has access to better sources on the Pacific Rim than I do -oh envy!- and the second is what can only be termed as omissions. Obviously it is not possible to survey all of the literature which would amount to recr...
If you have a sewing hammer (a regular hammer would work okay for a test sample), give the top of that neckline seam -on both sides- right on the seam line, a good whack or two and don’t be shy about it. That’s another “sewing secret” those sewing experts never seem to mention (one wo...
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 cont...
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 tha...
Where and how do you start a design business? Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on Jan 15, 2013 at 7:22 pm / Designers must know , Newbies / Trackback The cut to the chase answer to the question of where and how do you start a design business depends on your goals . But first, this needs t...
Posted by Guest Author on Jan 5, 2013 at 7:38 pm / Pattern Puzzle / Trackback Thanks for your input on this puzzler -quite a challenge! For a radical departure from our usual pattern puzzle solution, we have the designer herself to explain it all for us. Please, a warm welcome to Mart...
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on Dec 31, 2012 at 4:31 pm / Pattern Puzzle / Trackback To close out the year, I thought another pattern puzzle would be in order. I was halfway tempted to post the solution as well because the solution still begs in depth discussion -I haven’t figured it ...
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on Dec 28, 2012 at 5:12 pm / Patterns , Production / Trackback In response to the first post in this series (Fusing map: Sport coats and suits ) Ela writes: I’m about to dive into my first menswear garment sewing project: making a jacket for my boyfriend. ...
Winner: Digital Textile Design Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on Dec 28, 2012 at 4:17 pm / Contest and Projects / Trackback Thanks everyone for participating in the last giveway . We had 40 contestants for the drawing. Courtesy of the random number generator , the winner is #34. That wo...
Photoshopping on fabric! What will they think of next…would love to look in depth at all the tutorials Jasonda Desmond mentioned in his(her?) review of Digital Textile Design. Having done surface design by hand, am tickled that computers can potentially make it even more interesting. ...
Review: Digital Textile Design Posted by Guest Author on Dec 21, 2012 at 4:36 pm / Design , Reviews / Trackback As I mentioned yesterday, we have a review written by Jasonda Desmond (Dotty Logic ), maven of all things textile and design related. Jasonda is a long time member of our fo...
Giveaway! Patternmaking Made Easy Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on Dec 18, 2012 at 2:12 pm / Contest and Projects , Patterns / Trackback Just in time for the holidays, we have a giveaway of Connie Crawford’s Patternmaking Made Easy . Yay Connie! For those who don’t know, this is the bo...
This is a) useful, and b) timely. I’m working on a suit jacket block for myself, starting from a (surprisingly well drafted) home sewing pattern and altering as needed. I’m working on the final mockup/”prototype” now, with actual (albeit cheap) suiting and lining fabric. I’ve followed...
Sample cutting and sewing costs pt.3 Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on Dec 7, 2012 at 6:17 pm / Designers must know , Production / Trackback Following up from part one and then part two , Switching gears, I intended to explain two other reasons why sample cutting can cost more than one ...
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on Dec 2, 2012 at 3:58 pm / Contractors , Rants , Sustainability / Trackback Yet another overseas factory burns, killing workers . Have we learned nothing in the last hundred years? Considering the Shirtwaist Factory Fire (1911), all we’ve done is push tra...
Free for beta testing: jeans pattern style #25025 Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on Nov 23, 2012 at 4:19 pm / Patterns / Trackback Is anybody working today? I’ve been pretending to most of the day. I think it’s time to hit the fridge to see if there’s anything edible left over. But anyw...
She says dominant seams through the inseam and side seam are good for enhanced range of motion and that dominant seams through the crotch and armhole are better for tailored garments. She’s likely right about both. I don’t think it matters in sportswear and as such, I’m likely to favo...
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella on Nov 12, 2012 at 5:45 pm / Contest and Projects / Trackback Yay, the giveaway is on! Courtesy of Laurence King Publishing , one lucky winner will win one copy of each of the following books: Drape Drape , Drape Drape 2 , Pattern Magic , Pattern Magic 2 ,...
