Hello.
My name is Sabrina, and I'm a fashion graduate aiming to be a pattern cutter.
A few facts:
My name is Sabrina, and I'm a fashion graduate aiming to be a pattern cutter.
A few facts:
- I'm a fashion graduate (high first, to toot my own horn)
- I currently work as tailor for a leading denimwear brand
- I've been sewing for 12 years at this point, and pattern cutting for 10. This is from the point where I got a sewing machine and began to teach myself.
- It's hard to get experience when you don't live in London and you have to work to pay bills, so...
- I'm doing this project
What is Project RTW?
This is my attempt to gain skills and experience that are not included in a degree, so that I can get a job as a pattern cutter. Something that terrifies me about the prospect of a job as a pattern cutter is the speed at which they work, and my assumption that they generally know a lot more than I do. I can make jeans in my sleep, but anything else I have to figure out as I go along. The project is designed to fix that. I estimate it will take about 2.5-5 years, and around £1,500, which is a lot of money to me but still less than a Masters that wouldn't necessarily teach me practical job skills. Measures will be taken to reduce both these numbers as much as possible because I'm not rich and I'd like a better job before I'm 35.
The Brief
Learn to make all standard/generic garments with real industry methods, documenting experiments on a blog and uploading patterns so that readers can follow along. At least half the patterns must be traced off extant garments (standard practice and an important skill). The project must include some children's wear.
Learning Goals
- Be comfortable making knock-offs
- Skilled in working with a wide variety of fabrics and interfacings etc.
- Understand different levels of quality in manufacturing
- Be confident in making a wide variety of garments to RTW methods and standards, quickly
- Work out how to sell patterns online profitably and easily
- Be good with Windows/Microsoft (I like Mac)
- Collaborate with other people/companies // networking
- Learn different: pockets, fastenings, necklines, and finishes
- Be better at grading
- Be better at fitting
- Use draping on some projects
- Understand and use critical path
- Be good at deadlines without stress
- A large impressive portfolio
- More content online
- Work to trends
- Improved time and project management skills
Potential Challenges
- Expense
- Time consuming / fitting it in
- Lack of space (my room in a house share)
- Lack of special equipment/resources
- What to do with each finished garment?
Resources
- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHjHvLxpPVDWNXzfCxKx0vQ
- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_zlgvkT31hzmFbjN8wTJHA
- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdra-nmhkkU9I3ManKfi4LQ
- Fashion Incubator
- Metric Pattern Cutting Books (Aldrich)
- Existing garments
Ways to Make it Easier for Myself
- some projects could be scale garments (1/2 scale)
- set up my room so everything I need is to hand
- toile everything or most things
- sell unwanted finished projects online (make in commercially viable style)
- give some appropriate things to those in need
- Do some freelance work? (How to work around my job?)
- Time each project reiteration
- Buy some basic fabrics in bulk if it saves money
Potential Ways to Fund Project RTW
- Make into ebooks/kindle books
- make an actual clothing brand
- freelance work (pattern cutting)
- sell one-offs
- Patreon for more detailed/extra tutorials
Ways to get exposure
- this blog
- Pinterest?
- Youtube (probably not)
How much time can I give to this project?
Sleep: 56 hrs; eating and cooking 21 hrs; bathroom 8 hrs; working 25 hrs; commute 14; Household 4 hrs; relaxing 14 hrs; = 142 hrs a week taken up. 168 - 142 hrs = 26 hrs a week. Realistically probably half of that because life happens, so 13 hrs a week, which is just under 2 hrs a day on average, so we'll say 2-3 hours a day.
Estimated Costs and Time frames
These numbers are rough estimates at the moment. While the times allowed may seem long, I am allowing for delivery of fabric, design, and a lot of research and trial and error and measuring of existing clothing. I may be wildly off. We'll only know as I progress. I will track how long each thing takes me and have real-time updates on Instagram.
The items in bold are the ones I think are probably most important.
Now that the brief is drafted, it's time to start designing and planning the first garment...
Comments
Post a Comment