My Patternmaking Ad Is Up And Running!

Yes,  after a few days work at it,  to get it just right :) I've posted my ad in 4 places on the Fashion Industry Network (got to love that site),  facebook notes,  Craigslist and I'll have it here on my blog as well.   I've got to pay to put an ad up on the Sewing Mama's forum,  but it's not to much so a few clients in and I'll put an ad up with them as well.   Now I was wondering if I could put an ad up on Squidoo at all,  I might have to email them about the ins and outs,  dos and don'ts,  but I hope it would be okay as well.   I'm going to have my ad here on the blog as well.   So wish me luck,  hope I get a client or two really soon so my hard work this past year and a half (think it's been about that long) will start to slowly but surely pay off.  

Right now though,  I'm really screaming with excitement inside,  eeee,  I can't wait to get started and busy working on some really great designs and post pictures of them (with my designer client's approval of course).  That's going to be awesome!  Anyway here's my ad,  feel free to send me any suggestions or comments if you have any,  I'll be glad to hear them :)

Patternmaker Offering Discount Services

Buy 3 Patterns Get The Fourth One For FREE! (Offer Ends March 30, 2012)

Have you designed a garment or collection and don't know where to begin?

Or are you looking to supplement your staff during high demand?

My name is Ayisha and I'm an entry level patternmaker looking to impress designer and industry clients with great patterns and timely service.

Whether your designs are simple or complex, traditional, contemporary or fashion forward my goal is to create patterns that will produce exact replicas of your fashion sketches and concepts.

Simply provide your sketches or illustrations, information on the seams/trims/closures required, the fabric to be used and the completed size and measurements form (I'll email this out to you along with my reply) and the process of drafting your first patterns will begin.

What to expect:

All single garment patterns regardless of complexity will cost a flat rate of $35 USD each (price is negotiable).

- As soon as your pattern or, patterns have been drafted, I'll send them to you in the mail for approval and correction (payment for services rendered does not include shipping costs as this is free to all clients between now and March 30th, 2012).

- If any necessary corrections are needed you may either return the pattern(s) to me with the corrections marked and noted on the pattern (or) take a digital photo of the marked corrections and send it to me by email at: stylistwithacause@gmail.com and your patterns will be adjusted accordingly and returned to you again by mail.

- If you have any questions or concerns feel free to ask me and if I have any questions in regards to your design's requirements, intended styling details and fit, etc, I will be sure to inquire about them before proceeding with your patterns (email correspondence may include illustrations highlighting the subject(s) in question)

- New clients must pay upon receiving patterns or multiple patterns in regards to agreed upon milestones.

- Established clients may pay within 10 days of receiving goods.

In return for the discounted fee, clients must also agree to provide good quality, well lit, or (preferably) professional quality photos of the finished garments produced from the patterns.

Email me today and see what I can do for you, email address: stylistwithacause@gmail.com

Waiting For My Prospective Pattern Clients

Well,  I posted my ads on Friday,  this is a good and bad thing.   It's good because people have already contacted me who,  I'm guessing will get back to me sometime this coming week (Yeah!!!) the bad side though is the waiting,  but I always make the best of that.

I wanted to update my squidoo lens but there are some bugs not allowing me to do that at the moment so I'm waiting for the squidoo team to return my request for help about that,  so I'm got to focus on something else for now.

Two patternmaking books I've read over the years now are Helen Joseph Armstrong's and Connie Amaden Crawford's.   Connie's book wins out with me because speaking as one who didn't know enough about patternmaking when I first bought Armstrong's patternmaking book  I was terribly intimidated.   The instructions seemed unapproachable to me and I never plucked up the courage to get past drafthing the initial first block (I think this was the bodice block,  too many years ago to remember).

The thing that made me take the plunge and buy Connie's book though was that I'd heard her book was replacing Armstrong's book in the fashion schools,  that's big time.   Now,  however,  after successfully learning Connie's Amaden Crawford's Patternmaking Made Easy,  I kind of regret selling my Helen Joseph Armstrong book because now that I actually know my way around patternmaking I realize Armstrong's book would be great to have on hand as reference for different kinds of pattern blocks.  Or maybe it's just my subconscious desire to now closely compare the two books to see how many ways they differ.

One of these days I'll look into it.   For now though while I'm waiting,  I'm going to review things here and there in Connie's book and probably some of my other books as well.   I've got a regular little library now,  here's a group of photos of some of my favorite books I've studied/read/bought so far that I would highly recommend anyone interested in design to check out:

Planning A Patternmaking Portfolio

It's Sunday so it might be the wrong day to fear / antisipate business going slow (I know I'm being impatient) but there's a great way to plan ahead on what to do with any spare free time I may have.   Update my fashion squidoo pages (when they fix up the bugs on my lens),  review my fashion industry books,  but perhaps,  more importantly I should work on putting together some content for my own online patternmaking portfolio.  

I don't have any eco - friendly fabric,  but I do have a stock of fabric from years ago and some other materials I purchased from thrift stores.   So I should try to decide on what kind of designs to create that would demonstrate some serious patternmaking abilities.   Then I'll have to figure out how to take some decent photos (with my cell phone?  hahaha,  I'll probably  have a great new camera by then hopefully) to put on my portfolio pages.

The thing is here is that my sewing skills aren't that great, or atleast not as refined as I'd like them to be,  so I'll have to get past that to provide some visual 'credentials' for my patternmaking skills.   That shouldn't be too much trouble though,  usually when I sew I'm in a rush,  things rarely turn out perfect like that.   I'll just take my time so I can get it right.

I want to make some complex garments and some simple garments.  I think one garment should be a sort of empire waist baby doll slip with a keyhole detail at the centre front and slightly flared hemline.   The next design should be a princess seam dress with puff cap sleeves and cut out detailing in the sleeve and side panel areas.   I'm thinking this would need some kind of backing material or interfacing to stabilize and support the cut out areas neatly though.  I should also do a pair of pants with frontier pockets and an asymetrical jacket.  For the simpler designs I think I'll do a totally girly scalloped hem tulip skirt with fullness at the waisline and hips tapered to slim fit skirt width at the below the knee hemline.  I'd also like to do an interesting color block fitted vest.  

Yeah,  I'll work on these whenever I don't have clients or much work and post these projects on the sewing mamas forum too.   I'll plan ahead to take my time and make sure they turn out perfectly too.   Right now then,  I have to re-do my little figure templates and do my fashion illustrations for these designs first.   When I can,  I'll post the figure templates on my Squidoo lens too.

Why Watch Current (and past) Fashion Videos

I've heard and read that the reason to watch fashion shows are to keep up with the latest trends,  and when it comes to collections of the past,  to gain insight and inspiration from what designers have done before.  And this is just one of the ways to get ideas for a new "original" collection of your own.  Other ways of course are to look at the different clothing styles from other cultures and periods,  looking at art and artifacts,  nature,  architecture even just checking out the new textiles, prints and fabric innovations can be a source of inspiration.

However these are designer's reasons to watch fashion videos,  Patternmakers have completely different reasons and approach to watching both new and old fashion videos. For example I was watching  Donna Karan's winter 2012/2013 collection a while ago and as a patternmaker I was inspired,  challenged and intrigued by the cut of the garments.  I found myself automatically wondering "how was that done?" and then challenging myself with the question of how and if I could do that myself for my own designs.  Take a look for yourself:

This was actually quite a wonderful experience for me and I look forward to it every time I watch a new fashion video now (or a retro one for that matter).

Designers come up with new design challenges and adventures all the time that work out to be a great way to keep a patternmaker's mind on it's tip toes.  It's actually made me head in the direction of looking into more speciallty patternmaking books as well,  right now I've got my eyes on Pattern Making Portfolio Skills and the Pattern Magic series.

If you'd like to see more great quality fashion videos subscribe to fatalfashion's channel on Youtube.com
just visit: http://www.youtube.com/user/FatalefashionII?feature=watch


If you'd like to read more about fashion, information on the industry and online schools check out my site at:
Budget Online Fashion Design Schools and Resources

If you're a designer or home sewer and you'd like to find some cool eco-friendly fabrics and more check out my resource page at:
The Eco-Friendly Fashion Designer's Resource Page

I've Got My Lemon Tulip Lingerie Pattern Printed Out At Staples

I thought it would be taking me at least another month or so to finally get around to having my lemon tulip pattern printed out but what do you know,  I called Staples up to find out if I could do this online and... Well I couldn't because their system isn't set up to handle two different file sizes (poster and double poster size) but I could load the files onto a disk and bring it in for them to do.

On March 20th I had the money to do a little something and turns out it cost $13 dollars for the whole pattern print out.  Next time I'll be a little more efficient in my layout,  but I couldn't tell which size I could use by Staples' online restrictions that turned out to be irrelevant anyway.  They do larger sizes for example.  And it was like 36 cent a page,  not bad.  Here they are:  just click on it to get a closer look.

So now all I have to do is cut it out,  cut the pattern out in fabric and sew it up and put it on my dressform, then there'll be a piece in my portfolio to show off,  well,  the first and only piece till I've got more to show.  That reminds me though,  I forgot I can add the garment photos from my other previous client,  from last year.  That'll be great.

The other great news is that I'm a little over half finished with my client's 10 look collection,  she loves my work and would like to work with me over the long term.  I don't think there's a bigger confidence booster than someone liking to work with you (and of course liking your work) so much that they want to continue.  Hehehe,  she's in New York too,  fashion hub of America,  how cool is that?

Okay well when anything new comes up or I get a breather from my work and family responsibilities I'll be posting again.  I just haven't been able to get around to it.   I've got article rewriting projects to take care of aside from my patterns and money has been really tight.  Despite this though,  I want to set a strong moral tone for my son and start a monthly donation project with him.  Ever heard of Plan Canada?  I love what they're doing,  you can pick out "gifts of hope" to have sent to someone over seas.  So what I did is told my son how the program works,  and had him pick out two gifts that we'll be sending to someone... that is,  as soon as I get my payment for the last pattern I did.... still waiting for that one,  it won't be long though.  Even if it goes into the beginning of April I'm considering it March's donation and will be sharing the notification on Facebook then I'm going to let him pick another gift for the end of April.  For March, he's picked out 3 chicks and a mango tree.  He's a pretty smart little guy.

If you'd like to read more about fashion, information on the industry and online schools check out my site at:

Budget Online Fashion Design Schools and Resources

If you're a designer or home sewer and you'd like to find some cool eco-friendly fabrics and more check out my resource page at:

The Eco-Friendly Fashion Designer's Resource Page

Sewing Your Own Digital Pattern You Drafted, Printed And Cut Out

I cut my lemon tulip lingerie pattern out yesterday and looked it over,  going about the task of sewing it in my mind (yes I'm a little apprehensive,  I haven't sewn in a while,  about 2 years and don't know how well my machine is going to handle the work).   Aside from that though,  working with a pattern you've drafted yourself is an indispensable learning experience and this won't be the only time I do it.   I'm going to sew my own samples once I get started.

So what did I learn about patternmaking for this exercise so far?  Okay,  2 things at this time:  Take a look at the picture below of my pattern's sleeve pattern...

1.  Most of the cap on the finished sleeve to this to-be bias cut block is going to be gathered to hopefully create a bit of a "puff" to enhance the tulip shape.  So;  The area to be gathered should be marked from beginning to end,  and in this case with the top of the sleeve cap being notched on both sides of the sleeve overlap.  And oh oh,  I forgot the little arrows at the ends of my bias grainline.  And where are my annotations?   Ughhh,  well,  the patterns I did for my client have been getting a lot more professional since I did this one a while back,  so I won't get too mad at myself.

Next lesson:

Take a look at the original pattern this sleeve was drafted from.  Because the spread from the central underarm area isn't spread evenly (see the highest notch on either side nearest the center of the underarm),  with the difference in the degree of the spread between the front and back of the sleeve cap,  there will be an uneven ratio of fabric to gather.  One side is about 8" and need to be gathered to 4 1/8" and the other side is 5 inches and need to be gather to about 3".  Next time I'll know better.  So the rule is this,  make sure there's a uniform distance between each spread so your gathers will also be uniform.   I do think I read this before,  but now it's definitely crystallized...nothing like hands on you know.

Now,  I spent the morning preparing for my first portfolio piece.  I want to get everything right,  so I pulled out all my sewing books,  organized my sewing equipment,  dug up some old sewing machine needles,  cleaned my sewing machine,  pulled out my lovely fabric and ironed out all it's creases (see the photo below, I didn't buy this non-eco fabric, however,  it was given to me about 15 years ago and I never knew what to do with it till now) 

Photography tip here,  to take a beautiful shot of a piece of satin jacquard hang it off of something and put another light source on it to show off it's double textures and shine.

So,  now,  I'm going to take the little bit of fabric I took off the ends of this material and figure out which stitch length,  thread tension and thread size to use.   I'm thanking God that I won't have any top stitching to do because I don't have any yellow thread.  I'll have to use one of my white threads.  All the edging and hem work to do is going to be faced for a clean smooth edge.  I'm thinking about blind stitching the facing to the garment if necessary though.

Oh,  yeah,  I also have to cut out the pattern blocks.   I don't want to tailor tack the darts though as I don't want the fabric marred,  so I'm going to make a piece of graphite paper and trace the interior of the darts onto the fabric,  lightly though so it won't show up in the finished garment.

Also,  because I want everything to turn out perfect,  I'm making this an industrial sewing exercise,  I've got my books out and open to make sure:

-  all the seams are sewn in the right direction in orientation to fabric grain and garment block
- all seams are graded to the correct width
- everything will be pressed properly
- and all the right finishes are applied

This little project may take me a while to finish though as,  hey I'm scared,  but I love this project so much,   I got to do it,  but I want to do it totally right.

I'll be keeping you posted

If you'd like to read more about fashion, information on the industry and online schools check out my site at:

Budget Online Fashion Design Schools and Resources

If you're a designer or home sewer and you'd like to find some cool eco-friendly fabrics and more check out my resource page at:

The Eco-Friendly Fashion Designer's Resource Page

The Patternmaker's Update: It's Been A Crazy Week

Okay,  so on our holiday weekend I'd planned to get my first portfolio piece completed,  I was raring to go and then I sat at the sewing machine to figure out stitch length and thread tension that would work for this beautiful but thin and slippery fabric I want to sew the lemon tulip lingerie pattern out of and...

The little rubber wheel that creates the traction necessary for new bobbin thread to be wound around a bobbin had melted into a gross black goo around the wheel it was supposed to be on.  And that wasn't all,  there was a piece of broken plastic from the socket that held the top thread spool,  so there was only one thing left to do. Open her up and see if I could fix the problem(s).  I'd found a crayon in the machine as well as the clip of marker top,  my daughter's doing for sure.

I've fixed a sewing machine I had before,  several times,  with success.   And I also repaired a scroll saw,  on my own,  again with success.  I took time and patients and all but I did it so I had no inhibitions about opening up this Brother sewing machine and seeing if I could get it up and running again.   Well after all was said and done, with an attempt to fit the wheel with a quintupled rubberband and then when I decided it wouldn't work because it was getting shredded,  I headed for the toy box in search of a little car.    Have you ever seen them? Little hard black rubber wheels,  they might have been just the thing I needed,  I did find one,  and I did fit 2 of the cars wheels on the bobbin mechanism,  but when I tried to run the machine, they too began to melt.  Yuck,  you know?   Okay,  so maybe the Brother company has the right wheel...I'll just have to email them,  I thought.

Then,  the needle bar somehow got misaligned too,  so that the needle completely missed the bobbin case.  No luck at all trying to figure that one out.  I did what I always do, compare adjacent pieces,  look for what looks like it's fitted wrong,  was there something sitting in the plastic case the wrong way?  Nothing made any sense.  Why did this time have to be a problem I couldn't fix?

WELL,  my husband came to my rescue and told me he'd get a new on for me on Monday,  which he did along with a new computer to replace this beat up HP laptop that's been giving me a hard time.   He's been watching me work on these computer patterns and get article projects done and realized I'm dead serious about what I'm into so he's offered his loving support and got me a beautiful new Singer sewing machine and a cool new Acer computer.

So I've been setting up the computer with all the programs and things I use to work and getting a new client's pattern completed (I actually just sent it off a few minutes ago).  It was my very first corset pattern for a designer in Saudi Arabia.  I hope they keep me on as a client.   It takes me a little longer to do work for a new client because I usually need to first prepare a brand new sloper for them from scratch,  they don't give me one.  I'm not sure why,  I guess they don't know about it.  I did hear that companies and designers are supposed to provide the patternmaker with the sloper in the size they want though.

Any while doing a bit of research this week also had me discover the reason behind the necessity of perfection in a patternmaker's work.   Thought it was just a pickiness thing?   Think again.  A person familiar with home sewing could easily make this mistake (I did for a while and I am a perfectionist) but the thing about homesewers,  as Kathleen Fasanella puts it, " homesewers expect too much from themselves"  they're highly skilled,  where as the people working in a factory are not and don't need to be.   This is why the pattern has to be perfect,  flawless without so much as a 1/32 of an inch mistake,  yes I'm not kidding you,  don't even allow yourself a 1/32 of an inch mistake.

Because,  the people working the factory sewing machines only have a small part of the garment to sew and they may not be aware how everything else is supposed to fit together they also won't know if something is a little off.  And the mistake will go from one person to the next,  no one knowing how to fix the problem, with chances being that the one mistake will cause additional mistakes and you'll end up with imperfect garments.   The horror.   And everyone will know it was your fault,  you are the one who made a mistake!

Any way,  how do you solve/prevent this problem all together, simple,  when you're working on the computer,  (God bless these things) set your nudge distance to 0.031 (this is the 1/32" I was talking about)  and work under a microscope,  in CorelDraw 9 for example,  this means zooming in till 1" is about 5" or 6" on the screen.  Make sure all your points,  lines and curves match up everywhere under this "microscope" and remind yourself that this attention to detail is what will set you apart from the rest.

And just for the sake of reference,  should any of you be using CorelDraw 9 to draft patterns,  like myself,  when you've powerclipped something into a 'container' to be able to cut it up into separate,  perfect panels,  make sure your cutting path ( this can be a straight or shaped line) isn't closed.  If it is a closed path for some reason the interior of this path gets rid of the pattern piece you're trying to slice through.

Okay,  so now I've got another dress pattern to do for my client in New York and I have to watch the dvd that came with the Singer sewing machine so I can start sewing with it fairly quick.  Maybe this weekend,  I'm hoping,  unless something else comes up.   But my deadline is either by the end of this month of April,  or at the very least the first week or two of May.

If you'd like to read more about fashion, information on the industry and online schools check out my site at:

Budget Online Fashion Design Schools and Resources

If you're a designer or home sewer and you'd like to find some cool eco-friendly fabrics and more check out my resource page at:

The Eco-Friendly Fashion Designer's Resource Page

The Patternmaker Needs To Get Good At Sewing (For Their Own Sake)

Weekends should always be devoted to your family (in addition to the time you set aside during the week for your family as well) but if you're going to do something for your business/career you should focus on those activities that don't necessarily make you any money right away but will help bring your career or business forward.   My personal example being my lemon tulip lingerie pattern.   I started sewing it today,  little machine sewing,  little hand stitching.

The first thing I'm working on is getting the facings and waist and bodice band together.  My past experience has been that small pieces get lost or damaged if you've got kids and pets so I'm avoiding the problem totally by hanging these sewn up sections on a hanger.   As for protecting my other work on the ironing board,  I've covered it all up with a blanket to keep my cats from putting pulls in my work.

I've started catchstitching the self fabric interfacing to the back bodice band already (see photo below)

and it had me reflecting on what Kathleen Fasenella said "a patternmaker should have exceptional sewing skills".   It's true for the benefit of both the clients in need of patternmaking services and the patternmakers themselves.   Speaking as an entry level patternmaker making money from providing this service I understand the reasons for this are:

1. being able to sew up your own patterns will crystalize several things:

     (a) where the notches need to be when you get confused
     (b) how much fabric a design actually needs
     (c) the fit resulting from your approach to drafting
    
2.  if your pattern turns out well,  you'll have full confidence in the product/service you're offering, you won't think it fit because you applied your knowledge of pattern drafting as well as you could,  but you KNOW your pattern is accurate.   This is confidence for a patternmaker.

3.  Confidence results in taking less time to do your work simply because your not hesitating any more about whether or not your making the right move.

Aside from all this perfection though,  I've got to make mention of how important is is not to be a perfectionist,  at least not right away.   My mom taught me how to sew and went a long way in inspiring me when it comes to fashion.  However,  she was a self proclaimed "non-perfectionist" which was good for me because it allowed me not to be quite so intimidated by the lengthy process of garment design,  development and construction.   Chances are, if she had enforced perfection,  I might not have took this career path.

Case in point,  I took my perfectionist attitude to my art and I didn't get nearly as far in developing my skills as an artist as I did in patternmaking and fashion design.   To this day I'm still intimidated by the thought of picking up a brush or pencil.  Although I do intend to overcome with this when I get the time.

If you'd like to read more about fashion, information on the industry and online schools check out my site at:

Budget Online Fashion Design Schools and Resources

If you're a designer or home sewer and you'd like to find some cool eco-friendly fabrics and more check out my resource page at:

The Eco-Friendly Fashion Designer's Resource Page

Serious Progress on my Patternmaking Portfolio

I can't remember if I posted a link to my Patternmaking Portfolio I just put up a while ago,  if I didn't here it is: https://sites.google.com/site/ayisha1978designerpatternmaker/home/work-i-ve-completed-for-my-gracious-clients

Really though,  I should adjust the seo in that url.  The slideshow is a result of patterns I've drafted for another designer's collection.  I've got 3 collections of my own I should work on.  However,  for the moment I've been working on my first,  self designed portfolio piece,  the lemon tulip lingerie design.  Yesterday I was able to sew the skirt sections together,  using beautiful french seams,  and attached the hem facing to it's scalloped edge then clipped and understiched the seam.  Then I sewed the bodice sections together and pinned on the neckline facing.   Here are the pictures:

clipping the scalloped facing seam

right side of the skirt's scalloped edge

pin the corners of your scalloped facing to match correctly

didn't have the right pressing equipment to do a professional
job,  however, by using the tip of the iron and making tiny
pressing movements the resulting scallop edge turned out
very nicely

My first french seam,  such a beautiful seam,  it is time consuming
though, extra pressing is required and seam trimming.  One of my
books suggested to sew the first seam 1/4" press,  close and sew
it into another 1/4" seam,  this would have been messy though.  With
a little more research in two other sewing books,  you clip the seam
to 1/8" and then sew it into a 1/4" seam,  this is the correct way.



the completed skirt section,  ready for gathering
into the waist band

However,  as nice as the sewing is going,  I've discovered a 'lack of experience' issue with the drafting of the midriff area of the bodice,  it's got more ease than I meant for it to have.  Now I know a secret I have to learn more about (I actually love this kind of thing) Here it is:  

When you do a typical draft of a regular shoulder to waist pattern,  there's a little bit of ease at the waist unless you take it out and it will fit nicely.  But... if you draft a bodice pattern that reached down some where below the bustline, you'll discover that due to the inverse curve of the human body in that area,  there's quite a bit more ease than you'd like in a garment that supposed to be close fitting.   This is a very important detail to know,  especially if you want design or draft patterns for empire waist garments,  midriff designs or bras.   I probably would have learned this had I gotten my hands on the lingerie pattern drafting book I want to get.

Anyway,  my bodice ends just under the bust and I'm going to do a double check to see if I need to adjust the entire side seam or just the underbust edge. If so I'll determine the amount to take from each side seam at the underarms and then check how much more needs to be taken up at the midriff edge.  What ever needs to be taken up at the midriff,  I'm going to divide by 6,  with an amount taken up by each of the 4 darts (2 in the back and 2 in the front) and an amount at each side. (Mind you,  pattern wise, it'll look like I only took half the amount from the side seam).  

Then I'll have to adjust the midriff band accordingly as well as the bias cut tulip sleeves and take all the adjustments to my pattern in CorelDraw 9.  I'll complete that with some fitting notes for lingerie.  It will help to crystalize all the information. 

As for the skirt fit,  I'm pretty sure it'll be fitting like I want,  since it's at the waist and all,  I just hope it's going to have a bit of puff I was hoping for,  we'll see.

If you'd like to read more about fashion, information on the industry and online schools check out my site at:

Budget Online Fashion Design Schools and Resources

If you're a designer or home sewer and you'd like to find some cool eco-friendly fabrics and more check out my resource page at:

The Eco-Friendly Fashion Designer's Resource Page



Patternmaking And Pattern Alteration On My Design

I sewed the scalloped neckline facing onto the bodice yesterday.  To all us sewing moms out there, who haven't done this sort of thing yet,  don't do it with a wiggly baby in your lap, it's not going to turn out the way you want it.  Big No No.  However,  here are a few "to do" notes, sew sharp curves very slowly,  think of machine stitching as taking one stitch at a time,  one stitch at a time,  stop and go,  stop and go.

The result will be a smoother stitching line,  greater symmetry.  I also lightly marked my stitching line this time to 'see' better what I was doing (See Below).  I also loosened up the pressure foot tension on my Singer sewing machine,  just wish it could have been lightened up even more,  as the fabric still wasn't as free to move as I would have liked (my make of machine only goes so far though).

I was thinking though,  this type of sewing is why it would be great to actually have a manual sewing machine still.

Once I did the fitting,  I realized it had too much ease,  here a few pictures to show it...

eeek!  too much ease in the pattern

I would need to distribute the ease take up evenly between the side seams,  front and back darts as well as between the bustline and midriff level so as not to through the pattern off balance.  So I took

3/8" from the side seams and 1/8" from each dart which is actually a total of 1" and 3/4" ease take up.  I'll have to take the changes to the midriff band as well.

Here are the results after I made the necessary pattern alterations...

pattern alterations made,  much better fit

Will have to adjust the armscye curves too... what to do about the bias cut sleeve pattern?   I didn't want to have a seam,  but I'll create 3/8" underarm seam without cutting it open.  I'll just clip it at the soft foldline and turn it inside out (as the  bias cut tulip sleeve was cut on a fold to prevent it from having a completely sewn sleeve hem).

If I had the money,  I would have made a muslin out of some organic cotton or something,  like I was supposed to,  totally you know?  But,  I didn't,  and I would also buy some additional fabric to make a new version because this light weight yellow damask fabric is so delicate.

I need proper pressing equipment too!

I was looking at a Calvin Klein collection afterwards though from back in 1991,  that was a good year,  miss those days, Check it out here from Fashion Channel on YouTube:

  

...and it had me thinking.   I may choose a simpler,  clean,  fitted cut for my next portfolio garment design.   After all is said and done, if a 'promotional' project is to ambitious before it has the proper backing (in either knowledge,  skill or finances) it can do more damage in a way, then the good. it will do.  But only in a way.

I've learned a lot though,  still on,  and it felt good to finally produce something from a pattern I drafted on the computer.  In the end,  it wasn't actually my computer drafting that was even the problem.  Everything was fine there,  I just didn't know how to draft that kind of pattern correctly (cropped midriff lingerie style garment)  and which finishing elements would work best for that kind of design.  That's why I'm going to be buying that lingerie book though, "Pattern Cutting for Lingerie, Beachwear and Leisurewear" by Ann Haggar.  I can't wait.

I really should have used a fine hand rolled hem along that scalloped edge,  I was just hoping to get a crisp clean edge with the faced hem,  next time I'll clip the hem allowance and roll it in place along a pre-sewn guideline.  That should work much better.  However,  I think I'd still like to use the facing approach with the neckline because I really like how it "stands" on the neckline,  see below...  I just love that.

So today,  I'm going to hopefully continue work on the skirt portion of this outfit,  that is if I'm able to get a little time.  I've got to take my kids out again to the park,  can't miss that,  especially not on a day like this.


If you'd like to read more about fashion, information on the industry and online schools check out my site at:

Budget Online Fashion Design Schools and Resources

If you're a designer or home sewer and you'd like to find some cool eco-friendly fabrics and more check out my resource page at:

The Eco-Friendly Fashion Designer's Resource Page

My Lemon Tulip Skirt Only Needs A Button Or Two Now

I just managed to finish my lemon tulip skirt portion of my portfolio piece today,  I had to blind slip stitch the waistband to the wrong side of the skirt and then tack the hen facing to the inside of the skirt edge with the same blind slip stitch.  I have to say,  after seeing how it looks,  I think I change my mind about wanting a fine hand rolled hem instead.  I really like the way this turned out.  Take a look below...

I love the way it curves gently outward from the waist then tapers to a narrow opening at the hemline...just like a tulip.  So lovely.  Now,  I remember hearing on Fashion File,  years ago,  they were talking about one of John Galliano Couture collections for Dior had such fine craftsmanship,  but that it was done with such a fine hand "...the clothes didn't look beat up".  I was afraid that once I tacked down the facing to the inside of the skirt that it be weighted down and look overworked instead of looking like...a tulip,  but it turned out great.   Thank God.

 I just have decide on what kind of closure type I'm going to use.  In a Threads Magazine article,  I read that any kind of closure on lingerie should act as additional embellishment and treated like jewelry.   Okay,  I've got to look for the right buttons then and make sure I've got 4 altogether,  two for the skirt and two for the bodice piece.

When I'm finished with this portfolio piece though,  I mean the entire look,  not just this skirt,  I'm going to put up another Patternmaking ad and include my portfolio link,  I think I'll redo the url for that thing too,  it's not great for Google pick up with the words it's using now.   I think I'm going to offer my old deal again too,  4 patterns at $35 EUR each get the 5th one free.

On another note now though,  I've put together a Pinterest board in dedication to my mom who has passed away.   I haven't been able to think about much else lately,  it troubles me that not enough people got to know just how wonderful and loving my mom was.  She had an extremely well rounded range of interests and concerns for many things,  the kind of things that mattered.   I miss her very much and wanted to share what I could about her character.  Here is the link to the Pinterest I made for her:   http://pinterest.com/ayisha1978/all-about-mom/ and the photo of her that I'm going to use as the cover.

If you'd like to read more about fashion, information on the industry and online schools check out my site at:

Budget Online Fashion Design Schools and Resources

If you're a designer or home sewer and you'd like to find some cool eco-friendly fabrics and more check out my resource page at:

The Eco-Friendly Fashion Designer's Resource Page

Only A Bit More Work Left On My Lemon Tulip Lingerie Pattern

Okay,  I've been letting depression getting the better of me,  but today I was a bit more victorious, putting aside everything to do a few hours work on my lemon tulip lingerie pattern for my portfolio.   I reminded myself this morning that when you're depressed an important thing to do is just conquer you fear by doing one of the things you're afraid of.   JUST DO IT!  Like in the 80s,  remember those days?  

Any way,  I sewed the curved/petal ends of the sleeves,  clipped and pressed the seams,  then went to work on the bodice waistband,  adjusting the length to fit the bodice's alterations I did a few weeks ago.  Turns out,  I had made it about in inch longer than I intended even if the pattern didn't need alteration.  A new rule to remember popped into my head at that point...that I better use CurveCalc to measure and compare all edges that are supposed to be sewn together,  I don't know what happened,  I think that when I was drafting the bodice's darts I must not have taken the amount out of what was needed for it's waistband.

I ended up having to make the center back seam anyway though and clipping the remaining additional amount away from the ends.  Everything turned out great though,  the sewing was a lot better than it was on my skirt as well.  Practice makes perfect.  The other thing to though,  that's always been on my side,  is whenever I'm not satisfied with my work,  I mull over it in my mind about how I should have done it and I'll do this over and over.  It seems to add to the actual practice I put in.  So now all I have to do is slip stitch in the wrong side of the waistband,  gather and sew in the sleeves then put in the buttons.  Then I'll be done :) . Here's a picture of the piece so far...

the waistband only needs to be slip-stitched in now

As for the buttons I'm thinking now that I want to use those light weight steel foil ball buttons.  I'm not going to be sure though till the other sewing is all done.

Now about my patternmaking portfolio,  I'm still thinking about what kind of pieces to put it together with.  So I was checking out JoeysPatterns.com of Joey Johannson freelance pattern making service,  taking a look at the kinds of pieces she put in her online portfolio called "photos of work".  She's got photos of the Dresses,  Jackets, Tops,  Skirts and Pants she did patterns for as they were worn on the runway,  beautiful shots.  As for the designs themselves,  they're a combination of simple to more complex pieces that demonstrate her ability to make a well fitting garment regardless of how many style lines needed to be drafted into the pattern.  

She's not a nobody either, she's worked for the likes of Betsy Johnson, Rebecca Taylor, LAMB, Alice and Olivia and many other big name designers.   A good example to model my own portfolio from.  She also included the flat sketches with the jackets she did.   I want to include design illustrations with mine though,  I think it reveals an ability to interpret a design better than a more blueprint flat sketch would.  Not to criticize her choices though,  I love her site,  her work and her story,   very inspiring.  If you'd like to check it out here's the link: http://www.joeyspatterns.com/

As for my own portfolio pieces, I've got to design something that illustrates those kind of skills, but doesn't require me to purchase anything other than what I have already.  Soon as I'm done with this I'll have to do some brainstorming about it.   Hmm,  that's kind of exciting...

If you'd like to read more about fashion, information on the industry and online schools check out my site at:

Budget Online Fashion Design Schools and Resources

If you're a designer or home sewer and you'd like to find some cool eco-friendly fabrics and more check out my resource page at:

The Eco-Friendly Fashion Designer's Resource Page

Only The Buttons Left To Do On My Lemon Tulip Pattern

Okay,  I've got to fess up,  this post is a week late as I did all this work last weekend and simply wasn't able to write a post for the life of me due to housework.   It's a shame,  but here are the photos of my finished look. My only complaints about the finished design,  is that I think I should have made the waist and midriff band half the width (I just had to say that),  I wish there was at least an extra 1/2" of ease in the waistband and the sleeves,  although every bit as beautiful as I wanted them to be,  should have been a bit shorter by at least 2".  I'll be sure to put in all these tweaks when I re-work the pattern.

Other than that,  there are only the buttons left to put in and those are going to be the metal ball buttons.  I still liked them after I had the garments sewn up,  they're a little quirky for the design,  I know,  but I like them,  it fits anyway.  I'm not so sure about the lingerie part though actually,  lol,  after watching a few Tinkerbell movies,  great 3D movies there,  I think my design is more of a fairy costume,  so funny.  I'll have to do some serious lingerie another time, Oh hold it,  I had an idea for a piece a few months back,  I should work it out for my portfolio...!  Awesome idea there.  I think I want to do my jacket design anyway though.  Now to decide which one I'm going to work on first.   

It might have to wait till next weekend though because I've got a pile of dishes sitting in the kitchen (note,  I didn't restrict it to 'sink'  eeeck!)  and unfortunately my article writing suffered this week so I've got to make that up too.

I've got another confession to make as well,  out of all the "how to" fashion books I've read,  pattern making,  sewing secrets,  couture sewing,  designer details,  pattern grading and even various book on the fashion industry but .... after all is said and done,  I realized last week that I've never actually read a book on Fashion Design.  Isn't that crazy?   I've got to get another book on pattern making,  either dealing with women's suites,  specialty patternmaking or patternmaking for lingerie,  but my next book purchase will have to also include a book on Fashion Design,  as in the design process that goes into collection development.  I've already got a list of books I'm going to be picking from.

I'll have to choose between a book that focuses on the process itself from the perspective of a fashion school professor or another that focuses on the history of fashion design and the process.  (I'm a sucker for history so this is a tough choice).   Soon as I get my web cam up and running, or get a real camera,  I'll start making book reviews of all the cool books I've been reading,  or rather have read on fashion and patternmaking.

Any way,  I didn't eat anything yet since early this morning either so I better get busy with my non-fashion work for now :(

If you'd like to read more about fashion, information on the industry and online schools check out my site at:

Budget Online Fashion Design Schools and Resources

If you're a designer or home sewer and you'd like to find some cool eco-friendly fabrics and more check out my resource page at:

The Eco-Friendly Fashion Designer's Resource Page

Surviving As A Self Taught Pattern Maker

Oh man,  patternmaking work is dry right now.  What happened?  Could this be a crashed economy thing happening?  Could this lack of work be simply because I don't have a great portfolio right now,  or could it just be because there's just so little money going around that designers that are just starting out can't afford to go forward themselves till things get a little better?   I hate wondering about that,  bad economy or not though,  I've got to keep going with my patternmaking work,  otherwise I'll never get anywhere with it.   I hope the economy improves,  not only is it scary for work to be so hard to get,  but it also sad that so many people,  all over the world are having it so bad right now,  it's frightening too.

I'm not one to live by my fears,  but the thought has crossed my mind more then once,  that maybe I'm doing all this for nothing because if the world gets to be a tougher place,  people aren't going to be too worried about designer clothes,  kind of like what happened in France during German occupation,  the Germans felt like French use of fabric and resources was a big waste so they stopped pretty much all fashion production,  design and all.  In fact, if it weren't for Arabs and their passion for dressing their princesses in the finest,  couture as we know it would have been dead long ago.  Because it was after German occupation that the Arabs successfully revived the industry through demand.  Interesting story there.   So who knows what could happen in the coming years. We could see a temporary 'death' of fashion and when the world completes this stage it's going through,  a new perspective and approach will take place in regards to fashion.  The "industry" is probably going to become completely redefined.   And the green movement will most likely play a major role in all of it.

I'm not just going to wait though,  I've got a game plan,  I'll always work on my patternmaking and fashion design,  no matter what,  even if there isn't any,  or much money in it,  however,  I've taken an animal care specialist course and will review it again if I need to get a job once both my kids are in school (that is if my patternmaking doesn't start bringing in more money by then).  And on an even more practical note,  if I do get work as a vet assistant,  I'll also take a course in Pharmaceutical assistant and a TEFL course (teaching English As A Foreign Language) so I'll be able to make money anywhere.

That's all about 2 years away though,  for now I'm just going to keep up what I'm doing here, struggling to not let my article work drown out my time as patternmaker and designer for the sake of living expenses.   I'm going to try and get a few books that will hopefully further my fashion related endeavors,  the first of which pretty much are number in the order I think I'll try to get them in:

1.  Fashion Design Course: Principles, Practice, and Techniques: the Practical Guide for Aspiring Fashion Designers by Faerm, Steven 

2.  Fashion 101: a Crash Course in Clothing by Stalder, Erika And Krietzman, Arie 

3.  The Fashion Designer's Directory of Shape and Style: Over 600 Mix-and-Match Elements for Creative Clothing Design (Barron's Educational) by Simon Travers-Spencer, Zarida Zaman 

4.  Pattern Cutting for Lingerie, Beachwear and Leisurewear by Ann Haggar (very important for some close fitting garments and special occasion wear,  not just undergarments)

5.  The Entrepreneur's Guide to Sewn Product Manufacturing by Kathleen Fasanella, Andree Conrad

6.  Pattern Cutting for Women's Tailored Jackets by Winifred Aldrich

Hope to be ordering some of them soon if I can, I'll cross my fingers.  As for what I've been doing lately outside of writing and family busy-ness,  I've recently opened up my FaceBook Page "Fashion Patternmaking And Design" were I'll be offering

-  my digital patternmaking services to anyone looking for a patternmaker (if you're interest just visit my page or email me at stylistwithacause@gmail.com)

-  basic block patterns in different standard sizes (Butterick's sizes that is) for designers and home sewers looking for something to start designing their own clothes with

-  and the patterns for my own designs as I get the time to develop them

I've also opened a basic pattern block drafting gig on Fiverr,  for anyone who needs a particular size basic block pattern,  here's the link: I will draft a basic digital bodice or skirt pattern block in the size you require for $5

And from now on each of my blog posts will end with all 4 of these links below:

If you're interested in my digital pattern making service (at $35 per garment pattern) contact me at stylistwithacause@gmail.com or on my FaceBook page "Fashion Patternmaking And Design"

If you would just like to order basic pattern blocks for bodice,  torso,  coat/jacket or skirt you can place an order for the size and kind you need here at  my fiverr gig where I will draft a basic digital bodice or skirt pattern block in the size you require for $5

Want more information on the industry and online schools?  Check out my site at:
Budget Online Fashion Design Schools and Resources

Want to find some cool eco-friendly fabrics and more check out my resource page at:

The Eco-Friendly Fashion Designer's Resource Page

Butterick Size Compliant Bodice Pattern Block Completed All Sewn Up

Okay,  I wanted to find a nifty way to post both these images side by side so you could see them at the same time without scrolling.  Although my favorite thing to do is draft patterns and design clothes,  I do like finding great ways of using social media platforms as well and then sharing them with people.   If you'd like to know how to do this with your blogger photos, check it out at:  http://tips.blogdoctor.me/2007/10/tips-on-pictures-in-blogger.html

As I figured my pattern blocks turned out fine even though Butterick's size 6 measurements are 1/2 " off from  the ones for my dressform,  no biggy.   Now it's time for me to start making the torso blocks,  jacket/coat block and skirt blocks for this size and then grading it up or down for the other sizes,  actually,  I don't know what I want to do first there.  Maybe I'll grade it up and down a few times first,  just to review my pattern  grading book by Connie Amaden Crawford,  that book was worth the money just for a few of the key diagrams that are in there.

Front View Of Bodice Pattern

Side View Of Bodice Pattern

Speaking of books,  I'm really looking forward to my new ones coming from Alibris and The Book Depository,  I ordered "Fashion 101: a Crash Course in Clothing " a kind of history of fashion garments,  I know that's going to be a big inspiration as I love history too and the "Fashion Design Course: Principles, Practice, and Techniques: a Practical Guide for Aspiring Fashion" as my fashion design pick.   There's also a book of 600 designer elements and discussion of proportion and other proportion of design elements,  however before I order it I want to make sure it's not already covered in the design book that's coming.

So,  I'm going to streamline my book purchases by getting ones I think I can learn the most new,  most valuable stuff from,  rather then getting good books that cover information I've read already.  So I think my next book purchase will be either  "Pattern Cutting for Lingerie, Beachwear and Leisurewear"

by Ann Haggar or "Pattern Making" by Lo, Dennic Chunman which I've heard was a "holistic approach" to pattern cutting.  Apparently he's got stuff in there about John Galliano's pattern drafting techniques,  I can't wait to get my hands on that one.

As for when I make my next order,  I think I'm going to wait till the 20th of next month,  just to make sure I'm sticking with my budget and things because when you work as a freelancer,  you never know how the work flow is going to go.   Instead,  I'll just see how much pattern making stuff I can do and post in a bit of free time I may be getting over the next few days or so (if I'm lucky).

I've also been putting together an "Eco Friendly MakeUp Mall" on Pinterest,  to help prevent and raise awareness for breast cancer with all natural,  chemical and cruelty free cosmetics,  you can check it out here at: http://pinterest.com/ayisha1978/the-eco-friendly-makeup-mall/  and be sure to visit often for more product images/listings


If you're interested in my digital pattern making service (at $35 per garment pattern) contact me at stylistwithacause@gmail.com or on my FaceBook page "Fashion Patternmaking And Design"

If you would just like to order basic pattern blocks for bodice,  torso,  coat/jacket or skirt you can place an order for the size and kind you need here at  my fiverr gig where I will draft a basic digital bodice or skirt pattern block in the size you require for $5

Want more information on the industry and online schools?  Check out my site at:
Budget Online Fashion Design Schools and Resources

Want to find some cool eco-friendly fabrics and more check out my resource page at:

The Eco-Friendly Fashion Designer's Resource Page

Got My Fashion Design Book And Started My Pattern Revision

It's only Wednesday but a lot has happened this week to allow me to now actually have more time to work on my patternmaking and play with my kids more,  what a blessing.  See I got a sinus infection about a week ago,  and it was just getting worse,  till I looked up some herbs for it,  the three I started taking are cat's claw,  burdock and St John's Wort.

And what do you know?  Although it's been slow in treating my sinus infection,  it's brought my depression down to some positive side effects.  I can now quickly get my articles done in the morning,  with them only taking about 45 minutes a piece rather then 2 and 1/2 hours so I'm having time I haven't had in years and years.   It's like a miracle.   I recommend it to anyone who has any level of depression that your psychiatrist can't prescribe medicine for,  this herb is a God send.

Now for patternmaking,  I've been deciding to tie up loose ends with my pattern making stuff so this morning I checked out my basic bodice block, posted the image of the finished product on facebook and I've just finished a couple hours work on the revision for my lemon tulip lingerie pattern.  Next,  I'm going to do a couple extra blocks for the size 6 set of pattern blocks,  the jacket,  pant and skirt slopers.  Then I'll grade a set up to size 8.

After that though,  I think I really want to start working either on one of the designs in my personal collection,  or the other portfolio piece I designed (a light purple asymmetrical jacket and skirt set).  Then again,  although,  I like that portfolio piece,  I could use the one from my collection as my portfolio piece too.   I'll see how I feel about it later.

Now about the fashion design book I got from the book depository.  "Fashion Design Course" by Steven Faerm came in the mail on Monday and you know,  I'm just on the fifth section,  but I realize I should have gotten some books on specifically fashion design too rather then just getting all the other stuff,  portfolio development,   fashion illustration,  fashion designer's sewing secrets,  patternmaking and even how to survive as a fashion designer.  I actually made the mistake of thinking that fashion illustration and a book on how to make it as a fashion designer would basically cover everything that I'd need to know as a designer.  I was wrong though,

A book specifically about fashion design,  such as this one written by a leader in fashion design education (the director at Parsons,  no less) will cover history of fashion,  reasons why certain designers are so important,  why fashion changes as it does,  who controls it,  how and why.  The other things it covers are details in how a fashion designer works with other people,  such as the illustrators,  patternmakers and sample hands to create prototypes and so  on.  The responsibilities of the fashion designer are mapped out in great detail.

This book will also be teaching me about the different techniques designers use to develop collections,  like how to use inspiration around them,  how to combine things,  learn more about garment engineering and things like that.  I mean it's not to say I don't know anything about it already,  I do,  but I'll be learning so much more through this,  it'll open new doors and crystallize things I already have the right idea about. I'm hoping it'll cover a few extra 'designer' insights about patternmaking too though.


If you're interested in my digital pattern making service (at $35 per garment pattern) contact me at stylistwithacause@gmail.com or on my FaceBook page "Fashion Patternmaking And Design"

If you would just like to order basic pattern blocks for bodice,  torso,  coat/jacket or skirt you can place an order for the size and kind you need here at  my fiverr gig where I will draft a basic digital bodice or skirt pattern block in the size you require for $5

Want more information on the industry and online schools?  Check out my site at:
Budget Online Fashion Design Schools and Resources

Want to find some cool eco-friendly fabrics and more check out my resource page at:

The Eco-Friendly Fashion Designer's Resource Page

I've Got Pattern Making Work!

Wow,  this was some kind of day,  out of the blue,  I got a pattern client who happened to stumble across my blog.   She wants me to draft up the patterns for her line of childrens' clothing.   I had to draft up a size 5 children's bodice and sleeve to prepare for it,  fortunately,  even though my little girl is 3, she wears a size 5 so that's worked out just fine and I've got the size 5 blocks to start working on in the morning.

I want to see if I can complete a garment pattern a day for this lady.  As she does need them done by Friday,  I'll cross my fingers about the one pattern a day thing.  I love to do the three patterns that quickly. I may be getting more work from my hat pattern client too.

In all this strong prospective client thing going on,  it was kind of funny,  I wasn't able to finish those tweeks to my lemon tulip lingerie pattern again,  even though I hauled out my dress form and everything this morning.  Oh well,   maybe next weekend.  At least this time the thing that stopped me was patternmaking work :),  big    big plus there.   If I get a little extra time I'm going to email the other client of mine,  the design student over in New York,  see how she's been doing lately.


If you're interested in my digital pattern making service (at $35 per garment pattern) contact me at stylistwithacause@gmail.com or on my FaceBook page "Fashion Patternmaking And Design"

If you would just like to order basic pattern blocks for bodice,  torso,  coat/jacket or skirt you can place an order for the size and kind you need here at  my fiverr gig where I will draft a basic digital bodice or skirt pattern block in the size you require for $5

Want more information on the industry and online schools?  Check out my site at:
Budget Online Fashion Design Schools and Resources

Want to find some cool eco-friendly fabrics and more check out my resource page at:

The Eco-Friendly Fashion Designer's Resource Page