Fashion Classes, Drafting, Sewing Books

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. Be aware that there are two types of patternmaking/sewing instructions.
There are the instructions for home sewers. There are many classes available for this type of instruction.

There are also instructions for professionals. These classes are not as easy to find. Patternmaking and sewing as done in high-end designing departments can be done in the home with minimal equipment. This is what you need to know to make truly beautiful clothing that fits for yourself and others. This is also what you need to know if you are considering working in the fashion industry. Not many people know how this is done.

If you want to make sure you will learn how the professionals REALLY sew and design clothing ask the instructor about her experience: Has she worked in industry? What did she do in industry? Has she ever worked in a designing department? Has she ever done custom work? Ask her to show you some of the clothing she has made for herself. Does she have a website? Has she ever written any instruction? Has she done seminars? Ask if you can audit a class before signing up for a course. Can you speak to some of her students? Are any of her students now working in industry?

Ask for a copy of the syllabus for the course you are considering taking. Read it carefully.

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. I would want to know how high-end designing departments make beautiful clothing that sells for hundreds of dollars. Surprisingly the making of high-end garments usually requires LESS equipment than is required to make cheap clothing.

That is why students need only a basic sewing machine and some simple drafting tools to do all of the work in my books and courses. Even electricity isn’t needed as all sewing could be done on a treadle sewing machine –a sewing machine that is powered by one’s feet pushing its treadle. The treadle sewing machine made mass-production of clothing possible.

Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?

A. It’s not a compliment when people ask you if you made your clothing. So obviously the important information you should consider is whether the course and/or book you are considering will really enable you to make clothing that is of the same or better quality than the clothing you would like to buy in a high-end clothing store.

The only way to determine that is to evaluate the author/instructor’s expertise and what her students have been able to accomplish in the past. Have any of them been able to secure jobs in the industry? And were they successful. Can they now make clothing that fits and that is attractive? What is the instructor/author’s experience? Has she been able to secure jobs in the industry? What about the clothing she makes? Is it of professional level?

If the answer to all of these questions is yes, then you have found the right author, program, and textbooks for you.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. Testing the program’s materials in the classroom since 1990, listening to my students’ requests, has enabled me to produce information that really works and that novices can quickly comprehend and apply. That is why students are able to move through the program so quickly.

If a student were to take both a morning and an afternoon class on Saturdays she could complete the program in one year. The entire cost of the program is under $3000, textbooks included. Students only pay for the course(s) they are currently taking. All courses are on Saturdays. Students can continue to work and to pay as they go.

All of the courses and textbooks are self-contained. That means that what you need to know to produce a garment from start to finish is in the course/textbook. You don’t have to take a sewing course, then a draping course, and finally a patternmaking course before you can produce a finished garment.

All of my textbooks contain step-by-step diagrams – actually real patterns as drafted in designing departments scaled down to diagram size – that show exactly how the work is done in a designing department. No other books give information this detailed, or the exact order of how it is done by professionals. I know how this is done because I drafted, draped, fitted, cut, graded, and (because I am very average in size) worked as a fit model – all on the same jobs in both high-end custom and industrial couture. I also know sample making - how to sew a complete garment as done in industry.

In class everything is demoed. Students then go home and test what they have learned, using their textbooks to help them produce the pattern or sewing example. They then come back to class and see again and again whatever they were unable to complete successfully.

In no time students are producing truly professional, exquisitely beautiful, well-fitting clothing.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. I enjoy interacting with my students. I also enjoy the challenges that are involved with teaching custom fitting. Many people have a great deal of trouble finding clothing that fits them. However mass-production requires manufacturing clothing that fits average measurements. Many people think they have problem figures, but that’s not the case. They just have figures that are not average. Helping them learn how to draft, fit, grade, and sew clothing that fits them perfectly is a real joy. They are so happy to have the help that this is the true reward for writing my books and teaching my program.

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. My customers ask if they will be able to learn how to make beautiful clothing that fits. I tell them yes because they will. They talk about why they want to learn to sew. Some want to start businesses, others just always wanted to learn this. Whatever the reason, they all need to learn the same skills. In the beginning this was a surprise to me. But as I sewed for my family at home – my husband, son, daughter, and myself – and as I wrote and taught the material I realized that the methods I learned in the industry’s designing departments were the very same methods that worked in the home. And that is what all students need to learn, no matter how they plan to use the information after they finish the program. So I tell them that

Q. Do you have a favorite story from your work?

A. I had an outstanding student. She was REALLY good. She was taking the program because she had twin girls who were about two years old at the time. They wanted her to make them dresses so that was why she had signed up for the program. Every class day she would be just a little late because she had to first take the girls to wherever they were being watched. We were always fascinated with her daughters and the stories she told us about them. Her homework was always done. She always asked very intelligent questions. So maybe because she was so good with her work and because her stories about her little girls were so much fun I was very surprised when she finished the program to hear her say that she didn’t even know how to use her sewing machine when she started the program!

Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?

A. The schools and colleges are turning out many fashion designers, but the fashion industry needs trained technical designers. They are people who know how to produce finished garments from scratch and how to set up the work so factories can reproduce those garments. That is what I am teaching in my program. The schools and colleges do teach some of this, but often it is not taught in any real depth. Many designers are almost desperate to find people who can draft the patterns and make the clothing they design. So the work is there. Here in the USA we have forgotten how to make things. That is why I am writing my books and teaching my program. I do not want the information I worked so hard to learn while I worked in the industry to be lost. The only way to preserve it is to write it down and to teach it.

Q. Do you do any sort of continuing education to stay up on the latest developments in your field?

A. Other than mine there are no books on the market that I know of that show step-by-step each and every procedure needed from start to finish in the making of a garment. This could be considered a new develop in my field.

I am developing the third area of concentration, fashion technology and how to teach it so that the student understands the basic engineering concepts that underlie the computer programs. . Fashion education concentrates on fashion design and fashion retail. Some technology is taught, but often that involves the use of computer programs.

Hands-on understanding needs to be made available. These skills are being lost. Today many graduates cannot draft or grade unless they have a computer at the ready. Unfortunately if the computer is not programmed correctly the graduate is at a loss.

The computer is a wonderful tool, but that is all it is. To effectively use a computer one needs to understand the work and what the computer is doing. I use the computer every day to generate my diagrams. Because I understand the work hands-on I can walk away from my computer and quickly draft and grade patterns by hand. I am not dependent on the computer, nor do I need to spend thousands of dollars for machinery that would only take up space.

Q. What are the latest developments in your field? Are there any exciting things coming in the next few years or decade that will change your line of business?

A. Jane Singer, publisher of the “Inside Fashion” international high-end trade papers tells me that clothing manufacturing is returning to the USA. This means there will be more jobs opening up for people who wish to enter the fashion industry.

However what will be needed will be people with hands-on skills who understand the low level engineering concepts that underlie successful factory production. These are the skills and concepts that I teach in my program. These skills and concepts make it possible for many people to be involved in the making of each garment and have it still be salable. These engineering skills must also be understood for one to produce high-end, exquisitely beautiful, custom-made clothing.

Q. Describe your most recent project, what it involved, how much it cost, and how long it took.

A. I completed the final chapter in ‘Design Room Techniques” in December 2011, a step-by-step sewing book that contains over 400 pages of hems, zipper sets, pleating, gathering and many other basic sewing skills as done in the industry. The book comes with a CD that has two files. The first file contains pictures of the 50 page sample book one makes as one works through the book. The second file contains the patterns, also in the book, so that the reader can print out the patterns as needed. The book is available on Amazon.com.

This is the textbook that supports the course in my program, also named “Design Room Techniques.” I began writing it in 1985. It took 25 years to complete. All of my students over the past 22 years have tested the book as it was being written. Some who have entered the fashion industry have taken their sample books they have made in the program as part of their portfolios when they were interviewed for jobs. Employers are especially eager to know that prospective employees know how sample making is done. Therefore making a sample book using “Design Room Techniques” is a very good idea if you hope to enter the fashion industry.

Q. If you have a complicated pricing system for your service, please give all the details here.

A. My pricing system is not very complicated. I price the courses on the number of hours in a course. I price my books on the number of pages in the books. Students in my program buy the books at 80% of the retail price which is the wholesale price. That is because they are giving me information that enables me to improve the information in the books. Often they are not even aware how much help they are providing.

Q. If you were advising someone who wanted to get into your profession, what would you suggest?

A. If you want to enter the fashion industry I would suggest you learn as much technical information as possible. Learn sample making as done in the industry, learn drafting and fitting. Learn it hands on- without the computer so that when you do work on the computer you will know what the computer is doing and whether it has been programmed correctly. Make sure your instructors have worked in the industry doing this kind of work. There are many jobs in the industry so just because someone has worked in the industry doesn’t mean they know design room procedures.

Major in business, minor in fashion technology – take it on the side from someone who has worked in a designing department, knows all the procedures, and can explain them well. Fashion designers come and go because that field is highly unstable, technical designers are badly needed in the industry.

Q. What is your greatest strength?

A. My greatest strength is that I listen to my students and take their suggestions seriously. That is why the program and books are written as they are. My students have told me and continue to tell me what they need and I listen. When a student does not understand something in the book I rewrite the information and take it into class the next class day. If it still is not understood I change it again and continue to do so until everyone understands the material.

It is true that without the classroom experience my program and books would be very different. I give my students credit for all the help they have given me. As far as I am concerned the success of my business is directly dependent on the person I am currently helping. At that moment that person is the only person that matters. If my phone rings I answer it. I don’t play phone tag. I am there for my students and customers.

Q. What are you currently working on improving?

A. I am continuing to test my books in the classroom. There are seven books in the series. All are written and used in the classrooms. Three are available from Amazon.com. The books cover all aspects of design room production and how to use it to produce high-end clothing that fits. The information is presented step-by-step and is fully diagrammed. As the books are completed they are posted on Amazon.com. I am continuing to market them to high-end college fashion programs, the market for which these books are intended and well-received.

Q. Write your own question and answer it.

A. What does a person need to know to produce really beautiful clothing for herself?

You need to know more than just how to draft, fit, grade, cut, and sew beautiful clothing. You also need to know your best colors and style of clothing. That is because the most important step in building a beautiful wardrobe is planning. Color coordinating and wardrobe planning speeds sewing and eliminates needless expense.

Students learn how designers plan wardrobes by determining the best clothing style for the typical customer’s life style and body type in their target market. Color palettes and body types are explained so the students can use this new knowledge to help with planning their own wardrobes.

I often tell my students that once they have completed the program they will now be able to make anything – in other words they will be able to make themselves look pretty awful. So that is why some color analysis and how to determine one’s best clothing style is included in the program. Also included is how to hang and store clothing.