This is the start of a new blog series about Fashion Careers. I’m starting with Pattern Making or Pattern Maker, because that’s the job I’m most familiar with . I’ve been pattern making and pattern fixing for the last couple of decades and it’s something that gives me great personal satisfaction as well having been a skill I’ve used to earn a living. If you're considering turning your love for pattern making into a full-fledged fashion business, it's important to have the right structures in place. Starting with selecting the best llc service can help you effectively manage the business aspects while you focus on your passion for fashion.
You might be curious to know what a pattern is, so let’s start there. A pattern, in fashion terms, is a flat paper or digital blueprint for a 3 dimensional object that will, eventually, be cut and sewn together from fabric. Patterns can also refer to the surface design of the fabric. For the sake of this post, we are talking about the sewing pattern and not the design of the fabric.
Every garment that’s made, usually starts out with a pattern. That pattern is usually made using one or two different methods - Garment Draping or Flat Pattern Drafting.
Garment draping is the process of draping fabric onto a dress form, creating the shapes and silhouette of garment one is trying to create. Fabric is smoothed, pleated, pinched and moved around the 3D object to create the style. The fabric is then marked and removed from the dress form and can either be used as the pattern or transferred to paper so that it can be reproduced. Often times, flat pattern making is then used at this point to make sure all the seams fit together and pieces work together cohesively.
Flat pattern drafting is the process of drawing shapes onto paper (or on the computer). Those shapes represent different parts of a garment - the bodice, sleeves, pant legs, collars cuffs etc. Those shapes need to fit together like a puzzle.
Both processes are somewhat complex and take time to master. Usually, students learn about pattern making in Fashion Design Programs as it is often a large part of the Fashion Design curriculum. It’s important to learn how the shapes of the body translate into the shapes of the flat pieces that make up the pattern. Additionally, learning how fabric (or different types of fabric) behaves when it’s hanging in different positions or draped in certain silhouettes. Knowing both Flat Pattern Making and Garment Draping are complimentary skills for the Pattern Maker.
I learned Flat Pattern Making and Draping at FIDM, where I went to study Fashion Design. I already knew how to sew when I went to school and that was a terrific bonus. It' really helped me recognize the shapes of the pieces and how they all usually fit together. One of the other important skills to master, as a pattern maker, is garment fitting and how to translate fit adjustments to the pattern. Pattern Fitting was a skill I learned, mostly on the job.
As a pattern maker, I would work with a team of professionals, who all handled some different part of the garment manufacturing process. Most of us attended fittings with a live model who tried on the clothing we were producing. That clothing was referred to as samples. Those pieces were “sample” garments that were not entirely ready for garment production. The model would try the clothing on, and tell us how it felt on his/her body. The designer or merchandiser (depending what point in the garment production process we were working on - designer early days and merchandiser closer to actual production) would tell us how they wanted the garment to look and if they thought it needed changes. My job as a pattern maker was to make sure both the comfort and styling reflected the vision of my working partners. I would have to translate the information I got in the fittings, directly onto the pattern, which I would then communicate with and to the manufacturer.
Not all companies have as many people working on the different parts of the process, but in my case, working for a large manufacturer (Gap Inc.) we had a LOT of business partners to make sure the product lived up the company standards.
One of the things I really enjoy about being a pattern maker is that I can turn the ideas in my head, into 3 dimensional designs in real life. It is a skill I cherish every day. I’m going to be taking about career options in the fashion world over the next few months. Let me know in the comments if there is a particular career that interests you. - Modeling, Designing, Merchandising, Production? I want to know!
Until Next Time, Happy Fashion!
Jennifer
