Mistakes I've Made When Creating My Sustainable Fashion Line
You all have been so nice asking me to show more behind the scenes so I thought I'd share this video showing some of the problems I've had in working towards getting my dress line closer to launch.
Sometimes it feels like I'm a goalie, having to bat away issue after issue that keeps popping up! But then I tell myself that's something I'm going to have to get used to because, since it's my dream, I'm the one that has to solve the problems and that helps me to not freak out as much. 😊
- TO SET THE SCENE -
When I'm making a garment, I start with my sketch, move to the pattern, pick a fabric, and then get it cut out. Most of the fabrics I'm using are very lightweight woven fabrics like rayons, which are very slippery and delicate to cut. They wiggle around on the table and if you don't cut them correctly, it can really distort the fit of your garment. But that's what makes them drape and move so gorgeously when you wear them! 💕
I don't have the space (or the lower back tolerance for being on my hands and knees for hours) to cut multiple garments in my apartment so I was trying to find professional cutters. The goal was to find someone that I could continue working with when my line is ready to be produced. Also, many of my dresses are long with lots of fabric and I thought a professional would do a much better job that I could since they have the big long tables and professional cutting saws. I just have my living room floor, kneepads, and my best scissors.
To keep a long story short, this cutter neglected to put any pattern markings/notches on the fabric when he cut so my sewer had no way of knowing how to sew the garment together. This is like basic garment construction 101!
Me, thinking this was obvious, didn't check the pieces when I picked them up. Everything was neatly bagged up by style with the paper in between so I thought it looked great. I immediately dropped off with my sewers to get in the very long sewing queue. The entire experience wasted weeks of time. Literally nearly two months before I was able to get my dresses back from my sewer for a fitting! 😩
When I called back about it, first he blamed the sewer for not seeing the marks. After I told him I was looking at the garments myself and there were no marks, he explained his scissors weren't sharp enough. 🙄 This my friends, is what you call absolute BS!
To fix the issue, I carefully lined up the pattern pieces on the cut fabric pieces for the four garments. In the video above, you can see a fast shot of how long it takes just to do one piece. And that's a bodice in the video, imagine doing that for a wide, floor length skirt!
Me, thinking this was obvious, didn't check the pieces when I picked them up. Everything was neatly bagged up by style with the paper in between so I thought it looked great. I immediately dropped off with my sewers to get in the very long sewing queue. The entire experience wasted weeks of time. Literally nearly two months before I was able to get my dresses back from my sewer for a fitting! 😩
When I called back about it, first he blamed the sewer for not seeing the marks. After I told him I was looking at the garments myself and there were no marks, he explained his scissors weren't sharp enough. 🙄 This my friends, is what you call absolute BS!
To fix the issue, I carefully lined up the pattern pieces on the cut fabric pieces for the four garments. In the video above, you can see a fast shot of how long it takes just to do one piece. And that's a bodice in the video, imagine doing that for a wide, floor length skirt!
Hope you enjoyed this little excerpt into my journey!
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