How to Hire a Fashion Pattern Maker

A Designer'southward Guide to Hiring the Perfect Pattern Maker

As an emerging designer, working with a world-class pattern maker can make or suspension your clothing line. They aid make information technology possible to produce your garments in various sizes, whether for big retail production or simply a single collection.

While choosing the best pattern maker for your project may seem like a daunting task, it doesn't have to be. In this guide, you lot'll learn about the function of a blueprint maker , what you should look for when seeking 1 out, and how to work with your pattern maker so you tin bring your fashion designs to life.

Understanding What a Design Maker Does

Design makers work backside the scenes to produce every successful fashion line, yet many people are unaware of what a pattern maker really does. Blueprint makers use a system of design knowledge and mathematics to create templates for your garment concepts. They iron out the tiny details to ensure that when your clothing comes to life in fabric, it volition wait just every bit astonishing as it did in the fashion design sketches .

As a fashion designer , you'll need to collaborate with a blueprint maker to create your ain patterns that will human action as a guide for sample makers , seamstresses , and manufacturers. No house can stand up on a weak foundation, and no mode line can begin without fantabulous patterns.

Terminology

First, let's review some vocabulary and so you'll exist prepared and well-versed when you starting time your search for the perfect pattern maker .

• Pattern Grading : This is the process of creating a range of sizes for a single garment fashion. Pattern grading takes precision and strict adherence to a formula to translate a design into various sizes.
• Template : A template is simply another word for pattern, which is the blueprint of a garment.
• Paper Pattern : Typically created on newspaper or cardboard , a paper pattern is created o nce the blueprint maker has refined their design. This final pattern blueprint is clear and legible then that it tin be copied and reprinted. While the average consumer can purchase newspaper patterns to run up their ain wear, fashion designers give them the manufacturer to produce the garments.
• French Curves: Essential to fashion designers and blueprint makers alike, this classic tool is a perfectly curved ruler used to make lines and cuts in patterns and cloth.
• Blueprint Pieces : These are the individual cuts of cloth in a pattern design that fit together to form a garment. Imagine them every bit pieces of a puzzle.
• Tech Pack : A tech pack is a digital document that contains all the data for the manufacturers to create the garments, including patterns, textiles, graded measurements, hardware specifications, and more. Tech packs are essential communication tools throughout the product evolution phase.
• Production Pattern : Production patterns are templates that are polished, graded, and ready for manufacturing and product. This is the result of your piece of work with a pattern maker .
• Draping : This classic form of patternmaking involves draping muslin or another preliminary cloth over a dress form. The textile is pinned and marked while still on the dress grade. This gives the pattern maker a visual 3D "map" to blueprint the pattern accordingly.
• Sample Maker : A sample maker is someone who works with a seamstress to produce samples of your clothing line that you can present to potential retailers and fashion industry professionals.

Should You Cull a Freelance Pattern Maker or Product Development Team?

One of the first decisions y'all'll accept to make is choosing a freelance pattern maker or professional production house to create your samples. Either one tin can execute the blueprint pattern and deliver paper patterns that can exist translated to textile.

Freelance blueprint makers ordinarily work at an hourly charge per unit or on a per-project basis. This might seem more affordable upfront, but be aware of their capabilities. You as well desire to continue in mind that the more than years of experience and education they accept, the higher their hourly rate .

On the other manus, working with a product development team can provide more cohesion while designing a clothing line. For instance, TEG offers pattern and sample making from sketches, pictures, or whatever pieces that inspire you — there's no need to learn how to use complex illustrating programs. This leaves you with more fourth dimension and energy to be creative as the visionary of your clothing line. Information technology's likewise worth noting that with TEG, production patterns are included in the overall pricing of developing your collection.

What Tools Do Pattern Makers Utilize?

Pattern blueprint tin be drafted traditionally through paper patterns or digitally with CAD or reckoner-aided drafting. Like all modern engineering science tools, a design maker needs to take years of experience hand-drawing pattern pieces more than simply using the latest CAD methods.

The art of pattern pattern requires a technical understanding of fashion design that a figurer can't supervene upon. Clothing is inherently tangible, something you can bear on, feel, and article of clothing. Therefore, experience with traditional drafting for mode design is vital to condign a good design maker. That said, CAD pattern blueprint can exist useful for speeding upwardly design grading and making the patterns easier to understand for the sample maker .

Whether a pattern maker uses CAD software or paper and pencil, every pattern maker should be familiar with rulers, French curves, and muslin mockups. These classic drafting tools requite the design maker a amend understanding of amalgam patterns that translate beautifully when draping on a wearing apparel form. While CAD options are tools that make pattern design easier, information technology's non a replacement for technical skill.

What to Consider Earlier Choosing a Design Maker

Depending on your project, y'all'll have to consider what you lot want and demand. For case, if y'all programme to grade your collection to produce a range of sizes, yous'll need a blueprint maker with directly experience in design grading and tech packs .

If your drove consists of ane-of-a-kind, high-cease couture pieces, you demand someone highly trained in traditional pattern making and drafting for haute couture specifically. This means that they'll have extensive feel with structured tailoring, ruching, working with unusual fabrics, and creating unique silhouettes.

Experience and Education Are Everything

When it comes to choosing a pattern maker , feel and instruction are crucial. Design making is a precise art for dress design , and it takes years of practice and applied experience.

For blueprint makers , education comes in the form of both feel and formal schooling. While degrees are a nifty asset, applied experience is more important. Hither are some questions y'all should ever enquire before hiring a design maker:

• How many years of experience practise they accept in patternmaking for manner blueprint ?
• Do they have the mathematical expertise required for pattern grading ?
• What is their feel with textiles? What sort of fabrications have they worked with in the by?
• Have they created designs that are similar to what you want?

Expect at Their Portfolio and Enquire for Testimonials

A great pattern maker will always have a portfolio upon request. For instance, if your collection has multiple blouses , enquire for examples they've drafted. Get as specific as necessary to feel confident in choosing them as your design maker .

It's also important to determine who they accept worked with in the by by asking to see their portfolio. It would be helpful to see the completed garments and patterns side-by-side to give you an idea of how well their patterns interpret into apparel pattern and production. Request for testimonials from past clients is another great source of data. Don't be agape to ask!

What Are Their Methods for P attern Making ?

When seeking out a pattern maker, place their preferred route for pattern making . If they tend to starting time with draping , you'll take to work directly with them to drape every individual piece of the drove, pinning and marking as y'all go to get the exact wait yous wish to reach.

There'southward also the important question of whether they use traditional drafting or digital tools to pattern patterns. Many design makers will use a combination of drawings that they then scan and then polish using CAD software. Every design maker must have experience designing patterns by hand, as information technology gives them an understanding of how pattern pieces interpret to fabrics that will become garments.

However, it'southward certainly not a bad thing if a pattern maker utilizes digital tools to improve and replicate patterns. This tin can speed up the process and leaves piffling room for error.

Do They Have Experience With Pattern Grading ?

If you plan to produce a range of sizes or manufacture your wear line for retailers, high-quality blueprint grading is a must. Ask your potential design maker nigh their experience with grading. Do they have examples of graded patterns in a variety of common sizes? Tin they show you a completed fashion line for which they graded the patterns?

How to Work With Your Blueprint Maker to Avoid Mishaps

Once y'all've started your project , stay involved throughout the process to ensure things are going according to plan. At the root of any positive professional human relationship, open advice is a must. You and the pattern maker should feel comfy asking questions and discussing details to ensure quality product.

Like Any Good Relationship, Communication Is Fundamental

In your human relationship with your pattern maker, there'due south no such affair every bit being too articulate. No question should go unasked for both you as the fashion designer and your potential pattern maker . Discuss pricing , timeline, and expectations at the outset. This will aid prevent any problems throughout the product development process.

Be Clear Almost Budget

Know your budget before you fifty-fifty begin to piece of work with a pattern maker . Whether you're working with a fashion design team or a freelance blueprint maker , yous need to know the costs of getting patterns that fit your standards.

Know Your Timeline

Always convey your timeline and whether there is any room for flexibility. If your pattern maker has a deadline, they'll know how to gauge your expectations for the quantity and quality of what they can deliver. Communicate your timeline from the very beginning, so your pattern maker is on the same page as you.

Detect the Best Pattern Maker for Your Fashion Brand

At this point, nosotros trust you accept a much clearer understanding of how to find the perfect pattern maker for your designs. Since pattern makers are fundamental to the success of your habiliment line, it'southward vital to know all aspects of this stage of product development .

At TEG, we offer high-quality creative services similar fabric and trim sourcing that you won't find elsewhere. Our top-of-the-line sourcing managers skillfully guide you lot through sampling cloth swatches, negotiating minimums and prices, tracking orders, and more.

Whether y'all're an emerging or established designer, we've helped over 2,000 designers during the last 15+ years. We'd love to help you bring your vision to life, too!

Please telephone call or fill up out the below form for all inquiries and questions. Nosotros volition answer within 1-2 business organization days. Thanks!

Los Angeles : 800-916-0910 | San Francisco: 415-324-8779

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