You don’t want any unwanted surprises in production and your customer doesn’t want any unwanted surprises the first time they pull the garment out of the clean laundry basket. To know what shrinkage to expect and how to manage it in production and beyond, testing your fabrics for the different types of shrinkage is essential.
High shipping costs, longer freight times, and rising tariffs have made moving production to the USA a competitive option for some brands. With any big logistics shift, the switch can bring some new challenges. If you are considering moving your production to the States, here are four things to prepare for to make the transition.
Finding the right factory for your brand is often not a quick and easy process, so it helps if you are prepared. While each factory has their specialties and ways of working, there are certain things that all cut & sew factories will need from you in order to make your design successfully.
It is rare that that very first sample will be 100% exactly what you wanted. So how do you relay to your patternmaker the changes you want to make? In this post, we’ll look at five things you can do to clearly communicate your desired changes even if you aren’t a technical designer.
Mixing fabrics or prints within the same garment is a fun way to add a unique twist, interesting texture, or creative design detail to your style. But, beyond patchworking a beautiful design, mixing fabrics in a way that is efficient in production and holds up to consumer use, takes some technical planning to get right.
You want to keep a high level of quality for your brand and want to feel in control of doing so. There are things you can do as the brand owner to stay in control of product quality even if you aren’t technical, can’t open your production files, or don’t know how to sew.
Many brands I’ve talked to want to become size-inclusive, but have had to limit their initial size range due to financial or logistic reasons in the meantime. So, when you are able to invest in extending your size range, how do you go about adding the new sizes to your existing styles?
Choosing the right size can be a difficult guessing-game as a customer. Choosing the right sizing for your brand can be even more daunting. When you are deciding what sizes to make for your new brand or product category, here are four steps to clear up the sizing confusion.
The thing about design is that it is subjective. So, how do you know which designs to produce and when the development process is complete? Today’s post is all about how to know when you’ve perfected the design and fit of your garment. (Hint: it has almost nothing to do with the garment itself.)
The goal with development is to arrive at a pattern that fits well on as many people in the target market as possible, but even the best-fitting pattern can’t fit everyone perfectly. Because of this, it is worth considering how your designs might be altered so you can design with ease of alterations in mind.