Working with a factory is a big step towards getting your designs made. I find that designers fall into one of two camps when it comes to this stage. They either are intimidated and are scared to move forward on their own or they underestimate what goes into onboarding a new design successfully.
There are many things that can delay a production run, but if you are aware of what can go wrong, you can avoid many potential delays. Here are ten things that can disrupt your production schedule, why they hold up the process, and what you can do to make sure things stay on track.
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.
The modern fashion toolbox is much more digital – and more complicated. What software do you need? What file type is this? Why can’t I open the file the factory just sent? Let’s take a look at some common file types in fashion so you’ll know what you’re looking at and what tool is required.
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.
Have you ever heard the term “production pattern” and wondered what that really meant? There are actually clear differences between just any regular pattern and one that is production-ready. Plus, there and reasons why you don’t want to (and sometimes can’t) go into production with just any pattern.
It is pretty obvious that you will get a pattern when you hire a patternmaker – it’s in the name. Working with a patternmaker can benefit your brand in many other ways as well. What you get when you hire a patternmaker is more than just a pattern. Here are some additional things you’ll receive.
When doing anything for the first time – including starting a fashion brand, it is inevitable that mistakes can be made. But, many mistakes can be avoided. These are the four most common mistakes I’ve seen new brands make and what you can learn from those mistakes in order to avoid them in your business.
Watching fashion reality TV, you might think that every designer knows how to sit behind a sewing machine and whip up an outfit. In reality, though, many designers don’t or can’t sew at all. There are some things that are important for every designer to know – especially if you don’t know how to sew.
With Illustrator being so widely used and accessible and traditional patternmaking software being so cost prohibitive, you might wonder if you can just make patterns in Illustrator. The short answer is, yes, you can. However, depending on your goals and how you will be using the patterns in your business, you might not want to.