Do you make the patterns for your brand, but feel like your skills or confidence are holding you back from creating the designs you really want?
Imagine if you had professional patternmaker that you could get advice from about your specific project anytime.
Are you spending hours (or even days) Googling, reading your old textbooks, and searching YouTube for answers to your patternmaking questions?
Think about how much you’d be able to accomplish in your business if you could get patternmaking answers quickly and spend those extra hours working on other things.
Do you want to be able to launch new styles and move forward in your business with confidence?
Launch a design that you patterned and being so proud of the result.
The Fashion Entrepreneur Patternmaking Workroom is for designers and fashion business owners who make their own patterns for their brand, but would like an expert to turn to when questions arise. As a small business owner, you wear many hats and have alot on your to-do list. Whether you make your own patterns because you’re saving costs while your brand is still growing, or because you like the hands-on sense of accomplishment of seeing your designs quickly take shape in front of you, you’re doing alot and it can be isolating doing it on your own. Sometimes you just get stuck on something or need some expert advice to confirm you’re going in the right direction. I get it, and that is just what the Patternmaking Workroom is for – getting you answers so you can move ahead on your patterns with confidence.
The Patternmaking Workroom is a online forum and community with direct access to an expert patternmaker. You’ll be able to post questions, get answers, join live group video calls, and connect with other Workroom members through private messages or forum discussions. The Patternmaking Workroom is the place to get the answers you need quickly for topics including:
- Patternmaking best practices
- Optimizing a pattern for production
- Translating a design sketch into a pattern that has the right shapes
- Fitting on a live model or dress form
- How to correct fit issues on a pattern
- Size grading
What you get inside the Fashion Entrepreneur Patternmaking Workroom:
The power to move ahead on your project and in your business by quickly getting answers to your specific questions.
Access to pick the brain of a professional patternmaker so that you’ll gain the confidence to launch new styles that you’ve patterned yourself.
More time to spend running the rest of your business since you won’t have to waste time stuck on your pattern and searching for answers.
Group video calls twice a month that allow for visual explanations and answers that are easy to understand and apply to your project.
The support of a community of like-minded fashion entrepreneurs who ‘get you’ and understand what its like to run a small fashion business.
Pricing
The Fashion Entrepreneur Patternmaking Workroom is $20/month or $220/year (one month free). You can cancel your subscription at any time.
See what other designers have said:
“I love your concepts of how you do fit. I love to ask you fit questions. You’re probably the first person I’ve talked to in the industry that makes sense.
I think you set me free that day you said ‘I don’t go by a textbook’. Everybody slams a book in my face. It was always ‘if you have this problem, you always solve it by adding an inch here or taking an inch there’. And when I did it, it never really worked.
But you said ‘No, I look at it like human physiology. What is going on with this arm or this armhole?’ and that set me free to actually think about it. When we talked about that on one of the calls and I tried what you said, it actually worked!”
— Sherri, Elk Echo Ranch
“It is incredibly beneficial to me. I walk away from each [group call] feeling like, *mind blown*. Even if I don’t have any questions at the time and just sit back, I still learn. Because I’m like, ‘Oh, I hadn’t thought of it like that.’ It is incredibly informative. I would recommend any designer to do it; hop on!“
— Julia, We Wear Color
“With this kind of work, you really don’t have time to really wait around. It is way simpler to be able to ask someone and get the answer right away. It enables us to do what we do to have you available.
It has given me a refresher about pattern and fit because so much of it is talking about it and analyzing it and I feel like for me I’m like ‘I’m just going to change this or that and try it out until it works’ instead of opening up my mind to understand why it is that way. It has opened up that part of my brain again that was closed for a while.”
— Victoria, Potion 23
You might be wondering:
Why can’t I just Google the answers myself?
You certainly can, but even if you know what to type in the search bar, sifting through the generic answers on the internet to find the specific answer that will get you unstuck is tricky and time consuming. You’re a busy fashion entrepreneur who wears many hats in your business. Do you really have the time to get lost skimming blogs and watching YouTube tutorials (even at 1.5X speed) – and still get everything done in your business?
Also, as you might have noticed, there isn’t a whole ton of good production patternmaking information out there to find, and it can be even harder to figure out how to apply general concepts to your specific project.
Why wouldn’t I just take an online or college patternmaking course?
If you went to fashion school, you probably did have a patternmaking class or two. And if you didn’t, you could go enroll in one today. However, tuition for a single class at a university can be $2,000 or more, and you’d have to make time to go to scheduled classes all semester. You’d have to sit or watch through hours of lessons about things you may already know while waiting to hopefully learn that one thing that has you stuck.
Additionally, in traditional classes you have to work on the projects and homework that is assigned to you – not whatever pattern and style you really want to be working on for your brand.
Wouldn’t a patternmaking book answer my questions instead?
It might, and patternmaking books are a great reference, but they usually focus on basic patternmaking concepts and drafting basic block styles. If you have a specific design in mind, but don’t know what the pattern shapes are supposed to look like to make it, a book can only go so far to help you. And fashion textbooks are still an investment at $50-$150 each.
Patternmaking is so much about fitting on a real, three-dimensional person and learning to translate changes to a pattern. It is such a visual and spatial skill and so is hard to read about on a flat page. Even books with ample pictures can be hard to learn from. Being able to hop on a video call and interact with questions and answers in real time and space can be a much more effective format for visual learners.
Wouldn’t joining a home/hobby sewing Facebook group give me the answers I’m looking for for free?
If you are making patterns and sewing for yourself as a hobby, then joining a free home sewing community might be a better fit for you. There are certainly talented home sewers and patternmakers out there who can give you advice.
If your goal is to make patterns for your fashion brand that will be produced by someone other than yourself either now or in the future, then you’ll really want the advice of a professional patternmaker with industry and production experience. Home sewing patterns and production patterns are not the same. Their purpose, how they’re used, and how they’re made are different. A pattern that isn’t made for industry production can create a host of problems in production including bad fit, increased production costs, and poor quality.
Is the Patternmaking Workroom a course?
No, at this time there is no structured curriculum in the Patternmaking Workroom although there is plenty of learning going on! The Workroom is all about you and your specific questions!
Do I already have to know how to make patterns to join the Patternmaking Workroom?
My answers will be tailored to whatever level you’re at, so there is no pre-requisite pattern knowledge required to join the workroom. However, the Patternmaking Workroom isn’t a course, so it is recommended that you at least have basic patternmaking knowledge in order to get the most out of the community. If you’ve taken a patternmaking class in fashion school, have experience reading and working with home sewing patterns, or have been self-taught for several years, then you’ll be just fine!
Do I get one-on-one consulting?
Ask as many questions as you want within the workroom forum and I’ll respond to each with a personalized answer, or join a group video call to ask your questions live. One-on-one phone or video calls are not included, however.
My brand isn’t womenswear, will you still be able to answer my questions?
My specialization is in women’s apparel, so I’ll be able to provide the most value to your business in that area. For other categories (men’s, kid’s, non-apparel soft goods, etc.), I can still answer most patternmaking and fit questions, but don’t have the experience to offer grading advice. If you’re concerned about whether the Workroom is a good fit for you, feel free to reach out to me and we can talk about your situation.
When do the group video calls take place?
There are two monthly group video calls. They take place on the 2nd Monday of each month at 4pm Central US time and the last Thursday of each month at 9am Central US time. Group calls are recorded and posted in the workroom forum along with the topics and questions we talked about so you can watch the them later if you can’t attend live.
So why get patternmaking answers from me?
- I have 8+ years experience developing and making production patterns.
- I specialize in women’s apparel which means I have a keen knowledge about fitting for this market.
- I love working with small businesses and entrepreneurs – even ones that are new to the fashion industry!
Ready to get your questions answered and pattern your designs with confidence?
The Fashion Entrepreneur Patternmaking Workroom is $20/month or $220/year (one month free). You can cancel your subscription at any time.