Friday, August 1, 2008

Things I do wrong

I've decided to do a post on all of the things that I've been doing wrong at work lately. I've been on a little spree of incorrectness, and alas, what Carly told me as I was leaving for NYC, "you might make mistakes, but you don't make the same mistake twice" (this was in reference, i think, only to sewing and patternmaking. I can think of several obvious examples in the rest of my life.) is no longer true. Last Tuesday I made the same mistake at least half a dozen times. So I'll start with that one:

The lining and facings have to be reversed on all lined asymetrical garments, because the right side of the lining is facing towards the body, instead of away from it, like the Self fabric is. This means that you cannot trace a coat lining, add the necessary lining ease, and call it good. You have to trace it on the wrong side of the paper, flip it over, and retrace it. And then, because it's asymetrical, you have to do the same thing with the other side of the garment. And then with the right back, and left back of the garment. There are also facings for the neck, and cuffs and hems and whatever little pieces that the designers have decided will add some flair to their piece, and they all have to be traced and flipped and traced again as well, and then, god forbid, it might be a coat with a vent or something of that nature, and there has to be extra fusible cut, besides that fusible that's pre-pressed on the facings, and you have to make mirrored patterns for those pieces too....
It adds up to a lot of opportunity for incorrectly traced pattern pieces.

I think that this post will have to come in installments, I don't want to think about all the things I do wrong all at once.

5 comments:

Carly said...

These are the things that makes pattern drafting challenging as well as rewarding. Of course you will mess up these things they're complicated and we all mess up stuff like this anyway. The trick is to stay focused and do you best. The more you do it the better you'll get.

hannah said...

maybe this is secretly why im writing about all the mistakes i make -- because i know that carly, queen of pep talks, will make me feel better about them. thanks, it's true, and the necessity to stay totally focused at all times is what i love most about patternmaking.

Anonymous said...

I don't understand. Can't you just trace, make adjustments, cut the piece and then mark the reverse side? That's what I've done. And you're right, making vent linings is no fun; you can get all turned around.

hannah said...

i could, but we use dot paper at work, and if the dots aren't face up, then the patterns aren't right. i know, if it weren't for the quickness of drawing out things like 18 perfectly spaced pin tucks on the front of a blouse, i'd be all for plain old reversible paper.

hannah said...

oh..i misunderstood you. That's actually brilliant, and no one in my entire studio has ever done it that way. still, the dot paper issue, so you have to have forethought and be paying attention (as one should, at work), but it eliminates having to think in opposites, which is what becomes mind-numbing by the end of the day.