DEMO — fictional range. Local brief only, NOT SENT. No personal data is collected or transmitted.
PATTERN DESK
A garment is decided at the pattern, not the label.
Apparel development starts at the pattern desk, because the pattern is what every other number refers to. These four questions settle a pattern before a marker is made.
- Which body
- Chest, shoulder and sleeve lengths, because they grade on different steps
- Which fit
- Ease and balance, because two bodies of identical chest differ in both
- Which fabric
- Weight, grain and shrinkage, because a pattern for one is a pattern for that one
- Which tolerance
- Per garment rather than per nominal, because a run is screened at the ends
Where each decision comes from
| Decision | What it sets | What it costs to get wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Grading steps | How the run moves between sizes | Ends of a run that are unwearable |
| Ease | How the garment sits off the body | A garment that fits the measurement and not the wearer |
| Cap ease | How the sleeve sets into the armhole | A gather at the shoulder or a pulled armhole |
| Shrinkage | What size the garment is after its first wash | A run that screens on the flat and is a size out in wear |
The expensive mistake.
Scaling a pattern instead of grading it. A single factor applied to every dimension makes the middle of a run correct and both ends unwearable, and the error is only visible once the ends are screened.
And the one that looks harmless.
A shrinkage allowance reduced by a millimetre. Nothing on the flat changes, and the garment is a size out after the wash it was always going to have.