Sew you want to be a Fashion Designer{c} how it happened

I am new to this media and want to share all the shortcuts I know about surviving in the garment industry. I have spent many  years in the apparel business. I was a fashion designer for large and small businesses and have had my own business as well. The most fun I had was running a fashion program at Palm Beach Community College in Florida for 11 years. I was hired to set up a program to show my students about the industry they wanted to enter. I set up my department like the one I had at Washington University in St Louis MO. I taught them sewing on professional sewing machines like I was taught. I taught them how to make their own patterns. This was before computers were used to make patterns and grade the sizes. I always told the students that the people who ran those machines needed to know how to make a pattern by hand first. This is the way artists begin as well. Learn the basic rules so you can change them later. We also had a class in sketching their work with all the details included, like seam and dart lines. Not just knit, which is easy to draw and does all the fitting work.  So now I want to share some of that information with you . If you want to enter this world you need to start with the basics

. I was published in Threads Magazine with an article about how seam allowances in the industry will vary depending on where the seam is placed. I often say the home sew patterns give the seamstress the same seams everywhere because various sizes might confuse the customer. I know may people who sew change the seams on their garments to change the fit. Doing that will alter the garment to another size. There is very little difference between sizes of garments in the stores you shop in. So send me comments and ask me questions about this industry that I love and I will do my best to answer you. Right now I have two booklets published on my Etsy shop. One is understanding buttons and buttonholes, the other is making knit skirt with no pattern, just my instructions.