Muslins

This week, I have been sewing a muslin version of each of the custom slopers that I drafted last week.  Drafting and sewing five different custom slopers at a time has emphasized the many differences in body shapes that aren't accommodated for in standard sizing.  These variations in shape are unique enough that when I hold up a finished pattern or muslin, it's like looking at a puzzle piece that will fit only in one space, and I am able to visualize the person for whom the muslin was drafted. Even though the outline of a men's shirt is generally rectangular, the subtle variation in cut built specifically for each customer is visible. 

Drafting

I have been drafting custom patterns all week to fulfill orders from my new spring/summer line.  Thank you to everyone who placed an order!

OCD

For my whole adult life, I have been self-conscious about my tendency to be a bit OCD.  I always worry that I will annoy people by being so thorough, so fastidious, so knit-picky, etc.  I'm always apologizing for these behaviors, both verbally and with my body language.


Recently, I've experienced the benefits of being so particular, so attentive to detail-----it means that I do a good job on a number of things (where this would be important)!  That high standard for the quality of every detail of what I'm working on has been noticed both in my Montessori activities and my work in fashion.  It really boosted  my confidence to, for the first time, acknowledge that something I've always considered a failing might actually be an asset (while still underscoring that it can also be a hinderence in certain ways and activities).  


I don't feel, for once, that I need to apologize for the way that I am, but that it is what makes me great at what I do! :)

Spring is here!

The men's spring/summer line is available now!

Pencil Shirt Preview

Pencil shirt

available in March

at five8ths.com

Fabric

I was in NYC in early February to attend an expo of fabric and notions suppliers.  I spent many hours paging through fabric swatch cards from many different companies.  There were a few companies offering organic and recycled fabric, and even a tiny amount of hemp and bamboo, which was pleasantly surprising.  I am a thorough decision-maker, so my initial round of selections were plentiful.  Most of the swatches have arrived now, so I am  starting to think about fall designs and new additions to my line.  All of the fabrics are beautiful, and seeing them again in my own studio has already clarified some things and reduced some of the agonized decision-making that will take place over the next few weeks.

On a related note, while at the expo, I came into contact with many people who plan to operate their small fashion businesses following the larger-scale, fast-fashion model of breaking down each stage of the process of designing and producing clothing into separate jobs handled by many different people.  More copies of a particular line or design are able to be produced in a smaller amount of time with this method---this reduces the amount of profit needed to be made on each garment, reducing the price.  This has become the norm, and the expected.  Distilling the work of designing and making clothing into distinct processes, and then being involved in only a portion of those processes, is a very different activity from the "slow design" that I practice.  Sharing an atmosphere with the people and industry practicing fast fashion further solidified my grounding in the hand designed and drafted, handmade, custom-fit, limited-edition, thoughtfully designed world in which I'm operating now as five8ths.  The ground seems firmer and stronger here.

Artisanal Clothing

Check out this article, "It aint just pickles", from the NYT.  I would lump artisanal clothing in with the artisanal food and other products mentioned in the article; the expertise gained over a period of time specializing in this work renders beautiful, well-fitting, well-loved clothing.


"It’s tempting to look at craft businesses as simply a rejection of modern industrial capitalism. But the craft approach is actually something new — a happy refinement of the excesses of our industrial era plus a return to the vision laid out by capitalism’s godfather, Adam Smith. One of his central insights in “The Wealth of Nations” is the importance of specialization. When everyone does everything — sews their own clothes, harvests their own crops, bakes their own bread — each act becomes inefficient, because generalists are rarely as quick or able as specialists.
"For most of human history, though, people needed to do a bit of everything to survive. The result was a profoundly inefficient economy that required almost everyone to work very hard just to create enough of the essentials for survival; even then, famines were still disturbingly common. Efficiency, Smith explained, comes when individuals focus on specific tasks. The miracle of the Industrial Revolution was that through specialization, humankind became far more productive."