A good team starts with people who care about what they do.
Passion, responsibility, experience and professional skills.
Garment development starts with an idea. Pattern making is one of the important steps in sample development. An experienced pattern maker needs to understand many things during garment development, including:
Technical Skills
A pattern maker needs to understand measurements, garment shapes and construction. Small changes in a pattern can affect the way a garment looks and fits.
The work also requires attention to detail. Different parts of a garment need to work together, and the pattern needs to be accurate enough to be used for making the garment.Good technical skills are the foundation of a pattern maker’s work.
A good pattern maker needs more than basic technical skills.
Experience in Garment Development
Experience is another important part of pattern making.
An experienced pattern maker has worked with many different garments, styles and construction details. Over time, they see many of the same problems in different ways. This experience allows them to notice things that may not be obvious at the beginning.
Sometimes a design looks simple, but the actual construction can be more complicated. Sometimes a small change in shape or proportion can make a obvious difference to the finished garment.
Experience gives a pattern maker a better understanding of what can work and what may need to be changed.
Understanding the Customer’s Design
A pattern maker also needs to understand what the customer is trying to achieve.
The job is not simply to follow measurements or copy a drawing.
A designer may have a particular shape or overall feeling in mind. The pattern maker needs to understand that intention and turn it into a workable pattern.
This can be especially important when the information from the customer is not enough to show every detail.
A reference garment, photo or design drawing may show the overall idea, but an experienced pattern maker needs to understand how the different parts should work together.
Good communication with the customer and the development team is also important when making adjustments.
Thinking Beyond the Sample
When developing a pattern, an experienced pattern maker also considers how the garment will be made later in bulk production
The construction should be practical for production. The pattern should be suitable for cutting and sewing, and the garment should be possible to reproduce consistently.
This is an important difference between simply making a sample and developing a pattern for real garment production.
Experienced pattern makers understand this connection between the sample and the production stage.
An Important Part of the Team
Pattern making is not an isolated job. A pattern maker works together with the sample stitching people, technical people, also the production team during garment development. When a problem appears, experience and communication can make it easier to understand where an adjustment is needed.
This is also why experienced people are important in an apparel manufacturing team.
At MAG Fashion, we value working with our experienced sample development team.
Their technical skills, experience and understanding of customer designs allow them to develop excellent samples with both the garment itself and production in mind. Their work is not only about making a good sample. It is also considering how the garment can be produced smoothly in bulk, while keeping the construction practical for the customer’s target price and market.
A good garment starts with a good team.
MAG Fashion — Your Designs, Our Experience, Well-Made Garments.