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Pattern Templates for Effective Fitting Rectifications (Product Review)
The fashion industry works against the clock; that is a fact. No matter how big or small the brand you work for. Every day you have a lot to do, and everything is urgent… Do you relate? If you work with finished products (external
Guide to Specifying Seams on Tech Packs
You are a fashion designer or a product developer, and every time you receive a prototype there are several adjustments to improve its construction… Does this happen to you often?If your answer is “yes,” just a few adjustments to the spec sheet (tech pack)
Book Review: Sewing Seams for Tech Pack
You are a fashion designer and need help managing the technical development of your garments. You often receive prototypes that are different from what you expected. On the one hand, the measurements need to be adjusted (fitting comments). On the other hand, you have
Understanding the Fashion Industry: The Roles of Creative and Technical Designers
Have you ever wondered how those brands you are so passionate about work? Just like the machinery of a watch, fashion is made up of many different parts. In this case, it’s all about people. Professionals with different roles make it possible for those
ISO, ASTM, and ABC Seams… why are they different?
If fashion design is your thing, you will agree that, when making clothing, the seams are, what architectures would call, the pillars of the assembly. And the fact is that important aspects such as the look, quality, and durability of the garment will depend
List of Tests and Methods to Check Sewing Seams: Standards ISO, ASTM, and Related
ISO ISO 13935-1 – Textiles – Seam tensile properties of fabrics and made-up textile articles – Part 1: Determination of maximum force to seam rupture using the strip method ISO 13935-2 – Textiles – Seam tensile properties of fabrics and made-up textile articles –
5 Ways to Finish a Seam… and why you need to choose the proper one
Do you know what are the types of seam finishes and why is it important to choose the proper one? A seam allowance is the area of fabric that we add around each pattern with the purpose of allowing sewing the fabrics. Its width varies depending on
The Power of Clear Garment Assembly Specifications
Benefits of explaining the construction of your garments. If you work as a designer or product developer, I’m sure you have experienced receiving prototypes that have little to do with what you expected. It has happened to all of us. And one of the
What is the Cover Sheet of a Tech Pack
The first impression matters. The way we present a new style is as important as the type of information that the tech pack includes. Therefore, we need to explain the garment (or product) clearly and well organized. What Is a Cover Sheet? The cover
Book 101 Sewing Seams: Update
Our first book 101 Seams has just been updated and in this article we will tell you about the adjustments we have made. Layout The main changes are related to the aesthetic aspects of the book: the number of pages and the distribution of
How to make the Header of your Tech Pack
What would happen if you were about to get into the surgery room and your clinical records explain your whole case, but your name is nowhere? how would the doctors know that that information is yours? … On a much smaller scale, this is
ISO, ASTM, and ABC Seams… what are they?
Quite often, we receive questions from you about this matter: are your seams the same as ISO seams?, are your seams registered under ISO/ASTM regulations?, can I use your seams instead of the ISO’s?… These are some of the questions that you’ve been asking. So,
The Influence of the Tech Pack on Your Productivity
In these almost 20 years of working as a product developer, I have teamed up with more than 30 designers from different parts of the world. And beyond the cultural differences and the fact that the industry is constantly changing -from styles to materials
Why to Use a Tech Pack
As the garment industry has become less structured and more globalized, the need for detailed and precise specifications has increased. Tech packs have become an essential document during the development and production stages of textile products. A few months ago, we talked in a
TOPSTITCHING: Types, Purposes, and Uses
Teacher, what is the difference between Stitch and Topstitch? This question is more common than what we think, either for students or professionals in the textile industry. And it is not surprising that it is confusing due to a topstitch is a type of
The Best Option To Make A Change.
As its name suggests, the Slow Movement refers to the act of “doing slowly.” Meaning that something is made with time, being careful, and taking care of details. For months we had been hearing the news for weeks that a dangerous virus was killing
The Future of Fashion – CLO 3D
As a professional in the apparel industry, I have spent much of my life in a business where processes are often slow, manual, repetitive, and sometimes tedious. And we get used to that, believing that it is the right way, the only way to
Sewing seams and their elements
As we discussed in a previous article, a seam is the result of joining two layers of fabric by a line of stitches. Every day, in the textile industry, a wide variety of seams are used to make the clothes that we see on
What does a tech pack consist of?
Tech Packs are mainly a communication tool. As we said in the previous article (see here), a Tech Pack is a document with all the information needed to make a design into a real product correctly. What information is in a tech pack? There
Woven Fabrics and Knit Fabrics: Properties and Qualities
Years ago, when I started studying fashion design, I knew very little about this new world that was opening in front of my eyes. The truth is that it is so vast and full of fundamental concepts when designing that I felt a bit
What is a Tech Pack?… and Why It Is Important
I know it. Most designers don’t like at all writing Tech Packs. For them (maybe you?) Tech Packs are the last task they want to deal with. But they have to. Now, imagine this situation: you are a professional chef. You work for a
Seam, Stitch, and Topstitch… What Are They?
Does it happen to you that you stay thinking when people talk about seams, stitches, and topstitching? If answering this question takes you more than 3 seconds, you should read this article. Poor explanations and wrong interpretations are the source of 73% of the
Techniques to Stabilize a Seam
Sometimes, when sewing, it is necessary to stabilize the seam to avoid it gets stretched. If we don’t do this, the finished measurements of the garment might vary. Stabilizing seams is required either for wovens or knits. The areas that must be stabilized are
Knit Fabrics: How to know the elongation recovery
The fabric elasticity percentage is an important characteristic to consider. Before cutting the pieces of a garment, you need to calculate the elasticity percentage of the fabric. Then you will verify if it matches the pattern measurements. Otherwise, the fit of the garment won’t
Types of Seams and their Uses
Location, location, location… “the location of your property is an essential factor in determining its value.” This famous real estate mantra clearly reflects today’s subject: The location of each seam is an essential factor in determining the correct choice. In previous articles, we discussed how
How to Classify Garment Defects
Before starting a garment inspection, we have to know what is a defect and its level of relevance. This depends on the characteristics and location of the defects. So to do this, we need to have a Garment Defect Classification document. But, how do
Types of Seams and their Properties
Selecting seams is a critical part of the design process. This not only concerns the aesthetic part of creating garments, but is also closely related to its functionality and the economic-productive aspects of the style. To select the appropriate seams, we must know their
A Guide to Recognize Sewing Seams and Their Classification
We humans need to classify everything. A few days ago, I was reading a note about a neurological study. There, they explained that by nature, people tend to classify everything. We classify either physical objects or ideas and concepts. But why do we do
How to Avoid Sewing Defects
Avoiding stitching defects is one of the most basic aspects to consider when making clothing. This might happen due to the following factors: the fabric quality type of thread the conditions of the needle the maintenance of the sewing machine the stitch density These
Top Seam Types Every Fashion Designer Should Know
Did you know?… most of us only use 23% of the seams that exist. And on top of that, we don’t know more than 40% of the available options. For the last four years, one of my responsibilities at ABC Seams is to analyze
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