Sommer Designs

Production 101: finding 'these people'

Are you tired of these posts yet? Because I am, almost. I keep waiting for someone in the industry to email me and say, "NO, NO, NO, that's NOT how it's done you idiot!" But they haven't yet. I'm sure they are out there and if they are reading any of these posts, they're snickering and shaking their heads...

I'm learning all this as I go along, okay?

Honestly, I can't remember how I found the contractor I'm using - it was a year ago that I initially touched base with them. But I do know it was through a referral from one of the networking groups that I am part of.

That's really important, the networking aspect. Even if you are working at home, there are places to go to meet other people. And they don't have to be other work-at-home, stay-at-home, crafty types. In fact, I think it's best to spread it around, because someone might know someone, who has a kid brother in Toledo, whose father-in-law's uncle...has a sewing house, or knows someone who does. There are tons of networking groups out there - Chambers of Commerce, SCORE, Small Business Centers, local leads groups, Ladies Who Launch is nearly everywhere, and they have the most unbelievable network! Just start Googling [sewing contractors, your city, your state], and talk to people. Also, if you can go to a Textile Show somewhere, there's loads of contacts, directories and information there. 

Anyway - stepping off my soapbox, sorry about that. A good resource I was given a long time ago [but frankly, haven't really used because I think it's really overwhelming] is ThomasNet.

It's a pretty comprehensive resource for finding information and suppliers of products and services in North America. You can search "Sewing Contractors" by state, and get a list. As I said, it's immense and mind-numbing, and not the way to search, if you ask me.

Also, there's California Apparel News [and I'm sure there's one of these in every fashion district]. I've linked to the website there, but they also have a weekly newspaper that you can subscribe to, and it's kind of interesting. I get it every week, and there's a bunch of listings in the classified section in the back with sewers, cutting companies, die stampers, label makers, everything to do with anything textile. There's also job listings for designers from a lot of the major clothing manufacturers, and that's fun to read also [for me, but then again, I live in my own little world].

The CAN website has plenty of resources also - if you look there along the left you'll see an Industry Index, with a lot of links to companies offering services. Good stuff.

Can I just offer one other word of caution (from my experiences): I know it might be difficult, but try to work with people/companies that are relatively local [also great for boosting the local economy]. Depending on where you are and what you are doing, this might not be easy.

But here's something that happened to me that will forever live in my memory: In the fall, I went into a small production in anticipation of a piece of publicity. Luckily, the facility I am using is about 45 minutes away. The fabric I ordered was also local, about 45 minutes away [in the opposite direction]. I ordered the fabric, had it shipped directly to the sewing facility, and pretty much thought I was in the clear. I emailed my Cut and Sew Tickets, and was doing the happy dance [by the way, there is no happy dance until you receive your finished goods. just saying.].

This was the Friday before Labor Day, and I'm standing in Target at 9 a.m., and I get a call from the pattern maker [who's my best friend now] telling me that one of the fabrics looks different.

I figured I had to go home and check the fabric online first, because I didn't want to call my rep, and bite her head off, without checking. I leave the cart in Target, walk out, and speed home. Online, the fabric is what I ordered, and what I have on the Cut & Sew Ticket - I couldn't figure out what happened. It was the black & white gingham with the strawberries - but Jessica was telling me that the background was solid black with strawberries, definitely not gingham.

So, I was freaking out. I called Robert Kaufman, told them what I was told, and told them I had to pick up the right fabric that day and deliver it to my manufacturer. Luckily, I was able to do this! I ran out to Kaufman, picked up the correct fabric, and ran it down to Orange County, gave them the correct fabric, picked up the wrong fabric, and took it home so I could return it on Tuesday to the Kaufman [remember, this was a holiday weekend - it was about 4 p.m. by this time].

So what happened? The design department decided to change the fabric number, but didn't tell the warehouse. So they were sending out the correct item number, but it was now the wrong fabric.

If I had chosen a facility far away, or a fabric manufacturer in New York, I would have had to wait days, maybe weeks, and this would have altered my production time considerably. If this took place out of the country, I can't even imagine what could have happened. Also, they were in the process of laying my fabric out to be cut - remember that? All those layers of fabric? If I had been unable to make this switch immediately, they would have had to abort the cutting at this point, and everything was already laid out. I don't even know how it affects the process to fold or roll it up, and then have to unfold/unroll to continue. This is why it's so important to have every aspect spelled out - if this hadn't been caught, I'd have gone to pick up a production that was totally and completely wrong.

And then what do you do? I have no idea.

Production 101: how do it know?

If you want anything done, you have to tell them what to do. Makes sense, right? But, you don't just say, "cut 5 of these and 10 of those. And then sew them together." It's a little more formal. For the facility I'm using, I had to provide a Cut Ticket and a Sew Ticket. (are you picturing little citations? because that's what I was picturing when they told me last year. luckily, they gave me another one to follow and forehead slapping ensued.)

(As you can see, my printer is wonking up. Supposedly there is another on order, and it better not be a Mother's Day gift, ya dig?)

Cut Ticket: I took pictures of my fabric and uploaded it to my computer. Then you make a little document with your company name, the date, the item and a short description (with any pertinent fabric information, i.e. BOLD pattern for main body, SOLID CONTRAST for trims, ties, etc.)

You have to give everything a style number - I just grabbed a number out of thin air (they're floating around up there if you look). On your document, make a table with the style number, fabric, and cuts. So for my main body here, I have 5 cuts for each garment (I'm having 5 of each fabric style made); and for the contrasting trims, whatever those are (ties, pockets, etc.)

Sew Ticket: Similar, but shorter, because that's when it all comes together. The Item & Description basically stay the same, but you can add Special Instructions, like where you want your label to be placed, thread color, etc. You might also want to include a sketch, or your own sample. I left them the sample they made for me two months ago.

Also, I made a couple of slight changes to my previous sample. This was called a Pattern Adjustment, and was minor enough that they didn't have to start from scratch, and simple enough that I didn't feel like I needed another sample before they continued. Of course, I'm sitting on pins & needles until I see it, but I trust them.

I'm writing a post on finding these people, because so many of you have emailed about that!

Again, this is solely my experience. I don't know what I'm doing, and whether this is the way it's done everywhere, and I don't know if this is even the right way. But this is what I'm doing right now. :)

Production 101: what I've learned so far.

Friday I dragged Scott with me down to Orange County to meet with the pattern maker and drop off fabric for market samples to be made. I'm using a full service sewing house, which means they can take a concept, or idea, from beginning to end (pattern making, drafting, grading, marking, cutting, embroidery, sewing, etc.). I had brought them my pattern about two months ago for a first sample, and they took my pattern and digitized it. This means, they laid it out and ran what looks like a wireless mouse over my pattern which transferred the pattern into the computer. There, they can make any corrections and adjustments (like making sure everything is even-steven).

At this point, for that sample, I think they just printed it out and cut it out of the sample fabric I provided (or, they might have just used my pattern for the sample, I'm not sure). But for a regular production, it's a little different. If I were making apparel garments, then they would also have to grade the pattern; that means taking the same pattern and making it into different sizes.

[this is looking down into the cutting room from the pattern makers office. Both long tables are used for cutting, although on this day, the table on the right was holding pieces that were being die cut by a machine just out of the shot on the bottom right. There is fabric on the left table with a marker on top of it.]

After the pattern is digitized and you are ready to go ahead from there, they make a marker. The marker is your pattern laid out on paper, but utilizing the layout (width of the fabric) to get as many patterns in the space of the marker when it's printed out. Does that make sense? [probably not]. When the marker is printed, it will be about 4 feet wide, and maybe 5 or 6 feet long. Depending on the size of your garment, they might be able to get more than one cut of that garment onto that one sheet.

When they do this, they have to keep in mind the fabric, and the direction of the print. In my previous production, I used non-directional patterns, so they could get more cuts. This time, one of the fabrics is a one-way print [I couldn't help it, I fell in love], so they might cut all the garments in that direction this time, but if I go into a bigger production after market, it might be a better idea to make another marker with better yields for the non-directional prints. It saves money in the long run.

In either case, there will usually be some waste fabric, and they might suggest something to be made with that. That's why you'll see a lot of pot holders, scrunchies or hair bands from other apron makers. I decided to have them add 4x4 fabric swatches into my marker this time so I could add them to my line sheet for very interested buyers at market.

[Also, once the pattern is digitized, the pattern maker will be able to give you fabric yields; this means, he/she will be able to tell you just how much fabric each piece will take, so you know how much fabric to actually order, and can break everything down for costs. Genius.]

After the marker is made, they print it out on a giant printer, and it's given to the cutter. When you buy fabric for production, it needs to be ROT [rolled on tube] - this is the fabric rolled flat, instead of folded on a smaller bolt (like you see at fabric stores). [if you can only get the fabric you want on the bolt, they will unroll and unfold it, but they'll charge you for it.] There are giant tables down in the cutting room [see above]. The fabric is put on a rack above the table, and pulled out and across for a length (I don't know, maybe 6 ft? It depends on the garment and the marker, I think), and then it's cut from the bolt, and another 6 ft. length is pulled out and placed on top of that. They do this for however many cuts/pieces they need to do, and can have as many as 100 layers in place.

Then the marker paper is placed on top of the layers of fabric. Remember, the marker is your pattern, on paper, and this is all the fabric for, say, your main body. It can also be different fabrics [that will all be cut together], just as long as they are for the same piece.

The cutter uses a cutting machine - it's on a guide that rolls across the fabric/marker, with a straight, saw-like blade that cuts all the fabric at once [pretty nifty]. The marker will also have guides where things go, like pockets, and the cutter will punch a tiny hole so the sewer will know where it goes.

[I believe the cutting machine fits into this rolling guide that the cutter moves along the fabric as it cuts. They can cut up to 100 pieces of fabric at one time!]

At this point, it goes to the sewing department, and they work their magic!

[the sewing room looked curiously empty, but I didn't go in. They might have been on a break or at lunch. It's usually buzzing with activity and quite interesting to watch production sewing.]

There is also a full scale embroidery department, which was in full operation - amazing to watch!

There is some great reading material out there that goes into depth about this process, and has been helpful in explaining some of it to me. If you are interested, check out The Entrepreneur's Guide to Sewn Product Manufacturing by Kathleen Fansanella, and also check out her blog, Fashion Incubator (there is a link to buy the book directly on the blog). I just bopped over there, and she has a post on Markers. The book is mainly about garment manufacturing, but also has a lot of information about marketing and sales, and general terminology; I bought it years ago, and didn't really read it until last summer. Also, Cece Marie told me about a book called Fashion for Profit that supposedly covers all this too, but I haven't checked it out yet.

Also, don't take this post as gospel on the subject of production! I'm as green as they come, and am learning all of this as I go. There might be mistakes here, but this is pretty much what I've learned, and my experiences so far. It completely intrigues me.

P.S. All photos were taken with permission...for a change.

Dudes...you made me cry.

Seriously. Thank you. I was worried about wearing my heart on my sleeve, of not being strong and confident, like I try to be. Thank you for the kind comments, thank you for the advice, thank you for believing. But it's also provided a great opening for me, and will prompt me to write more about the process of all this, and I know there are people out there that want to take this route, but don't know how or what to do.

So, here's what happened yesterday [in between crying jags]:

I took the bigger booth.

Actually, I called them first to ask about the two larger options I was given and the locations of both. One backed to Resort and the other was farther down and over a little. When I called, I was given another booth option, which was closer to the front and along the main aisle, and next to [and across from] a larger company that had three booths [good karma, I'm hoping - but also hoping for the better traffic their well known brand will bring]. So I took that one. I'm waiting for the contract.

I am not exhibiting my entire line, but only a portion. That decision was made based on logistics and what I could personally do. I've made some changes in the last couple of months to help me, and the biggest one is that I no longer make the aprons. Estella does some of the short runs (smaller bolts of fabulous fabric that I have to have), but last fall I experimented with a small scale sewing house not too far away, and I have to say, it was way easier [and they did a fantastic job].

I can't remember how I found them, but last spring, Scott & I went down there and met with them. They are family owned and operated, and literally only have a small department of sewing staff. The sewing is done start to finish by the same person, which I liked (and if you want to get technical, still counts as handmade). They did a little production run for me in the fall, and boy, did it help.

That's what all the drama was about two weeks ago with the textile show and the discontinued fabrics, and me, pulling my hair out. I finally received my sample yardage this week and we are going down there this morning to have samples made for market [the gift show]. I'll explain what that entails in a coming post - but believe me, this has been a huge education for someone who did not study fashion design and manufacturing.

I have no idea what I'm doing or what I'm talking about. They know this, and they still help me.

So, I hope you'll come along for the ensuing ride. It will either make me, or break me - emotionally, physically, mentally and financially - but as I said in replies to a few of you, I don't want to wake up in 10 years and think, "What if...?"

Oh - and I always feel weird sharing this, but if I don't, Scott will say, "Why didn't you post that picture?" and I'd be all, "Because it's so self serving" and he'd be, "What about 'putting it out there into the Universe'" using those little finger quotes. And then I'd be, "Dude. Don't push me."

So, here...this was in my PO Box yesterday, [it was pretty good timing] Malibu Times Magazine!

That little nagging voice; you know the one.

It's a four letter word, and not my favorite four letter word [although it also starts with F]. It's called fear, and I've been working though it for the last several [seemingly endless] weeks. Actually, scratch that. I've been working through the fear for years. Fear of failure; fear of success; fear of putting myself out there; fear of rejection; fear of making an ass of myself; fear of playing with the big guns - you name it, I've feared it.

Last year, my goal was to take my business to the next level; but looking back now, I don't even know what I thought the next level was. All I knew was that I couldn't go on the way I had been, doing everything myself; sewing everything myself; being everything myself. But I really didn't know where I wanted to go. I took a Ladies Who Launch Incubator, which is an intensive 4 week meeting with other women where you brainstorm for them, and they in turn, brainstorm for you. It was pivitol for me and was fabulous in terms of confidence building. Without it, [I know] I would have never had the nerve to fly to Chicago and pitch my apron line to the Country Living editors. That was a huge step for me. And I made it - it was amazing, and I still can't believe it, and am still so humbled.

But self-doubt has a way of creeping back into the psyche, and before you know it, it's taken root. It's hard to shake fear. It's hard to move through the fear. And yet, I still have this weird drive pushing me forward. I'm still trying, but I'm still scared. Does that make sense? Does that fear ever go away?

So, in working toward moving forward, I'm still trying to move my business to the next level. I still have no idea what that next level is. Recently, I took another big step out of my comfort zone and applied for the California Gift Show in July.

There. It's out there. I'm accountable.

And I'm pretty scared.

Yesterday, I received booth options, and once again, the fear arose. I could take a 10 x 10 booth in the middle of show, or a 5 x 10 booth in the back. I had applied for the smaller booth, thinking, it's my first show, I should be conservative. But seeing where the smaller booth was raised my doubts about the success of the show for me. And who knows, I may blow anyway. This will be the most expensive show I've every done. The larger booth is $2475, and the smaller booth is $1551. I know, we're not in Kansas anymore Toto.

There's a lot to think about, and it's been dragging me down. It's been hard to come here lately and be my normal cheery self. I think that's why I haven't been updating as much as I usually do. I have too much baggage these days - nobody wants to hear the doldrums. But this is what's going on - now you know.

This post may self destruct - but I strive to keep it real; and this is pretty real for me. Thanks for listening.