✂-Designer's Tip of The Day- Vintage Buttons

Vintage Buttons are one way to make a garment look unique.
Because vintage glass buttons are becoming harder to come by, I recommend picking them up when ever you come across ones that you really like! Many of the older buttons have more detail and charm than newer buttons.
I personally LOVE collecting vintage buttons, leaving them on the cards and even framing them!

✂-Designer's Tip of The Day- Stitches

The importance of different stitch techniques-

Stay Stitch- Wenever you need to clip a curve or cut to a point, it is a good idea to stay stitch first.  Stay stitching is a line of stitching that is sewn just to the right of the seam line in the seam allowance, as close as possible to the seam but on on it.

Understitch- Understitiching is mostly used to keep facings and linings from rolling to the outside and showing.  It also helps to keep edges flatter.  To understitch, clip curves and grade the seam if necessary.  Move all of the seam allowances and the lining or facing to one side, Lay the garment to the left and the seam allowances and the lining or facinging to the right.  To the right of the seam line and as close to the seam as possible, stitch the seam allowances and the linging or facing together.  It helps to use a zipper foot.

Stitch in the Ditch- Basically, it is sewing on top of a seam that already exists.  It is very useful for attaching waistbands and sewing some parts of the linings to the garment from the right side.

Source- Twinkle Sews by Wenlan Chia

✂-Designer's Tip of The Day-"Healthy Competition" Words from Karl Lagerfeld

http://videos.nymag.com/video/Karl-Lagerfeld-Likes-Healthy-Co

I can't help but LOVE Karl Lagerfeld!  Though he comes across as being arrogant sometimes, he has been in the business for many years designing for one of the most prestigious fashion houses of our time. 
Every designer has his or her own source of inspiration.... I, however, find Mr. Lagerfeld's to be quite amusing. 
Happy Friday! ♥

✂-The Designer's Tip of The Day- Croquis

A Croquis is a template used to draw flat or technical sketches.  Flat sketches are the diagrammatical detailed drawings of your design work.  They are graphic, clearly drawn explanation of the garment, showing all the construction details, such as seams, darts, pockets, fastentings and topstitching.  The flats are drawn with no figure represented, but to scale and as the name suggests in a flat rendering.  They will also show the front and the back of the garment, something that is often forgotten in the design sketch or fashion illustration.

I personally find  a croquis helpful when working on a custom garment so that I can translate details to the client.  They're also very useful for sketches used in line sheets, cost sheets and pattern making.

Source- Research and Design by Simon Seivewright and How to Draw Drape Fashion Models by Felip Sanchez and Nancy Picot Riegelman

✂-The Designer's Tip of The Day- Vintage Sewing Books

Vintage sewing books are great resources for inspiration.  Many of the older techniques have been forgotten, I have found that by flipping through the pages of dated resources I've learned a "new" way of constructing a garment.  We live in a time where things are rushed, but sometimes taking a little moment to hand sew something can make a garment that much more exquisite.

✂-Designer's Tip of The Day-Tips for Knits

Tips for sewing knits:

Knits are easy to sew and comfortable to wear.  They can be used to sew a wide variety of garments.  It is easier to fit garments made from knits than those made from woven fabrics, because knits stretch and designs for knits tend to have less complicated lines.

Pattern Layout-When laying out and cutting pattern pieces on knits always use a "with nap" pattern layout.  Knits have a directional quality that shows up as difference in color shading in the complete garment.

Needles- Light weight knits use a 70/9. Medium weight knits use 80/11, and for heavy weight use 90/14.

Seams- Prevend distorted or rippled seams by reducing the pressure on the presser foot.  This can be done by pressing down on the back of the presser foot with your thumb, lifting the front of the foot.  Or adjust the pressure bar on the sewing machine.

Knit fabrics normally do not fray, making seam finishes unnecessary.

Source-Singer Sewing with Knits by Singer

✂-Designer's Tip of The Day- Grading

Grading is the pocess of proportionally increasing or decreasing a master pattern according to a prescribed set of body measurements.  Each piece of pattern is shifted and traced step by step while at the same time the original style lines of the pattern are maintained.  It is the skill, for instance, of changeing a size 10 into a well fitting size 14, without losing the style proportions established by the designer.
The diagram above shows how a basic bodice pattern is increased in size evenly throughout the whole pattern, by using a specific  "grade".  The increases or decreases of measurement between the sizes is referred to as the grade. The grade varies according to the type of measurement: circumference, length or width.

Source- Grading Techniques for Modern Design by Jeanne Price & Bernard Zamkoff