Clothier Design Source is excited to announce our new stitch capabilities!
This spread stitch is flat, non abrasive, and has great stretch. Using this stitch is a less expensive alternative to flat locking but has a similar function. It’s perfect for creating an updated look to your designs.
This stitch is ideal for high stretch knits and athletic wear. Contact us to learn how you can implement this new capability into your designs.
We’re one step higher on the apparel production chain… Clothier Design Source has gotten its hands on a brand new Apparel Digitizing system!
We now have the capability to turn hand patterns and slopers into digital files, literally at the touch of a mouse.
As a designer, you have spent countless hours scrutinizing over your patterns; the blue print for the exact fit of the garment that you have imagined. The fastest way to manage, alter, and send all the information that the pattern holds is to digitize the hard copies.
Digitizing patterns will allow you to upload your work into any CAD system around the world. The retrieval and reprinting can be done in a matter of minutes, rather than a matter of days with paper copies. Sorting through styles can be a long and messy process with handling multiple hard copies. With keeping an electronic digitized copy, you will be able to refer to your work quickly.
No longer will you have to worry about the changes that accidentally occur with hand copying or the wear and tear of retracing and handling. Revisions and modifications are no longer a messy and dauntingly long hand process.
Digitizing services are cost effective; you only pay for patterns you need to digitize.
All we need from you is your pattern with the desired markings, such as grain lines, piece names, and notches, and a pattern card listing the pieces and the fabric type.
For those of you interested in taking your patterns to the next step, you can have one of our master patternmakers make revisions, modifications, and grade your patterns to make sure your finished garment is exactly what you want.
In most cases fabric is one of the largest costs you will encounter in manufacturing. Fabric costs can take up around 25-40% of your total manufacturing costs. Clothier Design Source is here to get you the best fabric yield results. The following examples are just a few factors that can affect your fabric yield:
1.) Pattern- Most patterns can be efficiently placed into a cutting marker; however there are cases where some odd shaped pattern pieces can make your fabric yield worse.
The following is a marker for 3 halter tank tops (Figure1a.). In this case, to help our efficiency it is better to make the design choice to put a seam in the straps to help save on fabric costs. (figure 1b.)
Figure 1A – 54% Efficiency
Figure 1B – 77% Efficiency
2.) Fabric Width- Fabric yield can also be greatly effected by your cuttable fabric width. Cuttable fabric width is the width of your fabric minus the selvage edges which are uncuttable due to print margin, framing pin holes, etc.
See the difference in fabric efficiency for the following markers. Figure 2A uses a 45” cuttable width fabric and yields 89% efficiency. Figure 2B uses a 60” cuttable width fabric and yields 100% efficiency. In this case it would be best for the fabric costs to source a 60” cuttable width fabric.
Figure 2A – 45″ wide fabric
Figure 2B – 60″ wide fabric
3.) Marker Layout- Clothier Design Source uses our skilled marker makers to get you the best marker layout for your product. See Figures 3a & 3b to see the difference that a good layout can make.
Figure 3A – 75% Efficiency
Figure 3B – 80% Efficiency
Time and time again we run into collars that are not shaped and cause the back of the collar to not fold down far enough to cover the neck seam.
We generally cut off the collar and start anew by using draping methods. If you’d like to see how to add just the right amount of shaping to a collar to fold down the perfect amount naturally… read on to see the step by step.
Check out one of our clients who is making it big! Clothier Design Source provides development, sourcing and manufacturing services to Helo and we are proud of their accomplishments!
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/eightwest/Helo_Shorts_Hello_Beach
We are finishing up production for our skiwear client and everyone looks great! All made right here in St Paul MN! Check it out below!
Before getting into the definition of spec sheets, let me first tell you the many names that spec sheets go by:
specification sheets, tech packs & technical specification sheets to name a few.
The simple definition of a spec sheet is a series of pages with information encompassing all the details that is takes to price out and to make an item correctly.
It is basically a blueprint for the manufacturer.
The main benefits of it are to acquire pricing from several sources at once, less costly than making a sample, and once you move to manufacturing it is a document that the manufacturer should agree to adhere to. Should the manufacturer fall out of tolerance of items stated on the spec or neglect to put details on the garment related to the spec, they are at fault. This helps quality control, is easy to evaluate garments from manufacturers and gives you a legal reason to demand better quality or money back.
Some people think making apparel is going to be easy- it’s not! There are many things the untrained person will assume the manufacturer will understand about their brand, vision, and or style. You will surely go through many samples and much headache getting the sample correct without a spec sheet of all the details thought out before hand. Simple things like stitches per inch, thread color, interlinings, pocket bag attachment, fit etc…. can cause a garment to look terrible and function terrible.
Lastly, one of the main functions of a spec sheet or tech pack is to provide POMs (points of measure) from all sizes. This is very important to your sell through and resales to have a good fitting garment for all sizes not just your base size. If you are having trouble getting good quality from your manufacturer and/ or sample maker or if you are thinking about getting started in this endeavor…. remember pattering is engineering and asking a builder to build something with out a blue print is just not a good idea! Best of luck making your dreams a reality!
Please join our discussion at MN Fashion Organization about this ever growing domestic industry! Let’s work to keep the industry local and affordable for designers and end consumers!
See details below.
Have you ever asked yourself “what are duty rates and why are they important”, well I am going to tell you the most important elements you need to know about duty rates.
Duty rates are commodity codes which define how each good is treated and how much duty is payable. The rate of duty is shown as a percentage rate calculated on the value of the goods. This is important to know if you are importing goods from overseas.
If you are unfamiliar with how to find duty rates, you can look up by the HTS, or harmonized traffic system, online under www.cbp.gov . Now keep in mind this is document is about the size of an unabridged dictionary; so the search key is very important. This document holds all the information regarding every item you can imagine. When determining the HTS and duty rate it all depends on the item and is specific details, this can mean for example, if are searching for a the HTS and duty rate on a Cotton knit women’s shirt, you will need to advise if it is for everyday wear or sleepwear. This will help determine the information needed to import your goods but please remember the rate is only determined based on the information you provide.
The other detail that is very important is that even if you find your HTS and duty rate on this site, this is not 100% guaranteed. CBP will determine the final correct duty when all the correct paperwork has been processed by your factory to import your goods.
One final note, duty rates do not change based on the country your goods are coming out of if you are bringing them into the US, unless the specific country you are working out of has a written trade agreement with the US. For example some countries manufacture fabric that is duty free so if you use it in the item you are importing you may be eligible for importing your goods duty free. You can look up duty free countries on the www.cbp.gov website as well.