Pattern Design & Sewing in the Big Apple!

I've spent the last month in Neww Yorrrk! Attending pattern design and sewing classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Its been an amazing experience and I recommend it to anyone interested in pursuing a career in Fashion. There are many credit & non-credit courses open to the public in design, business, illustration, styling etc. I researched other schools and living expenses around the world and found this to be the cheapest option as a Bermudian wanting to attain the skills but not a degree.

Be warned though, FIT is no joke! The courses are extremely intense, especially during the Winterium and Summer terms when they pack a 13 week course into 3 weeks. I wouldn't recommend taking more than 1 course in those terms... my bad!

The Sewing Techniques course was a lot of fun. Professor Middleton was a real joker, but she kept the class at a high pace making it easy to fall behind. We made a straight skirt, a dickie, and a shirt with buttons/collar etc... and learned how to create a number of useful seams. The hardest part was keeping the jumpy industrial machines under control! Most of the work was done in class which was lucky for me because of the huge amount of work I had to do for my pattern design class.

My Flatt Pattern Design class with Professor Korr gave that lazy Bermudian in me a huge kick in the ass from the very first day. It started out with 20 people and by the end of it 9 people were left. After creating our own slopers to fit our body forms, we learned how to create drafts and final patterns for stylized seams, gathers, pleats, tucks & dart tucks in sleeves, bodices & skirts by manipulating darts and using the slash and spread technique.

We were assigned projects twice a week, 6 in total, (in addition to our classwork, which no one ever actually finished in class, AND homework) to create a 2 drafts, patterns & muslin for each part of a garment. Here is the short puff sleeve I created...

...and a princess line bodice with buttons and a collar.

As a class we decided on the theme "Coney Island" as our inspiration for our Final Term Garment. Here are a few of the images from Coney Island that I chose as my inspiration.

I was mostly inspired by the actual boardwalk, or underneath the boardwalk... My classmates informed me that this is where the real fun takes place.. ;) I particularly enjoyed the way the lines of wood crossed and converged.

The garment had to be a one or two piece dress and include a collar, yoke or midriff, and a closure of some sort. I created a wrap dress with diagonal tucks, dart tucks and gathers that merged into straight seams similar to the panels of wood in the boardwalk. The back of my garment is what I was most excited about. It had a panelled yoke with a triangular cut-out and a row of gathers underneath.

I was supposed to be here for a month... but I'm learning way too much and meeting too many cool people to leave just yet! Spring classes started on Monday and its time for me to learn a bit about the basics of draping... :)

See you in May Bermy!