Chapter 4 The Textile and Apparel Industry
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satisfactory, 4-5. Then a sample maker sews the design together. A live model
displays the sample garment for the designers and production managers. They
consider the design itself, the latest fashion
trends, and the costs of making garments
from that design. If they accept the design,
the garment is put into production.
Very few designers get a fi rst job as a
top designer. Designers usually begin in
another position. Eventually they move
up into a design position. Some entry-level
jobs that may lead to designer positions are
sample maker, sketching assistant, sketcher,
and design assistant.
Becoming a designer requires special
training. High school courses in art, cloth-
ing and textiles, computer science, history,
and psychology are helpful. Fashion insti-
tutes, trade schools, and universities offer
two- and four-year programs specializing
in fashion design.
Production
The garment-making process involves
many workers who perform the multiple
steps for completing a garment. After the
sample maker completes the designer’s
new garment, designers and producers
may make changes or additions. Then a
production pattern maker makes a perfect
master pattern. Pattern graders take the
master pattern and adapt it into a wide range of sizes. They make reductions
or enlargements of each piece of the master pattern to get the different sizes.
Most manufacturers, however, use computer programs to create the master
patterns and the various sizes.
After grading or sizing the patterns, spreaders lay out the fabric on a long
table. The fabric must be smooth and straight. A machine helps spreaders cre-
ate many layers of fabric.
Markers are employees who decide how to place the pattern pieces to
prevent as much fabric waste as possible. When making thousands of gar-
ments, saving a few inches of fabric per garment can add up to many yards.
Most production plants have computer systems that place the pattern pieces
electronically.
At this point, cutters cut through the layers of fabric with power saws or
electric cutting machines. Computerized knife cutters, water-jet cutters, or
lasers also cut through layers of fabrics, 4-6. Lasers use intense beams of light
that vaporize the fabric, making fast and precise cuts. Such cutters may cut
through as many as 100 layers of fabric often a foot high at a time.
The hundreds of pieces of cloth are numbered, gathered, and put into
bundles by sorters or assemblers. The bundles then move to the sewing room.
4-5 This fashion
designer is sketching
her ideas.