Patternmaking & Design
Suzy Furrer/Allison Page/Madeline Rogers/Laura Loveland/Sara Alm
The patternmaking and design course consists of 24 to 36 months of intensive skill building. The program enables students to become industry proficient in patternmaking, design and production. The course is self-paced and all students work through an assigned patternmaking text, Building Patterns, The Architecture of Women’s Clothing. The text was written by Suzy Furrer, the founder and Director of Apparel Arts. A small class size of 12 allows for individual attention. Students produce garments throughout the course and create an 8-piece line of clothing as their final project. No sewing or patternmaking experience is necessary, but some sewing experience is recommended. Students attend 3-hour classes once or twice a week. For more detailed information about the patternmaking and design course, click here. Required text: Building Patterns by Suzy Furrer
Construction
Pat Moyes
Students learn approximately 48 sewing techniques such as buttonholes, zippers, button fly, bias tape, mitered corners, topstitching, flat-felled seams, French seams, slot seams and many more. All students sew a sample of each and come away with a complete sample binder with notes and sewn examples. This class is for the beginning as well as advanced sewer. Students attend 3-hour classes once a week for 8 weeks.
Fashion Illustration
Paul Gallo
Learn how to get your design ideas on paper. As an experienced and versatile artist, Paul takes the students through drawing the fashion figure as well as how to render garments. Drawing is in black/white and color. No drawing experience is necessary. Students attend 3-hour classes once a week for 8 weeks. Required text: Fashion Sketchbook, 5th Edition by Bina Abling.
Textiles
Suzy Furrer
The textile class will focus on identifying fabric types. Two hundred swatches of common apparel fabrics will be given out and discussed with regard to use, price and availability. In addition, we will cover how to source fabrics and how to work with fabric reps. This class will benefit the beginner to advanced students. Students attend 3-hour classes once a week for 3 weeks.
Draping
Allison Page
Students will start with the fundamentals of draping by draping the skirt, bodice and sleeve slopers. They will then move on to collars, necklines and flares. Fun and sexy cowls and twists will be covered in the latter part of the class. Students will learn how to transfer the draped muslin onto a paper pattern. Students attend 3-hour classes once a week for 8 weeks. Required Text: Draping for Fashion Design, by Jaffe/Relis.
Continuing Draping
Allison Page
The Continuing Draping will be 4 weeks of more draping exercises from the Draping for Fashion Design text (and other sources, handouts to be provided) giving you the opportunity to continue to explore draping and gain more skills and confidence. Each time this course is offered, the exercises will vary slightly. Requirement: Draping from Apparel-Arts or equivalent.
Design Principles
Suzy Furrer
Design principles such as silhouette, line, color and texture will be our focus during this class. We will discuss spotting trends, identifying markets and tapping into creative outlets. The history of fashion from 1850 to the present will be discussed. Students will create a mood board over the course of the class.
Grading
Suzy Furrer
Learn to grade a simple skirt, pant, sleeves, collar and 2 bodices in this class. Students will learn to grade up and down from a sample size. Included is a discussion of grading terms and working with an outside grading company. Required text: Grading Techniques for Fashion Design, by Price/Zamkoff.
Apparel Production Seminar
Madeline Rogers
Turn your design ideas into marketable products. In this intensive seminar Madeline discusses each stage of development in the apparel manufacturing process, from the creative and design end to setting up a business, sourcing, sample-making, production, marketing and sales. Your sample product will be used as an example and can be taken through each of the developmental stages. Students receive numerous sample forms as well as valuable information on sourcing fabrics, business start-up information and trade shows. Students attend 4.5-hour classes three days in a row. Recommended Text: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Sewn Product Manufacturing, by Kathleen Fasanella.
Tailoring
Allison Page or Suzy Furrer
Learn to properly tailor a jacket or coat with impeccable results. Students cover pattern fit, building the inside of a jacket, pressing, welt pockets, notched collars, bound buttonholes as well a other techniques taught by an experienced tailor and teacher. Students can draft their own pattern or use a commercial pattern (list provided). Reserved for the intermediate to advanced sewer. Students attend 3-hour classes once a week for 8 weeks. Pattern and 1st mock-up should be ready on the first day of class.
Technical Design Workshop
Nicole Lenzen
Learn the fundamentals of being a Technical Designer. Workshop covers the sample process from initial specs to final production and includes tech packs, specing, and fitting. There will be a discussion on mass-produced fashion company structure & culture; sample development and production process; tech packs and software used; and points of measure, tolerances, technical sketches, construction details. Students will get hand-on experience in specing garments and determining out-of-tolerance specs and assessing construction. Nicole will demonstrate assessing the look and fit of a sample and how to make corrections on the garment, the pattern and the tech pack. She will also discuss the grade rules.
Sewing Difficult Fabrics/Seam Bindings and Finishes
Lynda Maynard
Students will learn the basics of working with velvet, charmeuse, chiffon, silky and slippery fabrics. There will be a discussion of needles, threads and interfacings. Students will learn proper layout, cutting, marking and pressing techniques and well as sewing straight and curved seams, darts and zipper applications. After working with the difficult fabrics, Lynda will demonstrate applying single and double-fold bias bindings on neckline and armhole edges. Students will work with knits and wovens while attending 6-hour classes once a week for 3 weeks.
Couture Sewing School
Susan Khalje
Learn the fine art of couture sewing from couturier Susan Khalje. This course is a 6-day intensive devoted to creating a one-of-a-kind gown or other garment. During the session, you will plan your project and sew the creation. Couture techniques and details will be incorporated into each garment. An intermediate to advanced sewing skill level is required to benefit from this excellent course. Students can draft their own pattern or use a commercial pattern. Pattern and 1st mock-up should be ready on the first day of class.
Couture French Jacket Class
Susan Khalje
If you have always admired the French couture jacket which has been popular since the 60’s, this class is what you have been waiting for. Work with your fantastic tweedy or nubby wools and include trims and buttons for an authentic look. Get enough fabric for a straight skirt and you will have a suit that never goes out of style. An intermediate to advanced sewing skill level is required to benefit from this class. Students can draft their own pattern or use a commercial pattern. This class is a 6-day intensive. Pattern and 1st mock-up should be ready on the first day of class.
Very Basic Sewing
Sara Alm
Very Basic Sewing is for the beginner sewer with little or no experience with a sewing machine. Students will learn the ins and outs of the sewing machine (machines provided in class) and how to read a pattern. Students will sew a simple sling bag by Amy Butler (Birdie Sling) www.amybutlerdesign.com. Be sure to bring all fabric and notions to the first day of class. If the Birdie Sling style is not your style, try this easy messenger bag: www.burdastyle.com/patterns/show/3829.
Beyond the Organic Label: How to Produce Ecological Color for Artisan Textile Production
Rebecca Burgess
Sustainable textile production is a growing industry and market–and thankfully there are many opportunities to ‘green’ the life cycle of our clothes. While the focus remains primarily on organic fabrics, there remains a huge gap between true sustainability and the colors of our clothes. As we seek to lower our carbon footprint, and move away from petroleum byproducts–the future of synthetic dye use becomes questionable. This class offers participant the ability to create colors from local native and weedy plant species, as well as how to navigate ordering natural dye stuffs to your front door. A one-hour presentation on the local and global reality of color production will be followed by an all day, hands-on class, where we will dye our own organic wool, silk, cotton, hemp, and a series of natural fiber blends. Materials fee: $12/ bring a bag to take home your items (they will be a bit damp!)
Tech Pack Workshop Integrating Illustrator and Excel
Eileen Jang
This workshop will teach the basics of Adobe Illustrator as they relate to drawing garment flat sketches. The Illustrator basics will include how to use Bezier curves, layering techniques, and other various tools that will produce simple garments that are drawn using a croquis as a guide. The second part of the workshop will integrate Illustrator and Excel to produce a working tech pack. Required: Laptop computer loaded with Adobe Illustrator CS3 or CS4, and Microsoft Excel.