Part SEVEN: A Style is Born

The fabric has been cut.  Now all the pieces need to be sewn together.  Remember how many different prints and sizes?  Well, the sewers use the cut tickets to figure out what goes where.  All the sizes are bundled and organized correctly.

Often we will have 3-4 sewers working on ONE style at a time.  One person will sew the bodices, another person sews all the skirts together, a third person sews the finished pieces together to create the dress.

In order to sew efficiently, the sewers don't cut all the little threads when they complete a seam.  They know these will be taken care of during "Finishing".  Finishing includes trimming all the loose threads, checking the quality of the garment....

...applying the hang tag, and finally folding or hanging the garment.

Now everything is ready be picked up and delivered to the TwirlyGirl Headquarters.  Orders are waiting!  Heather and Robyn arrive with the empty rolling racks.

And we leave with full rolling racks.

Hope you enjoyed seeing how it's all made!  We do have NEW styles that are being sewn as I write this.  After they are photographed, you will get a chance to name them for the website before they are available for purchase! 
You will need to join our page in order to see the new styles and put in your suggestions.

Part EIGHT:  New Styles: The Name Game

 Next Post: July 2nd (the names will be revealed)

Leave your questions or comments below.  We LOVE your feedback.  Visit us at TwirlyGirlShop.com  and email us at Love2Twirl@TwirlyGirlShop.com
Thanks so much for being a part of the journey!
Cynthia

Part SIX: Get this party started! Production Begins

Now that I've gotten all the fabric, I'm prepared to move full speed ahead.  (Reality check: About 5 months have passed since the initial idea to where I am now, at the cutting house.)  There is no turning back at this point. Once the garments are cut, they can't be adjusted or changed.

 

As you can see from the completed cut tickets, I'm creating 2 different versions of the same dress.

Next, the cutting team needs to make their own Spread tickets.  They have to know how many layers or "plys" to spread for each size.  If I'm asking for 4 size 10's, then they know they need 4 plys.  It can get pretty confusing depending upon how many different fabrics or "contrasts" are used for EACH dress.  And each version is not getting the same amount of each size!  I'm getting dizzy just writing about it.

Here I am helping spread the fabric.  Time doesn't usually permit me to get so hands on, but it's fun to be in on the process.

Once we get the roll of fabric on the rack.  We lay it down and then cut it at the correct place for those sizes needed.  Ingrid and I are doing it together here.  But most of the time Ingrid would be cutting one side, then walking around to cut the other side.  Or hopping up on the table, depending on how adventurous she's feeling.

As we are spreading the fabric, we look for damages and imperfections.  Most rolls are perfect, but sometimes there are flaws and this is our last chance to find them before being sewed together.  All we have to do is cut off the bad piece and continue, easy.  (Occasionally, flawed fabric makes it through all the way.  If the damage is small, the piece will be posted in our SALE section on our website and listed as Perfectly Imperfect). 

The tables are quite long because the markers (paper pattern pieces) for most styles are typically 10-20 yards, at least.  Underneath this fabric are other plys. 

In this case I'm doing 3 different versions of the same style.  So there would be 3 different fabrics on top of each other (bodice fabrics pictured below).

If the styles are using stretchy knit fabrics, it's important to let the fabric relax for 24 hours (typically we have to do this for all my styles).  The act of spreading actually stretches the fabric more than it needs to be.  If knits are cut right after they are spread, the fabric will actually shrink back in, making all the cuts inaccurate.  You can imagine how this would mess up all the sizing and sewing!  Everything would come out smaller and misshapen.
Once the fabric has settled.  It's now time to roll out the paper marker.  This has all the exact pattern pieces in every size. 

Ingrid (so cool) then uses a special fabric cutter that "saws" through all the plys.  She follows the thin lines on the marker.

The finished cuts are then bundled together and stacked by size.

Whew!  That was intense.  Sew, what's next?

Part SEVEN: A Style is Born!
Next post:  June 20th

Leave your questions or comments below.  We LOVE your feedback.  Or email us at twirlygirlshop@gmail.com or visit us at TwirlyGirlShop.com.
Thanks so much for being a part of the journey!
Cynthia  

 

 

Part FIVE: Mix vs Match, let the games begin!

When last we left off, the fabric had been bought and delivered to the cutting house. Now it's just sitting there waiting to be used. So I head back to the TwirlyGirl Global Headquarters to figure it all out!

 

Whenever I head to the elevator of my building, I'm always reminded of the "Get Smart" theme music.  Sorry if you're too young to get that reference :)

Once in my office, I gather all my swatches from the rolls I've purchased and lay them out on the table. I group them by colors -- or rather cliques -- so that I can get a sense of what I have to work with. Then I just start playing with them. "Who's going to be Ms. Pretty Peach Butterfly's friend? She's quiet, so she needs a sweet friend." "Ms. Purple over there, she a STAR. I've got to put her with someone who doesn't mind not getting all the attention." A little unconventional maybe, but it works for me. 

You might find it odd, but purple is one of the hardest colors to find. Like a special friend that you only get to see occasionally. 

Typically, I just buy what I love and they all come together organically, I love mixing it all up. But sometimes, I just happen to find a combination of prints at the same time.

I spotted these beauties from different places on the shelf and just reunited them as they should be, like 3 sisters. I love these black prints together, I couldn't believe my luck. I rarely do the matchy-matchy thing, but in this case it works for me. 

Once I decide on which fabrics go together, I have to relay that information to the cutters and sewers. To do this, I have to put together a "cut ticket". Here's an example of one:

This next part is really fun. I'm going to take you to the cutting house to see how this process unfolds.

Part SIX: Get this party started! Production begins
Next post: June 13th 

Leave your questions or comments below.  We LOVE your feedback.  Or email us at twirlygirlshop@gmail.com or visit us at TwirlyGirlShop.com.
Thanks so much for being a part of the journey!
Cynthia 

Part FOUR: Picking Out Fabric (my kind of candy store)

Stoffa, tela, schmata.  Different languages for the same word:  fabric.  Fabric shopping is like going on a treasure hunt in a giant candy store.  Will I find the perfect prints?  Will I discover something totally unexpected and brilliant?  Most of the time, the answer is YES.  I have four favorite places that I go in downtown, Los Angeles.  These fabric houses do not carry remnants or "end of bolts".  They get special prints specifically made for them.  I'm only interested vendors that carry the best, hiqh quality fabrics with a unique selection.  

I know, it looks totally overwhelming. Over time, I've learned where all my prints like to hide. It'a a sixth sense. The fabrics just "call to me." And they usually call from the most out of reach places. Yep, I spot one at the very top!

Sometimes I'm looking for very specific prints or solid colors.  But usually, I'm just looking for something new.  The prints are inspiring and often "tell me" how they want to be used.  It's fun to just be in the moment and see what I can create from what I find on any given day.  Because TwirlyGirl does only small production runs of every style, I get to go shopping for fabric often.  It's a real joy! 

 

Once I've decided on what I want, the vendor needs to roll each print separately to determine the yardage.  This is a good time to check for damages, as well.  The white behind the fabric is actually a light which illuminates the fabric.  Very rarely do we find a roll that has flaws, but it does happen.  It's always best to catch any issues BEFORE the fabric is bought, cut and sewn!  

After I purchase the fabric, we load them into the delivery van where they are taken to the cutting house.

There about 20-25 rolls packed inside.  Each roll is about 70 yards - that's about 1610 yards all together to play with... my kind of playground.
Now it's finally time to start figuring out what fabric goes with which style.

Part FIVE:  Mix vs. Match, let the games begin!
Next post: June 6th 

Leave your questions or comments below.  We LOVE your feedback.  Or email us at twirlygirlshop@gmail.com or visit us at TwirlyGirlShop.com.
Thanks so much for being a part of the journey!
Cynthia