Anyone make their own clothes?

[thomas_highstreet]

its a completely different kettle of fish getting fabric mills to make a new fabric to your design and getting a small sample shop to do a 10run order.

[the Repeater]

It's hard enough to get what i already know is in production in sample quantities; 3K/bolt + shipping if you can even get the manufacturer to supply you with what you need in the first place, sticking their name out there for a little independent whoever.

Doesn't help that everything I want is made overseas w/o English translated sites or sales associates.

[OCEANSECT]

ok

first, sorry, i meant sewers not cutters

second, i swear the sewing is all possible and furthermore easy. honestly, just go to immigrant areas in your city (sorry this sounds so stupid but anyway continuing on) look for upstairs buildings in metropolitan areas near china town or whatever that have the window blinds drawn and then go find out if they are sewing shops.

they most likely wont speak enough english for you to communicate anyway except by hand gestures and their extensive knowledge of sewing and your sample, so it won't matter that its also hard to communicate with factories in china.

be like, i need ten of these, they'll be like ok 20 dollars each and then you pay it and boom you have ten shirts. or whatever, really bad guesstimate.

3k per bolt is expensive, look harder for places you can get cheaper fabric. what you want is probably already made somewhere anyway.

but

if you're dead set on getting your own fabric then good luck.

honestly no hate, i'm just trying to help you. i don't really know anything about you or anything, just, i think it will be easier to get started more simple than custom fabrics and etc. there are so many mills out there in the world that it will be almost impossible to run into your exact fabric anyway even if it isn't custom.

[OCEANSECT]

does anyone have any experience printing on goretex and or other generic water proof breathables?

[thomas_highstreet]

water based inks (that air cure).

[dino might]

for a christmas gift i made this today on one of the hand flat knitting machines in the lab at school. pretty happy with it.

the yarn is simple, bulky acrylic and after steaming and pressing it came out with such a soft hand and in the right light has a bit of a golden glimmer

Edited December 15, 2011 by dino might

[Emillion]

Going to study this thread as if my life depended on it.

Great stuff guys!

[delpher]

wow some of the stuff in here is beautiful

are there more DIY threads around here??

Edited February 7, 2012 by delpher

[AYIYI]

anyone got any tutorials on how to make oversized but sort of tailored T-shirts? kind of like the Rick Owens ones?

[Lemurian]

just fuck with the pattern.

[radial]

anyone got any tutorials on how to make oversized but sort of tailored T-shirts? kind of like the Rick Owens ones?

Rotate seams to back and lengthen; repeat

But the fit is only half of a Rick shirt, the fabrics are incredible (ribbed silk/viscose, unstable cotton, etc) and good luck finding something comparable

Edited February 19, 2012 by radial

[seabass]

Hello sufurers! I have designed and fabricated some shirts in collaboration with my mother - who was a seamstress and had her own line in the 70s. She's taught me how to sew and I ask her for help when I'm totally stumped on how to do certain things. They are here:

Not really taking any custom orders right now- we're trying to get a shop up and running by the end of the year though.

[AYIYI]

that shirt with the club collar and camo pocket is freaking amazing!

[ruco]

[seabass]

that shirt with the club collar and camo pocket is freaking amazing!

yeah the club collar was actually (and surprisingly) very difficult to make. it has to taper at a certain rate or else it warps and looks like shit. i flew back home for the holidays, and when i was there I had my mom do it. it took us 3 versions before getting it right. if you ever see a shirt with a club collar and it's NOT more expensive than the rest, you should get it because it's definitely crafted carefully.

[otlyaa]

hey ruco nice knits. i started knitting a few months ago and wondered how long did it take you to complete the plain red cap? did you use a circular needle or double pointeds? im looking for some simple projects to undertake in my spare time. any guides you recommend?

making some socks atm will probably post up when they're done

[ruco]

^^ to be fair my wife stitched it, i just chose the wool and drew the designs which I ripped from visvim. she used double pointed needles and it too 3 hours. the stitching method was the opposite of the 'pearl' method, the slip stitch.

I'll post some sock pics shortly, those came out interesting to say the least. we used wool from ardelaine in the ardeche and after a month of wear they developed holes. that particular wool is better suited to sweaters than socks.

Edited February 29, 2012 by ruco

[otlyaa]

hey thanks for the heads up on that wool. the kind im using for my socks is a sock weight 50/25/25 superwashmerino/bamboo/nylon on double point 2mm. its taking me forever since the tube is ribbed and im just getting used to the needle size.

3hrs is cool ill be glad when i can knit something that fast.

[Desaturated]

I'm interested in making my own pair of jeans, can anyone share any tips/give a rough price estimate? I've never sewn or anything but I want to try my hand at it and perhaps I'll get the hang of it.

Edited March 16, 2012 by Desaturated

[OCEANSECT]

I'm interested in making my own pair of jeans, can anyone share any tips/give a rough price estimate? I've never sewn or anything but I want to try my hand at it and perhaps I'll get the hang of it.

Ok I'll assume you have a machine, and can figure out a pattern or how to flat pattern or whatever and just talk price.

You can find denim anywhere from like $8 to $20 a yard, and then way more than that, depending. If you want selvege denim you're probably looking at $11 to $15 a yard, and up from that. You know, it all depends, you can pay up to any amount. You probably want 2-3 yards of denim. If you're good it will probably take less than 2, but just to be safe since it's your first time, so I'll estimate that to like $30.

I don't know about the hardware, but I can't imagine it's that expensive. So probably around $20 all together, but that really is a guess. But zippers and whatever else aren't that expensive.

Pocket cotton doesn't really cost that much since you'll only be buying a little bit, and string is only a few bucks.

So probably like $50, depending. Less if you buy cheap denim (but why go too cheap when you're trying to make yourself something?) or more if you buy expensive stuff.

[Desaturated]

damn thanks for the help my dude.

edit:

so I don't have a machine or know anything about pattern...machine is pretty self explanatory but pattern?

Edited March 17, 2012 by Desaturated

[delpher]

Anyone know where I'd begin if I wanted to make something crazy like this?

http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvrdai0uvf1qa40s8o1_400.jpg

I'm interested in doing it for fun.

[OCEANSECT]

damn thanks for the help my dude.

edit:

so I don't have a machine or know anything about pattern...machine is pretty self explanatory but pattern?

um idk man i used to work as a cutter for a womenswear line and the past few things i've made i just flat pattern things and copy things i have.

how you do that is just figure out what all the pieces of a garment are, and then carefully copy them with some seam allowance (can be however much you like, you know, half an inch or so probably) so you have room to sew, ie not make it smaller. i just put a piece of clothing on top of fabric and cut around the pieces with a little extra room for sewing.

idk if thats like something easy to do, so maybe you want to go down to a sewing store and ask them about patterns, or maybe you want to try it out with paper or something first to see if you can do it.

if you have a pattern from online, a book, a friend, where ever, you just make pattern pieces out of it on something stiff (maybe) or i know people who do it on butcher paper. actually, a lot of industry people just print out pieces on huge printers, but anyway, you want to just make a pattern piece, cut it out of paper, and then put the paper on the fabric and a weight on top of both so they don't move around and cut it out.

i've never really bought a pattern so i don't know how that works, but if you just ask at a fabric store i'm sure they would help you. or maybe your mom will know or whatever. they're pretty self explanatory i think, just be careful you put all the pieces together right.

and remember that making clothing is hard so it won't be easy and you'll probably mess up but try and have fun with it. when you buy a pair of jeans, they're made by someone very skilled, even if they're really cheap jeans. you won't be that skilled. you haven't made hundreds or thousands of pairs of jeans. but you can definitely do it, if you just work at it and take it slow.

also make sure you measure twice, cut once.

and even if you mess up, its not the end of the world.

also cut symmetrical things together, ie cut both legs at the same time by folding the fabric in half. make sure you do mirrored images, ie, fold it face face or the other way around.

and also also (sorry, keep thinking of things), you might want to change something and not just copy what you own, because it probably won't be as nice as whatever you're copying. you know, use different colors or something. changing the cut might be too complicated, idk, but you can try that too.

i just. uh. i don't know if you'll be disappointed if you try to directly copy a pair of jeans, because it probably won't come out as nice. so i would try to include things that will make you like it more, ie improve anything you copy.

not saying you're trying to copy something, just saying don't copy anything.

i mean, copy fits you like, whatever, but don't try to copy branding and that stuff. make it your own, because you're making it.

and yeah, most importantly, have fun. and don't skip out on important details.

i think somewhere in the denim section there's a really cool photo essay sort of series of posts about some artisan guy in japan who makes denim, and it has a lot of really informative pictures. that might be of use to you, idk.

god ok, one more: it also gets a lot easier the more you do, and you'll never stop learning things if you keep going with it.

and i'm not an expert really on any of this. just some guy who used to cut cloth and now makes some clothing sometimes.

Edited March 29, 2012 by OCEANSECT

[ruco]

took a bunch of vintage jap panels and sewed a together a scarf -

[yalla]

Been sewing personally since junior high due to the unavailability of slim fit blanks for my too skinny graphic t-shirts at that moment.

Recently purchased a couple of industrial sewing machines off the closed garment factory nearby. Made this as a test before I make the real ones using fine materials on their way to be delivered from Europe. First I was 'shocked' at how fast these machine sew compared to my Brother & old nana's Butterfly, but I managed to finished this quite well . Now I can see what need to be changed. What u guys think?

Materials: cotton twill, way too thick PU leather, poly rib, poly lining, Gutermann poly sew all thread.

PS: Thx to my cuz for being a willing guinea pig haha!

[macksam88]

I design / make a couple of clothes for myself on the side for fun.

Heres a link to my site.

www.mack-sam.com

[Goosee]

I want to design my own knitwear, still studying until now

later I'll post here

[Inkinsurgent]

i overdyed these grey chinos i didnt wear anymore black and they came out way too flat looking. so took a piece of sandpaper to them, roughed the edges up, and then soaked it in a bleach/water solution. they came out this crazy rust brown color, with highlights where the bleach caught on the sanded fibers. it almost looks like worn leather now. the contrast in the pictures is a bit too harsh, irl its all more subtle.

should i overdye them again with a dilluted black dye solution to darken them up (not black, just darker than this) or keep them like this?

i also chucked in a fucked up old tee just for shits and giggles but it didn't come out as interesting.

[b3n]

made my first jacket. used canvas and a furry lining, turned inside out so you can't tell it's furry. pretty sloppy, but for my first go im satisfied.

[CHINESEGOLD]

This is a question for all you fine sufu craftsmen. How much do you think it costs to make a Visvim noragi? And do you think it would be possible to create something very similar fairly easily? I ask this because it resembles my kendo keiko gi although with a slimmer cut and being a high school student I can't really afford to drop 300+ on this.