Get garments into a store
With Gina Morris, co-owner of Radish Underground
Saturday, February 18, 2-5 pm $48
Showing posts with label apparel business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apparel business. Show all posts
Monday, February 6, 2012
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Fashion show boosts Portland fashion community, women's shelter
Everybody needs a sanctuary in these troubled times – a place of joy and hope for the future.
Saturday, April 16 brings such sanctuary to Portland in the form of a hopeful vision for the city’s fashion business.
On that day, Portland Sewing brings together eight emerging designers for a “Garden Party Fashion Event.”
“Part of our vision is to create a market center for the apparel industry here in Portland,” says Portland Sewing owner Sharon Blair, “We have so much talent here, why not?”
Portland Sewing, 2111 NE 43rd, is a prep and finishing school for those seeking jobs in fashion design and the apparel industry. It offers classes from beginning sewing to patternmaking, fashion design and apparel business – from how to start your own business to hiring sales representatives.
Many of Portland’s designers have studied with Blair, including those featured at the show. Two students, Gretchen Jones and Janeane Marie, have gone on to compete on Project Runway.
Designers featured at the garden party event are:
-- Bryce Black, Grey Gardens. StudioSKB is Sharon Blair’s line of clothing. This year she is turning it around and using the label to launch a designer a year. This year, the designer is Bryce Black. Black soon will graduate from Art Institute. His clothes have been featured in Portland Monthly. His Fall 2011 collection, Grey Gardens, set the tone for the garden party fashion event. It is inspired by the documentary and film about Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis’ relatives.
-- Alicia Wood, Ms. Wood. Wood studied at Parsons before coming to Portland and Portland Sewing. She combines draped kimono sleeves with fabrics such as silk, chiffon and leather. Her line includes obi belts, hats, bags, jewelry and handcrafted shoes. She was named Best Emerging Designer of 2010 at last year’s Portland Fashion Week.
-- Alyson Clair, Clair Vintage Inspired, aims to flatter all womanly figures. Her line ranges from XS to XL and is made primarily of knits. “I take a lot of pride in the fact that my entire line is designed and manufactured right here in Portland, Ore.,” she says.
-- Nyla Jano’s Torrain line of accessories was inspired by a trip to Cambodia. She recycles rice bags into purses, wallets, handbags and backpacks. She wants to encourage style mixed with a global conscience.
-- Robin Forsythe, Estate, sells her clothes at Portland boutiques Union Rose, Sofada and Tumbleweed. Estate upcycles fabrics to create apparel from existing fabrics, preferably made from natural fibers. She chooses subdued colors and textures.
-- Stephanie Dong, Stephanie D Couture. She uses her bachelors degree in apparel design to create ready-to-wear, bridal and custom-made garments. After five years in the business, she is in the process of opening her own boutique.
-- Tiffany Bean, Tiffany Bean. Owner for five years of Mabel and Zora, a boutique in Portland’s Pearl District, Bean is launching her eponymous line at the garden party event. She describes her line as “inspired by Doris Day and James Bond movies. My line has a 1960’s influence, bright colors, bold prints and flattering, feminine silhouettes.”
-- Vien To, Vien. Her well-constructed silhouettes are sold in boutiques in Salem, Ore., and will soon be sold in a boutique of her own. She earned her apparel degree in 2009.
The interior of the sewing school will be turned into an indoor garden featuring bird-friendly plants.
Proceeds go to Peace Garden at Coburn Place Safe Haven – a women’s shelter. Coburn gives women who have suffered from domestic violence and their children a sanctuary where they can start anew.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Doors open @ 7 pm; Show starts @ 8 pm
$10 in advance; $15 at the door
Monday, September 20, 2010
Portland teen wins $1000 Fashion Design Scholarship
Stephanie Linn just landed a future in fashion design.
The St. Mary’s Academy student won a scholarship contest and $1,000 worth of fashion design classes at Portland Sewing, an apparel design and sewing school in northeast Portland.
As a result, she will create a portfolio that could land her entry to the fashion design institute of her dreams.
“As cheesy as this sounds, fashion is truly my passion,” Linn says. “I have recurring dreams of meeting [designers] Karl Lagerfeld and Nicolas Ghesquiere, and after returning from a trip to New York with my dad, I can't stop thinking about Parsons and FIT. The truth is I can't see myself doing anything other than this.”
Parsons and Fashion Institute of Technology are two internationally recognized colleges for fashion design. Their alumni include designers Donna Karen, Calvin Klein and Marc Jacobs. Parsons is featured on the television show, Project Runway. Both schools require portfolios as part of an admissions application. A good portfolio can also help win a scholarship to such colleges.
The contest was open to full-time students in Portland area high schools who had a GPA of 2.5 or more. Each contestant created an original apparel design idea with sketches, interviews of influential people and an essay on fashion design.
Judges included Marc Murfitt, fashion buyer for Mercantile, Jennifer Baggett, product developer for Fred Meyer, and Laura Tempesta, product developer for Nike.
The judges chose Linn’s entry because of the richness and maturity of her concept. “It was fresh, original and complete,” one judge said. “It was sweet yet functional,” another said. “I would wear these garments.”
The scholarship was created in honor of Holocaust refugee Elisabeth Marie. In 1939, she fled Nazi-occupied Austria. She found her way to Portland where she opened a custom clothing business and became one of the first patternmaking instructors at Portland Community College.
Sharon Blair also taught patternmaking at PCC before founding Portland Sewing in April 2010. Portland Sewing is the first of its kind school in Portland. “We offer a range of beginning sewing classes for those who’ve never touched a machine to those who want to make patterns or learn how produce a professional garment or start an apparel business,” Blair says.
“We also see ourselves as a prep and finishing school for those seeking jobs in fashion design and the apparel industry.”
Blair studied in Paris, has a bachelors and masters, and advanced studies in apparel design and construction. She also owns two clothing lines, Studio SKB and SKPDX.
Some of her students have gone on to study at Parsons, FIT and the Art Institute of Portland. Two have competed on Project Runway.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
INVESTING IN INDUSTRIAL SEWING MACHINES
Visited Joe Payne at Portland’s Rooster Roc SewCo last Saturday. You know, the store at 3427 NE 72nd Ave. behind Annie’s Donuts on Sandy? The building with the big “Commercial Sewing Machines” sign on it?
I love that place and I don’t know why. Car showrooms? Make my skin crawl. Hardware stores? Ho-hum.
But put me in a sewing machine store and this girl drools! Maybe it’s the thought of all that power sewing. 6,600 stitches per minute. That’s fast, baby. Who wants a Jaguar when you can have a Juki? Yeah, that’s why – I need the speed.
What does a sewing girl need in her sewing room? Take a note and send a memo to the men and partners in your life. The holidays are over but you must have another gift-giving occasion soon, right?
I have 13 machines. Six of them are industrials. Three of them are key:
- Single needle lockstitch. Mine is the Juki DDL8700. It has an on-board computer. This means it automatically backstitches, cuts the thread and lifts the presser foot with a kick of my heel on the footplate. I can program it to sew the same length seams quickly and automatically.
Don’t need all these bells and whistles? You can get a Juki DDL8300 – a standard for sewing contractors – for one-fourth the price of mine.
- 3-thread overlock (i.e., serger). You need this for knits so get a pack of ballpoint needles. Mine is the Juki MO3304. The MO6704 has since replaced it.
I also have 5-thread safety stitch for simultaneously stitching and finishing the seams of pants, jackets, blouses. It’s a Juki MO6716. Of all the machines, this is the one I use the most. But if your budget makes you choose, go with the 3-thread. It’s more versatile.
- Blindhemmer. Mine’s a Consew. If you’re using the blindhem foot on your home sewing machine, stop! The Consew is how it’s done in the real world of apparel. You can set the length and depth so no stitches show on the outside.
Yes, other than the Consew, all my machines are Jukis. Brother, Pfaff and Singer Union Special make fine machines. I just trust the Jukis.
Yes, I bought all my machines new. The action is smooth. The machines, problem free.
Yes, I bought almost all my machines from Joe. You can buy off the Internet, just be sure that:
- It comes with a power table. This is the secret behind the speed. These are 20”x48”, so make sure you have the room.
- Shipping is free. The motor is very heavy. Better yet, make sure someone can deliver and set it up for you. You’re going to have plugs, a “fanbelt” and an oil pan that needs the right kind of oil. You need someone who knows how these go together.
- Made in Japan, not China. More reliable.
Commercial machines can be confusing. So many models! And I like to give them a test drive. That’s why I shop at Joe’s.
I’ve known Joe since I came to Portland and he sold me a home sewing machine, the Pfaff 1471. He worked at Montavilla Sewing before the fire and the new store they built at SE 84th and Stark.
Montavilla sold industrial machines back then. His job was to sell and repair them.
From what I can gather, Joe retired. Montavilla quit selling industrials. So Joe took up the trade and moved it to NE Portland.
The name Rooster Roc? Well, he lives near there in Corbett, Ore. At least I think. You see, Joe knows a lot about machines but he’s not a big talker. When he answers the phone, listen closely. The words he blurts out? “Sewing machines.”
NOTE: My little company, PortlandSewing, will offer industrial machine sewing classes in April so stay tuned. Want to be notified when classes come up? Send me an e-mail.
Cheers -- Sharon
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