Thought I’d give a little breakdown on what’s involved in designing and producing my latest project : Item no. IZ-52
From inspiration to initial sketches to pattern drafting to sampling to finished garment.
To tell you the truth none of my designs are ever really finished, I update constantly, mostly on the construction and finishing of the garments, I always look to improve them every time I make one.
So here it is : INSPIRATION
I’d been thinking of making a seam sealed cagoule for a while and the IZ-52 was the outcome of that after going through at least 4 iterations, plenty of pattern paper and lots of swearing.
It looks great, fit is spot on and it’s actually very near waterproof. I can’t say it’s 100% waterproof as I have no way to prove it as my small business cant afford the testing and certification but it’s pretty close I promise, I’ll get one of my boys to wear it and I’ll do the watering can video you see everyone doing on Instagram, not sure if this counts as certification though?
Anyway inspiration or what did I pin on Pinterest ( hidden) to help the design of the IZ-52, well mainly vintage cagoules, Ski-wear and believe it or not the odd 80s/ early 90s shellsuit, which I love but have been unable so far to source any similar fabric whatsoever from anywhere in the UK probably because they had a habit of going up in flames or melting at the sight of a zippo… who knows, but if anyone out there can point me in the right direction I’d be forever thankful.
INITIAL SKETCHES : I still do these firstly on paper and work from that to create my first sample, this first sketch is usually pretty close to the finished piece as I like to have a close idea in my head before I start, maybe changing the pockets/ cuffing as I go along.
I have a thing for pockets and always try to make them as interesting but as simple/useful as possible, On the L-79 I went a bit over the top and it takes far far to long to produce, I’m sure it needs around 18 bartacks alone on the front. 
Once I have a finished sample I go into photoshop and have a play about recolouring to see what variations catch my eye, can’t always do them all as sourcing the same or similar shade of cuffing or zips can be a nightmare, You’d be amazed how many different shades of yellow zips are available and absolutely none of them match the yellow fabric I have!
If I do decide to stock the yellow variant I’ll need to do it with a white zip and elasticated cuffing.
As you can see below the one design can be produced in lots of different colours and even colour blocked due to the way it has been drafted.
I do tend to go for fabric colours I have in the workshop so I don’t have to source new as I don’t have a great amount of room in the workshop to hold a lot of stock fabric.
See anything you like? let me know.
PATTERN DRAFTING/ SAMPLING :
I have a number of pattern blocks I work from and I work to slowly add in the details of the particular item I’m designing.
For the IZ-52 it would be adding in the half zipper, drafting a new hood, and working out pocket design/ placement.
To make the construction simpler the front and back panels were split into two, this keeps the lines running smoothly around the jacket and means the bottom of the zipper and top of the main kangaroo pocket can be placed at the join. Also gives scope for changes in the future as I can use this design again for a different project.
I run up a quick sample to see if anything I don’t like jumps out at me, and there usually is .. straight away I could see there was a problem with the neck as I’d initially went with separate panels for the side of the zipper which connects to the hood at the neck line, this made the zip bow in slightly at the neck and I didn’t like how it sat, so a change to the pattern to remove the seam between them was needed and a new one piece pattern piece created.
This was then cut and replaced, looking good or was it, no…. turns out this also caused a problem there was now too much fabric at the zipper and it now stuck out and flapped over the front panel, I did expect this as I had to add some excess to join the two original pieces so it would flow naturally.
Now I had to remove it, this was taken from the front panel which then moved where the seam connecting them together was so quick trip to the table to draft another one and add a cm or two to the bottom of that to help straighten it out and we’re nearly there, maybe.
Now I had a look at the hood and decided that it was sitting too high at the top end of the zipper and too bulky overall as I wanted quite a close fit.
So I cut the sample to where I wanted it, ran in the hood and transferred this to the pattern.
Next is another sample from my new pattern pieces, tables covered by this point and need to make sure I don’t get them mixed up so remember to tag them all and sit unused ones to the side ( I may change my mind on something and use them you never know)
At this point I’m now trying to work out the quickest way to construct the jacket while ironing out any small issues, thankfully everything goes together with no issues.
Onto sample 3 and everything is going together well so now it’s time to settle on a pocket design, I went with a larger one piece version of the pockets on the C-28, which gives entry from the top and the side and keeps a familiar look.
Then it’s back to the table to redraft the pattern check the measurements make sure everything is completely straight and grade the different sizes. See told you everything takes me ages.
FINISHED GARMENT: Nearly….
Final working sample ( that’s no. 4 I think)
This is made from the same waterproof nylon ripstop the IZ-52 is produced in, with this final sample I can work out any remaining niggles and see what I’m doing regarding hardware ie: eyelet placement, cord adjusters for the hood and waistbands and if there’s going to be any top stitching and bartacks needed.
Also at this point I decided to go with decals for the logo and interior branding as the woven patches/ labels would just add more holes from being sewn on and the less there is on a waterproof cagoule the better.
All seams are pressed and taped as I go along one seam at a time ( not sure if this is the best way, seems like it to me though) thankfully everything goes together perfectly and roughly 5/6 hours later I had a finished working sample, this one always takes a while as I can never make my mind but I eventually settled with the white as I liked the colour contrast.
These are used for website product pictures and photoshoots and sold eventually in the sample outlet of the site when I remember to post them.
At the moment Item no. IZ-52 is only available in Navy & Black but the other colours you’ve seen above may appear at some time in the future.
Update: we know have Red & White
Thanks for reading if you got this far.
John @seamjunkies