Entrepreneurial vs Consumer Mentalities

The owner and CEO of multi-million dollar clothing 
brand FUBU started his company  
sewing caps in his mother's kitchen. 

Intellectuals in the Black community have often expressed the need for members of the African American community to start their own businesses and engage in group economics.  Small businesses create income opportunity and decrease our dependence on others to give us jobs. In competing against large corporations, one is emboldened by ample access to many internet venues which help to level the playing field. A small operation is often more able to provide better customer service with a more personal approach to doing business. An added benefit is the lowered financial risk of an online business. You need not invest a large sum of money nor quit your day job while starting up.

Every year the fashion industry cranks out tons of foreign, mass-produced, inexpensive clothing.  Finding a niche within a saturated market is often the key to making a living in any business. To develop an entrepreneurial mind you must think outside the box.

Someone with a consumer mentality would say:

 "Why go to the trouble of making a durag when I can just get one online for about $2.00?"

An entrepreneurial mentality studies a market, he finds where his product might be needed or desired and he thinks (for example):    

• "I could get my friend Alice to sew up a few blank durags. Then I will paint my tattoo designs on them and offer them for sale at the swap meet."
• "This basic durag pattern needs a little adjustment so I can sew a hat onto the top. That will keep people from losing their sunhats in the wind when they are at the beach.
•  "Maybe that new cafeteria on the corner would like to buy some of these durags with their logo on it for their cooks and waiters to look really sharp."
• "I should offer these for sale online to people who are looking for a nice gift for a friend who likes gardening or cooking, maybe I could add a matching apron."
• "I can improve this durag pattern and sell a different version."
• "The community center may like me to teach a class on how to sew a durag."
• "I'm going to use a different fabric than the one suggested in the pattern instructions. I need one with more elasticity." 

Aaron Henry saw a market for his product and invented the Tsurag,  Inventor Oladele Levi Adejare actually decided to patent his durag. Perhaps he is looking for an associate to market his idea to the public. The owner and CEO of the multi-million dollar clothing brand FUBU started his company sewing caps in his mother's kitchen in the mornings while waiting tables nights at Red Lobster.  Try your hand at clothing design and get a durag sewing pattern!

Check out one consumer who decided to turn her love for nails into a business:  Stay Ready Studio in Houston, Texas.

Drape Patternmaking: Lesson 1 How To

Tutor Couture gives you your first lesson in draping a bodice. Draping is the more intuitive way to make patterns. For a perfect fit drape it right on your client's body rather than on the dress form.

How to Draft a Basic Pant

Thank you for your patience.  I have finally uploaded the written tutorial How to Draft a Basic Pant Pattern.  Stay tuned for the video tutorials on basic pant drafting and transformations into shorts, cigarette pants, bellbottoms, capris and any other imaginable form a pant can take!
(If the above link does not work copy and paste this URL:  http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-draft-basic-pant-pattern-0126850/
More:
Take Your Measurements
Draft a Bodice
Draft a Skirt

Sew a Circle Skirt Easy as "Pi"

There are many ways to make a circle skirt.  Some people just fold fabric in half and estimate curves.  Some use a string compass, some divide their waist circumference by 6 and cut into a square of fabric folded into quarters.  I like to use π the Greek letter pronounced "pi" (as in a slice of apple pie) which is algebra for the number 3.14 .  I never understood why pi works.  I just knew it did and never questioned it.  But at some point I had to wonder....

According to Richard Fischbeck, inventor of the Randome Shelter; an emergency shelter made up of geodesic circles that can be randomly put together in a very short period of time, "Nature does not use π (pi).  Pi is merely an approximation.  Nature always builds with whole numbers. We have H2O, not HπO.  Mr. Fischbeck further explains, "A circle is always a polygon no matter how many corners it has. It can never have infinite corners. A polygon is not smooth or continuous. It is bumpy. It is made of many many tiny angles.

Easy as Pi Circle Skirt Tutorial

Scenic Turnout Blog:  http://juliehrose.blogspot.com

Suggested reading:  Take it to the Limit.  Stevenven Strogatz on math, from basic to baffling.  

See more "how-to" videos:

  Draft a Basic Bodice,  Convert Bodice into Blouse,  Rotate a Shoulder Dart

How to Make a Basic Bodice

Written Instructions with Diagrams: http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-draft-basic-bodice-pattern-0120717/
See  "how-to" videos:

  Draft a Basic Bodice,  Convert Bodice into Blouse,  Rotate a Shoulder Dart

Knitting Lesson 4 Uploaded and more Sewing Tutorials Planned for August!

I have just uploaded my Knitting Tutorial 4 for beginner knitters.    "How to Knit a Cozy Wrap Sweater".  The video starts out with step by step instructions but by around 5 minutes in I realized it needed some excitment!  So I added some!  Let me know what you think!  I also must  finish Part 2 of "How to Make a Basic Skirt" which is way overdue.  Then I will do 2 advanced beginner videos "How to Make a T-Shirt"  (The "REAL" way) and How to make Pants (The "REAL" way).  These will be more in-depth explanations about patternmaking.  While the beginner lessons are useful for making "wearable" clothes, I feel I owe it to my viewers, at this point; to challenge their patternmaking skills and take them to the "next level".

I have decided to leave my studies at the University Siglo 21. However I encourage any of my viewers or followers to contact me or to go directly to the Siglo 21 website to inquire about the degree in Clothing and Textile Design offered there.  I am in my 40s and have a big family to care for.  I find that the demands of finishing my degree are too much.  I feel that the courses I took there have helped me enormously, especially the marketing and consumer behavior classes.  The Siglo 21 prepares the designer for the real world, the market that they will eventually be competing in, how to find their target market and decide which area of the fashion industry they are interested in  pursuing.  Be it a fashion editor, a fashion buyer, a designer for a big name or starting your own line, a wardrobe manager for a movie set and so many other possibilities.  I fully recommend the school and the curriculum.  You must be able to speak Spanish fluently of course, since the school is in Cordoba Argentina.  However you would be getting a University degree at a fraction of the cost of what it costs in the U.S.A. or Europe.

Draft a Basic Skirt Pattern

See  other "how-to" videos:

  Draft a Basic Bodice,  Convert Bodice into Blouse,  Rotate a Shoulder Dart

Video      Written Instructions

 See the written instructions and diagram on how to draw a basic skirt pattern. From this one pattern you can make the modifications to make practically any other type of skirt and adjusted to perfectly fit your own unique bumps and curves. See my Skirt Pattern Tutorial Video on Fettuccinetube .

Be a Part of the First Annual Fettuccinetube Fashion Show!

This is an invitation to all of my viewers on my YouTube channel Fettuccinetube to take part in my 1st "Fettuccinetube Annual Fashion Show". Simply send a 10 to 20 second video of yourself (or a friend) modeling one of your own creations. I will create a montage of all the videos and set it to some hip music. If you already are a member of YouTube you can simply respond to my latest video with your video clip. Otherwise send the video clip to me at my email address: fabianna@msn.com (be careful when spelling "fabianna", there are TWO "n"s).

1. If you don´t know how to sew yet then there is still time! The deadline to get your videos in is October 31st, 2009. Enough time to watch my tutorial videos and time leftover to create your entry! This is NOT a contest. Your creaton will be shown regardless of you level of expertise.

2. In the interest of keeping the video to under 10 minutes, please limit your entry to ONE video per designer. You MAY model several creations in the one clip.

3. Make sure your creation stands out from the items that are NOT made by you. For example if you make a blouse, pair it with a plain, basic, unassuming pair of pants. If you make a pant, use a plain, blouse or t-shirt so that it does not detract from YOUR item.

4. In my video fashion show, you will be given full credit for your design. Please include your name when you send your video, either said verbally in the video itself, or in an email along with your video. If I don´t receive your name I will use your YouTube Channel name or your email address in the credits.

5. If you have an Etsy Shop or other shop on the internet please include that. I will post the name of your shop as well. However, in the interest of keeping the final montage video streamlined DO NOT post your own text into your video clip.

6. Please merely film your model walking to the camera twirling around and walking away. You may use any style of walk you would like based on the "message" your creation is trying to send.

7. For now the creations are limited only to SEWN creations, however, if response is low I will open up the requests for knit and crochet items as well. Jewelry will be considered ONLY as an accessory to one of the clothing designs. Not as a main item.

8. Please do not be intimidated if you see exquisitely made items in my video response section. I have advertised the Fettuccinetube Fashion Show on other sewing sites and craft sites so there may be some entries by professional designers as well. If there are extreme differences as far as level of expertise in the entries I will probably do a Part 1 for beginners and a part 2 for more advanced sewers. You will not look "bad".

9. My intention is to leave the "comments" section open for the Fashion Show. Unfortunately that will also leave the participants open to the "YouTube Hecklers". I will, of course monitor the comments as closely as I can to try to keep them under control, however, please be prepared for mean comments just in case. It is practice for when you get into the sometimes cruel fashion industry, where a 5´10, 120 pound model is SOMETIMES considered "too fat".

10. If you yourself are one of the "YouTube Hecklers" please refrain from nasty comments at the show. Constructive criticism will not be frowned upon, but comments about anything OTHER than the clothing, such as weight, race, physical attractiveness, physical or mental challenges, gender identification or the like will NOT be tolerated.