Every garment in the shop starts on one table, under one pair of hands, and has done since 2019.
A block is not a pattern
A block is the shape a garment starts from — a torso, two sleeves and the ease between them. A pattern is what that block becomes once somebody has decided where the seams go. Shops that buy patterns are buying somebody else’s answer to the first question, which is why so many jackets from different labels fit identically badly.
What takes the time
Not the cutting. The cutting takes an afternoon. What takes the time is the fourth toile, when the garment is already correct and the question has become whether it is comfortable — and comfort is measured by wearing it for a week rather than by looking at it.
