What "Handmade" Means to Us
Very few people are fully aware of how the shirt or dress they’re wearing as they read this was actually made. What they do know is if it fits well or pulls at spots. In many cases, they know that there were numerous versions of the same design on the rack in the store, ostensibly identical except for size. How the dress arrived at the store where it was bought is mostly a mystery though.
The possibilities vary, but let’s say for the sake of discussion, the buyer saw the article at a designer show in New York. It was probably worn by a fashion model, or shown on a mannequin that represented the best size for the item. The buyer decided to get three or four of the most popular sizes and a one or two of the sizes that fell outside the bell curve. That order was relayed to the manufacturing partner who was contracted by the designer to mass produce the item’s design. Here’s where the article of clothing the buyer saw and the article of clothing that was unpacked in the store’s stockroom diverge. The clothing article at the show was undoubtedly made with premium fabrics, buttons, zippers, trim, hand cut and assembled by a master seamstress, custom fit for the model that wore it on display. The article produced at the bulk manufacturing shop, was probably made with fabrics and materials that were three or four rungs down the ladder in quality from the original design construction. The fabric was likely cut mechanically, multiple layers cut at the same time. The assembly process was likely still done by manual labor, but sadly, most often assembled by workers being paid paltry wages, working in less than ideal conditions, either by the day or by the piece, well below minimum wage. Each worker is usually assigned one phase of the construction and upon completion they pass the piece to the next worker, who has been assigned another phase. One worker attaches the sleeves, the next the plackets, the next the buttons.
No one seamstress may actually see all the elements of the design from start to finish. The quality of the construction is only as good as the weakest link.
Fluffle House designs are fully “handmade” by one person. Sarah provides her creative energy and skills in every phase. The choice of the fabric to be used is an essential first step. The design as shown by a pattern or sketched in the process of developing a pattern, is a start. But determining what color and/or design to be used to construct the finished product is elemental to the success. Sarah then hand cuts each piece used in the design. During this process, she also determines the possibility of embellishments and selects the best from an assemblage of heirloom and vintage materials curated from estate sales and antique collections, and then integrated into the design and construction. Sarah then carefully and meticulously assembles the pieces, paying close attention to details and fine finishing techniques. Throughout each step, she is performing quality control checks to ensure the size is accurate, the symmetry is consistent and the structural integrity is sound.
It is not uncommon for each fashion piece to take six to ten hours from start to finish, every minute of that time under Sarah’s supervision, because she is the only seamstress working the project. She may ask for input regarding color choices, vintage buttons to be used, heirloom trims to use as embellishments and final assessment of the finished product, but all of the design considerations and physical processes of construction are Sarah’s purview. So not only are all the design creations at Fluffle House “handmade,” they are constructed by a single pair of hands, Sarah’s.