Sew What? Sewing a VW Convertible Bug Top Cover

This VW Convertible Bug looks better than the one I made!

I am sure many of you who sew have had this exact reaction to a sewing request. In this case, one woman named her company Sew What? Inc. Megan Duckett started a business sewing draperies. Her employment sewing for a theater company is how she decided on a company name. The complete story can be found at U.S. News and World Report, July 31, 2006 edition.

I am always impressed by women who start sewing related businesses. Megan even ran her company out of her garage for a time. What an inspiration! For more info about Megan, check out her website Sew What Inc.

My blog entry is not really about Megan's company, but about those Sew What?! moments. For Megan, she was asked to sew a lining into a coffin for a theatrical production. I have had many Sew What?! moments, but one stands out. I was asked to sew a vinyl car top cover for a convertible VW Bug.

Yes, I took this job. I knew I wouldn't make any money from the project, but it was the challenge that grabbed me. This was during college and I thought I could sew anything (I still think that, provided I have the right equipment). During college, a friend of mine bought a convertible bug. It had no cover. He welded a frame together and then asked me to sew a top together. I had an average home sewing machine and a lot of ambition.

With a budget of $60, I purchased some black vinyl, extra large snaps, and some clear vinyl (for a rear window). The only equipment purchase I made was some teflon coated needles in size 18 and a snap kit. This fabric was very thick. I have to say my initial pattern actually looked very good. The execution is where I had trouble.

This is one of those instances where a walking-foot machine would have come in handy. Instead, I sewed this thing together with my Singer 503A. For all of those Ebay sellers out there that claim this machine can sew through 4 layers of vinyl, well they are half right. It will do it, but it may not look very good. This is a tuff little machine and I really pushed it to the max sewing this together. The seams were overlapped on top of each other like a lapped seam, but the material slid and stretched as it went along. In any event, I finally finished it.

The top was attached to the car with the snaps. The snap kits available in the fabric stores are not really designed to go through heavy-weight vinyl or to be glued onto a car surface, but somehow we got them attached. Despite our efforts, this car was not really safe to drive with a home-made car top. I could just see it fly off at 25MPH. My friend ended up using the car top for rainy days while it was parked. He also bought a real vehicle that was safe to drive.

Fashion Challenged Wal-Mart

Evidently Wal-mart's sales of it's women's clothes is down. This according to a recent Business Week article. It's no surprise really. I almost never buy clothing at Wal-Mart. There are a couple of reasons. One, the fitting rooms are too close to the registers. They are small, dirty, and cramped. If I feel I should try something on before buying it, I won't buy it. The last few pieces I bought I should have tried on - the mediums were really sized as a large. Oh well, at least it was only $5 wasted and a lesson learned.

In the book Nickled and Dimed on Not Getting by in America, author Barbara Ehrenreich worked covertly for Wal-mart. As a sales associate in the women's department, she spent most of her time putting away returns from the fitting rooms, store returns, and cleaning. She never spent any time assisting customers or pushing sales. According to her anecdotal evidence, 80-90% of the clothing taken to the fitting room is rejected. This points to fitting issues.

The next reason I don't buy clothing at Wal-mart is the clothing looks cheap. Some of the styles were cute, but the finishing details were lacking or the colors were too garish. One outfit had simple, exposed serged hems instead of a rolled or blind hem. This screams cheap. I also know this won't hold up in the wash.

Girls dresses also scream cheap. Their isn't enough fabric in the gathered skirts to look like a skirt. Ribbon and flower trims are wrinkled. Same issue with the garish colors. To be fair, the basic children's clothing is fine. You can get a great value on Carter's brand clothing. But skip the Rose Cottage label.

At one company, I helped create private label merchandise for the Rose Cottage Brand. It is true that Wal-Mart has greatly improved its quality program. But they are still missing the boat. In order to get the product to hit their price point, you have to reduce gather ratio's, remove linings, reduce trimmings. When you are done with the dress, it looks incredibly cheap. For a couple dollars more, you could get a dress that looks like a real dress at another store.

So the secret for Wal-Mart's success is to take a cue from Target. Create affordable merchandise with improved quality, the right colors, the right fit, and be mistaken for a more expensive piece. Oh, and move the clothing department away from the main drag of the store. Do I really want my neighbors to know I buy my underwear at Wal-mart?

Project Runway - A fantasy design world

Season 3 has started and I have to admit that I like to watch the show. It reminds me so much of my design school experience. In design school you are frequently given similar challenges to design something to fit a certain customer or target market. The work rooms feel familiar too, even some of the personalities.

There are a few things that continue to bug me about the show. The designer this show tries to discover is what I call a fantasy designer. There is a certain segment of the fashion business where a designer works with wealthy customers to create an evening dress or expensive sportswear. Their clientele consists of actors or other celebrities. That particular segment is so small that the continual portrayal as an ideal is an insult to the rest of us in the fashion business. Project Runway completely ignores many product categories, including children.

I am talking about designers that work in the trenches - mass market apparel. Creating something as cheaply as possible while maintaining a certain quality level. Worrying about profit margins and overseas manufacturing. This is the real world. This is the world where most designers work. Working for a large apparel business is gritty, real work. The hours are just as long and as stressful.

Another type of designer is an enterepeneur who has started their own business and sells to ordinary people. This kind of designer is more grounded and realistic about their customer and their product. They have a look that is interesting and sells. They are smart and understand business and fashion. It takes a lot of strength and will power to start a business from the ground-up.

I have to give credit to Jay (Season 1 winner) and Chloe (Season 2). Neither of them went the celebrity designer route you would expect. Jay took his time to figure the business end out before launching his line. Chloe expanded her own existing business. This is so smart.

I wish the show would give challenges to the competitors that are more realistic. One real-world challenge I faced was to design a children's fluffy dress - labor and materials - for under $5. Such a dress would retail for about $15.99 at a big box retailer. Now that is a challenge!

So yes, I would love to see them attempt other product categories. The fashion industry is so diverse. What about an outfit for a 50+ year old woman? Baby boomers are becoming one of the larger customer profiles. How about a maternity outfit? A new print for a scarf, tie, or umbrella? A children's look? I really, really want to see these designers try something other than a silk charmeuse evening gown.

I will probably keep watching this season. I am hooked, I admit it. I just hope the show doesn't spin out of control and become more ridiculous with time.