When I used to be creative: making a shirt

Many years ago when I was living in Australia, I supplemented my income by designing and making custom clothing. As I was walking home after class this afternoon, with our somewhat rushed brainstorming of creative processes still in my head, a very useful idea popped up: making a shirt.

When I used to do this, the first step was brainstorming such things as what colours would be appropriate and attractive, what material to use, the buttons, and such major details as the style of collar, the sleeve  length, and so on.

Next, I went shopping at one or two suppliers in central Sydney. I bought material, silk, cotton or linen, in the colour decided on. This was all the organizing step. I also got thread in a matching colour, and another step in organizing was setting aside time.

There were two distinct steps in drafting: first, I drew up a careful pattern on paper.

With the pattern ready, I would revise. Did I really want the sleeves to come down to almost cover my hands? Would my customer like the thin collar? If I was making something for a customer, I involved them in the review stage, asking what they thought about the colour, the material and so on.

When we had made any necessary revisions to the paper pattern, I went on with drafting part II: making the shirt. When it was finished, there was another session reviewing to make sure everything was right. Were the buttons in the right places? Were they a good match for the fabric? Were there any seams not quite flat as I liked them? And revise: get rid of that thread sticking out at the collar! The last step in revising was to wash and iron it so that the finished piece of work looked its best, with no annoying grammar mistakes or badly chosen words.

Finally, it was ready. I published my shirt. I put it on and went out. Or I gave it to the person who had commissioned it. If it got admiring comments, the publication was successful!