Test.Sponsor.Simplicity.Q8 Layout 1

MEET NOTIONS SPONSOR: Simplicity Creative Group The Simplicity Pattern Company is one rated patterns were obsolete. of four companies that exist under one corporate umbrella. The parent compa- THEN ny, Conso International, acquired British Trimmings in 1993, Simplicity Pattern Company in 1998, and Wm. E. Wright in 2000. In 2008, Conso announced a new corporate identity— Simplicity Creative Group. Today this The Simplicity pattern room with Bonnie Simmons family of well known craft, sewing, (left), design director; and Tatyana Rodygin, manager, pattern development knitting, hobby, and home decorating brands includes Simplicity, New Look, AND NOW Layouts for the pattern pieces, once Wrights, Conso, Boye Needle, E-Z painstakingly done by hand, are now Quilting, and British Trimmings. Evolution of Pattern Production computer generated. Once these lay- The Simplicity Pattern Company has The pattern production process has outs have passed through Quality been a particular friend to ASG. In changed dramatically since those first Control, they are e-mailed to the print- addition to being a Notions sponsor days, particularly with the technologi- er as PDF files. There is no shipping since 2008 (Wrights had been a sponsor cal developments of the past 30 years. and no need to make printing plates, a since 2000), the company has partnered Here are a few examples of how things process that used to take at least five with ASG since 2003 for our annual have changed. working days. Every step in the pro- Creativity Contest. The company is From the moment a design is selected duction of a pattern has been similarly headquartered in New York City where to go into the line until the date it actu- streamlined, which means that there is the design, patternmaking, sample ally appears in a catalog, it takes five no longer a lag between ready-to-wear making, instructional, and consumer months, from start to finish. But before offerings and pattern catalog offerings. service departments reside. In the mid- a design is selected, fashion trends are 1980s, Simplicity acquired New Look researched. About three months of Educational Commitment Patterns, The English Pattern Com- fashion research goes into producing a Simplicity has long been known as a pany. Today, a design staff continues to trend presentation that includes color, company committed to sewing educa- operate in the United Kingdom to sup- fabric, silhouette, trims, and home dec. tion and support. In 1934, Simplicity port New Look’s international flair. This is done twice a year—for Spring/ formed an Education Division, one of Summer and for Fall/Winter. The infor- the first in American business. Its direc- Simplicity History mation is reviewed by the design team tor, Caroline Hutchins Shapiro, was one The Simplicity Pattern Company was and, along with input from the com- of the first home economists in busi- founded in 1927 by Joseph M. Shapiro pany’s merchandising department, ness. In the early 1940s, Simplicity and his son James J. Shapiro. Joseph becomes the starting point for a new embarked on a major sewing education could not understand why patterns collection of patterns. program with travelling representa- were so expensive ($2.00!). He set out to Patterns have gone from a hand- tives, fashion shows, educational revolutionize the business by introduc- drawn and hand-cut process to an books, and literature disseminated ing perforated patterns that retailed for entire computer-aided patternmaking across the country. Such programs 15 cents. All the pieces for these pat- process. This has reduced the time it cemented Simplicity as the key source terns came on one large tissue sheet takes to develop a master-size pattern for learning to sew, and set the founda- that was laid out on the fabric. Then that is ready for the pattern testing tion for how sewing is taught today. users cut along the perforated lines, stage from 11 days to five days. Simplicity has continued its commit- through both fabric and tissue. Around Previously, all master patterns would ment to the educational community 1934, Simplicity began to print the be cut out of oak tag, made up into a with teachers’ kits mailed twice a year envelopes that were approximately the muslin test garment, and if there were to middle schools, high schools, com- same size as today. The instructions any changes, these changes could take munity colleges, and vocational schools were called "The Primer" and had illus- up to two days to implement. Now, throughout the U.S. and Canada. The trations and lots of directions to make with technology, these changes can be kits contain posters and a variety of construction easier. By 1939, some finalized within a day after the design- educational materials, plus information Simplicity patterns with printed pieces er has approved it. Effectively, the time on the educator rate for catalogs, books, were offered at 25 cents each. By the frame for the whole pattern making and kits. 1950s, all patterns were printed; perfo- process has been cut in half. © American Sewing Guild • www.asg.org ASG Notions • Winter 2011.

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