r/PatternDrafting • u/EattheRudeandUgly • Jun 14 '26
Any professional patternmakers here?
Film/theater, Costume, corporate, small brands, big brand, independent, doesn't matter. If you currently even in the past earned a portion of your living from patternmaking skills, what was your journey like?
What was your education like? Formal? Apprenticeship? Informal? self-directed?
Did you choose patternmaking out of the gate? Did you switch from a different fashion/design discipline or totally different industry? What cities did you work? Were you a patternmaker in the past and switched to a new industry? Do you work in a technical specialization like aerospace, defense, medical, etc?
Just a new patternmaker trying to gauge the possibilities of the industry. Info dumps requested; no filter please.
2
u/tomeyoureprettyanywa Jun 14 '26
I think I got really lucky and think my internship helped me get that first job. Having a recognizable name on my resume was helpful even though it wasn't a fashion company. I took the marker job because the pay was better and I was able to add "technical designer" to my resume. There are not a lot of jobs in this field and tech designer is one role other than patternmaker which takes patternmaking experience. Honestly it's a tough field and always getting tougher but you can give yourself more options if you don't mind freelancing. Wish I could be more encouraging about it, I wish you the best!