Sample Garments

What are sample garments?

Sample garments are pieces of clothing that I make when I'm in the process of designing and testing a new style or pattern. Before I offer a piece for sale, I want to make sure that the fit, sizing, and construction are up to the high standards my customers have come to expect. I often make several drafts of a new design before releasing a final version. Occasionally, I offer these "drafts" for sale at a deeply discounted price.

What can I expect if I buy a sample garment?

  • I tend to use tablecloths with flaws as the fabric for my samples. I still try to work around any defects to the best of my ability, but there will likely be some imperfections.
  • The construction methods might vary from my usual style. For example, I like to use French, felled, or otherwise fully enclosed seams in my work as much as possible, however, to save time, I often finish sample garments with simple overlocked (serged) seams. This isn't a flaw - it's just different from what you may have come to expect from my brand.
  • Sample garments may also not fall neatly into one size. I do lots of experimenting at this stage to try to improve the fit of a piece as much as possible. I will always include full garment measurements in the item descriptions, but they won't necessarily line up with my standard size chart/measurements.
  • Samples also often don't have tags - size or brand. Sometimes I add them, if I know I'm getting close to a "final draft", but often I leave them out.

Why sell the samples?

Well, I have mixed feelings about it, to be honest! Samples, by their nature, aren't perfect. They aren't as polished as I like my work to be when I send it out into the world. I often end up wearing them myself, however, that only works for samples in my size. So, in the interest of sustainability, and reducing waste wherever I can, I am going to try offering them here. I'm not sure how much interest there will be. I'm just hoping to get them to people who will be able to get some use out of them. We'll see how it goes :)

That's all I can think of for now, but don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions!