It happened again. The designer told me, "I have the pattern that we can use for this, I'll bring it in." Invariably, when she does remember to dig it up, it's a mess: few notations on the pieces, no indication of size or measurements used in generating it, no picture, no cutting or sewing directions, etc. And it might be cut apart in some strange way because "we used the top for one girl, and part of the skirt for another." In the time it takes to figure the thing out and get it back to a useful stage, I could have made a new pattern that 1. FITS, 2. is the exact style needed, and 3. I understand so that I can cut and build it! Am I the only one dealing with this? Am I just a wimp that I don't protest ?

Dear George, You are not a wimp, just disgusted with the designer's perceived distrust of you and your patterning skills. Of course, the designers who do this really think that they are being helpful and don't realize that often it is an unneeded imposition. Sit down and meet to plan the show. Have a column on the planning sheet that identifies the pattern source. If you are making a sloper for the person for another costume, point out that it is easier to revise the sloper than it is to begin with a pattern that is unfamiliar.

Have your resource books out with preselected pages showing lots of pattern ideas. Even with all the source books available, the designer might not have seen them all and will be delighted with your find of a unique apron, bloomers, or coat. Voice your need to participate in the process in a creative way. And if she still insists on using her mess of a pattern, at least you have "had your say."

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