Creative Design: Professional

Making a Classic Sustainable: Investigation of the Impacts of Applying Zero-Waste Pattern Making and the Carrico Strip Grading Method to a Childrenswear Denim Jacket

---

Abstract

This design research quantifies the advantages and limitations of zero-waste pattern design and strip-method grading for a children’s denim jacket. Findings have a broad potential impact on sustainable apparel manufacturing, given the style's timelessness, ubiquity, and gender neutrality. Findings may apply to other classic styles with similar pattern shapes. It was demonstrated that uniformly-sized rectilinear pattern pieces and pieces with a single curved or angled edge could easily fit into a zero-waste layout. However, complex shapes such as sleeves and yokes are more difficult to fit and are incompatible with the strip grading method, as they don’t have any openings for grading strips. Future research may test the aesthetic acceptability of denim jackets that stray from these original style lines to create zero waste strip-gradable pattern shapes. This is the first known design research to test zero waste patternmaking and the strip-grading method on the classic denim jacket style.

Keywords: zero waste, childrenswear, grading, denim

How to Cite:

McKinney, E. C., (2022) “Making a Classic Sustainable: Investigation of the Impacts of Applying Zero-Waste Pattern Making and the Carrico Strip Grading Method to a Childrenswear Denim Jacket”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 79(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.15792