It all started when…

In 2014, I found myself at one of the lowest points in my life, desperately in need a change - a creative outlet. As someone who constantly helps others build technology to launch their businesses, I spend most of my days (and nights) focused on helping others succeed, never focusing on myself. My happiness was something I always put to the side. But this time it was different, this time I needed to start doing something for myself - something that would make me happy.

What had always made me happy? Easy, fashion. . .

I was addicted to fashion; following the latest designer trends, clipping pictures from magazines (yes, before the era of digital media), keeping a scrapbook of all the designs I someday wanted to have for myself. But, growing up money was always tight, so having the latest styles weren’t always an option for me. When there was something I found that we couldn’t afford, my mom would design and sew it. She was an amazing seamstress. Even better than most designers. But she knew her creations weren’t the same. So, to accommodate, she would sew designer labels into her creations, like Calvin Klein and Donna Karen, just so I could have my very own “designer original”. As time went on, I learned to sew for myself, but I found it frustrating.

What was this “frustration”, you ask?

Well, you know when you decide on the perfect dress and visit the store to buy the pattern, but nothing seems to match your idea? Or, when you finally find a pattern you like and you sew it together, it never looks or fits quite right? To be very honest, no one can realistically fit those figure measurements. In the end, the garment you created either ends up collecting dust in the closet or you find yourself buying something subpar at the nearest store.

I’ve always loved fashion and really wanted to design my own creations, but having experienced horrible the results of sewing from a standard pattern, I didn’t just want to sew clothes; I wanted to create my own designs.

I was going to learn to create my own designs from idea, to pattern to end result. So, I enrolled in night classes at the New York Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). Five years later, I can sew, drape, and create patterns from my designs, and I have a certificate in Couture Design from FIT - all while working at my full-time job. I guess you could say my creative release has transformed into true passion.

But that’s not where the story ends…

I spent a few years designing and creating until another little frustration founded Couturease…

When making slopers by hand, which is how most patterns begin, making little mistakes can cause big disruptions. In fact, if you don’t have the luxury of owning a custom fit dress form, you’re going to spend days on-end manipulating a pattern design from a sloper – with no way of perfecting the fit, unless you know how to tailor to yourself.

As with commercialized clothing patterns, I decided that the best way to find a solution to a problem is to try it yourself. As a self-proclaimed Technologista (technologist + fashionista), I decided to create my own solution – Couturease.

It’s Time To Fit In

The definition, and purpose, of couture fashion is the art of designing and making clothing custom to the wearer’s measurements and build. If you’re a fashion designer or sewist, you’ll know that it all starts with draping fabric to a dress custom-fit dress form or manipulating patterns from a sloper.

Because very few people have a custom-fit dress form for draping a pattern, or even know how to create a sloper, I’ve decided to make life easier not just for my own dress-making purposes, but for others around the world who are still making clothes from ill-fitting patterns or from fitting patterns made from standard size slopers.

To avoid making small mistakes and going back to the drawing board, Couturease was created for the dressmaker, local designer, and home sewist who wants to design and create custom designs with a perfect fit in just a few clicks.

What is Couturease?

The Couturease app helps users automatically and digitally draft made-to-measure slopers. Now, all you need to do to create a sloper is gather and add the relevant measurements, save, print – and you’re good to go!

 As the only sloper-generating app on the market, we want to improve it as much as we can! As a result, the app only contains skirt slopers for now, but stay tuned as more are in development! For now, please give us your feedback so we can make everything even more innovative and convenient!

So, get to downloading and enjoy the technologized art of pattern making and couture design.

Yours in Excellent Fit,

Darlene Newman-Trois