Rachel Arnsdorf

Resume:

Remote, Freelance Patternmaker, Grader & Technical Designer

To continue my study of patternmaking and fit I have started acquiring freelance, patternmaking clients!

As I am still employed full-time at Eileen Fisher Inc., I work mostly remotely on the weekends, doing in person visits to discuss details or fit as needed. I work on Accumark V8.5 and either send .zip files of the pattern directly to the client or I export as a .dxf and create an PDF marker of the pattern to be printed and cut.

Most clients give me a sketch of what they are wanting and I work from there.

I work on both woven and cut & sew knit styles.

Eileen Fisher Inc

Irvington, New York

Technical Designer & Patternmaker (March 2013- Present)

Associate Tech Designer (June 2010 - March 2013)

At Eileen Fisher I’ve spent most of my time working on domestically made product (NYC & LA). When I work on NYC product I also do production patterns and work with our in-house grader to get the grade juuust right for every size.

I work on petite, missy (size 8) and women’s (size 16) styles and patterns.

I create clear but detailed construction sketches for the factory to refer to in the pre-production and production stages.

Since April 2019, I have also been assisting the writing team in gathering the correct fit, fabric and styling information for the product descriptions on the website.

Abercrombie & Fitch

New Albany, Ohio

Associate Tech Designer (May 2009 - June 2010)

Assistant Tech Designer (June 2008 - May 2009)

I started my corporate fashion career at Abercrombie & Fitch in the Men’s Fashion Knits department. What are men’s fashion knits, you say? Great question. Men’s fashion knits are all those cut & sew knits that don’t really fit into any other category (like graphic tees or hoodies) because they are a little different. The items I worked on included things like (cut & sew knit) shawl collar cardigans, henleys (as shown on the left), long sleeve textured men’s crewnecks, fashion forward tees (garment dyed, garment washed!), and so on.

At Abercrombie & Fitch I learned what a well oiled machine looked like. I learned how to write a visually appealing email that gave key people the information they needed in just a glance. I learned that no detail was too small to be overlooked. It was the best school I ever attended.

C.D. McClatchey Tailoring

Ann Arbor, MI

Seamstress (June 2006 - May 2008)

I started to work for Connie McClatchey on summer afternoons after spending my mornings coaching a swim team. It was the perfect, quiet, afternoon job to after a morning of chaos. Swimming and sewing, two of my favorite things.

I continued to work for Connie between classes during my senior year at the University of Michigan (where I was studying costume design).

After graduating from U of M in August of 2007, I worked about 30 hours a week for Connie while I applied for jobs and figured out what was next for me.

It was at C.D. McClatchey Tailoring that I saw the love and importance people place on their clothes. There was something so rewarding about fixing someone’s favorite sweater, or fixing the fit on someone’s suit so they felt that much more comfortable and confident in their job interview.

I also learned how to be a perfectionist when it comes to sewing. Every detail, inside and out, needs to be neat and tidy.

I started out doing lots of hems: pant hems, skirt hems, and sleeve hems. With Connie as my teacher, I learned how to properly take in the waist of a pant (you have to adjust the rise and inseam as well!) and even do alterations on a suit jacket. It was a lovely two years.