I am a fabric engineer*. Here are some of my creations.
Shirts
Hoods
What should the last one be called? Rich guy hoodie, wall street hoodie, nerd hoodie? Oooh, right. Dr. O’Dork Hoodie.
*I’ve been asked why Fabric Engineer. Lots of reasons. It is meant to be in part humorous, and in part serious. I remember when every title seemed to have engineering in it (e.g. Sanitation Engineer). I have a Ph.D. in Computer Science so using engineer in a title is very natural. Sewing does involve basic engineering. In many ways, it is not too different from woodworking, just the materials are different. There is a lot of problem solving, making pieces fit together, understanding different types of fabric, techniques, and creativity. The same can be said for pottery: glaze chemistry and understanding – at least intuitively – the properties of clay, kiln building, firing techniques, and setting up a studio. A friend told me all this is true about pottery but she would never call herself a clay engineer. If there was more to it, I probably would.
There is more with sewing. For many years, I’ve been saying I practice the manly art of fabric engineering. This reflects my humor. Outside of tailoring, most people think sewing is for women, so I combined the word manly with sewing. I never thought of myself as a tailor, that has a different connotation to me. Fashion designer would be more appropriate. However, I still like fabric engineer.
I started sewing because I think men’s shirts are boring. In the 90s I had a girlfriend/partner who made shirts for me. When we broke up, I couldn’t find shirts I liked. Asking women I dated if they sewed didn’t seem like a good idea, at least not until after the third date. To solve the problem, I did what any good engineer would do and started making my own shirts.