Designer Jeanne Lanvin, founder of one of Paris' great fashion houses, is seated at her desk, surrounded by the brightly colored spines of fabric and pattern books, a drawing pencil, and a telephone.

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Making another dress would require a trip to Italy to procure the fantastic fabric, reprinting the pattern and re-cutting the style as a one-off.

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Pottery can be a great way to add texture and pattern without relying on fabric.

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In tie-dying, bundles of ramie threads are bound tightly with cotton before dying so as to produce a geometric or floral pattern when the thread is woven into fabric using a simple back-strap loom.

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The new fabric has less variance in weight, and the shape of the pattern has been adjusted to ensure it fits without being overstretched.

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The pattern was provided but we had to go and pick our own material at the fabric store along with thread to match.

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First comes the idea, then the sketching, then the draping of white toile (muslin), first over a mannequin and later over a live model, and finally the cutting of samples on a pattern that translates the temporary magic of the toile into a permanent garment in the fabric and colours of the designer's choice.

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