Kaeleah reflects on the process post research....

I was disappointed that I couldn’t work as freely as I had hoped on Gerber, I found the program crashed often, and offered too many options directly tied to manufacturing which I found cumbersome to navigate. When I saw the promotional video for CLO I was enthralled and wanted to learn as much as I could.  I watched a few free YouTube videos and it seemed so intuitive.   I knew it would be a great time to try CLO out when I was asked to cut Theatre Calgary’s Steel Magnolias.  I downloaded the free month trial of CLO and set to work.  With knowledge from my Gerber classes and many YouTube videos from CLO it was fairly simple and quick to draft my first couple pieces and create virtual renderings.  These renderings became the basis for a discussion with the designer prior to my cutting into the real
​fabric.

I made fit adjustments in 3D and really perfected my pattern with only the actor's measurements and design info and drawings.  I did have some trouble with one design in CLO 3D that I wasn't able to trouble shoot on my own and wished that I had more education or someone I could call that could help me figure out how to make it work,technical support. In the end I was able to make it work well enough for what I needed. In about 5 full days of working in CLO it only crashed once on me compared with Gerber which I managed to crash multiple times a day. We also ran into some printing problems with the plotter at the theatre, and I was reminded to always double check your pattern scale before cutting it out of fabric. Again, if I had someone who was familiar with the program and plotters I'm sure that this would be easily resolved.  

I was recently informed that others skip the paper patterns altogether and use projectors to transfer their pattern directly from their computer to the fabric on their cutting table.  I am taking this on as my next challenge with the support of the technical team at Theatre Calgary and can't wait to see how it works.  

I knew it would be a great time to try CLO out when I was asked to cut Theatre Calgary’s Steel Magnolias...

​Theatre Calgary : Steel Magnolias
Designer: Sarah Uwadiae

I really enjoyed working with CLO and it is a much, much more affordable option that some other digital drafting programs.  I would love to take actual instructional classes on CLO, the free YouTube tutorials are great, but sometimes you just want to ask your questions to a knowledgable real life person.  I’m looking forward to exploring the program more on future designs!

KaeLeah Spallin
Test Cutter