Meet Brooke (Brookelyn) Boyle of Brooke Boyle Pattern Making in East Hollywood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brooke (Brookelyn) Boyle.

Brooke, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My whole life, I’ve always created and loved fashion. Growing up in Kansas, however, having a career in fashion had never occurred to me. I moved to LA and built a career in the Music Industry. One day, I realized I had I hit a glass ceiling at my music job.

I was also beginning to see the Music Industry crumble as music began streaming online. Sites, where you could download music illegally for free, became popular and singles were the new thing. I started looking for a way out. Very long story short, I felt like I was divinely guided into the fashion industry. I took one of the biggest risks of my life, quit my high-level music job and went back to school for Fashion Design.

I decided to study at LA Trade Tech after I found out that my essential pattern making book was written by a professor there. Although my degree is in Fashion Design, in my opinion, LA Trade Tech is the absolute best school in LA to study pattern making. Their Fashion Design Degree is heavily focused on understanding pattern making and clothing construction. While at LATTC, I began my own line of women’s clothing and accessories. I handmade everything. I graduated with a 4.0 GPA and won awards.

I started to get hired to create costumes for many different performance artists, my most favorite one being a collaboration between William Close of MASS Ensemble and I. I created an outfit that encased the touch-sensitive MIDI triggers he provided and hid all the cabling. The end result was a stunning outfit (Jacket and Skirt) that was infinitely programmable with ten different touch-sensitive points. It was an amazing blend of music and fashion!

After internships in multiple facets of the fashion industry ranging from assistant design to fabric sourcing, I began my career in Technical Design and Pattern Making. Over the years, I have worked for small startup companies all the way to the large luxury label, James Perse. The range of companies I have worked for gives me an in-depth perspective of the fashion industry. One day, a friend of mine invited me to a party. There, I was introduced to an amazing woman, Sandy Fleming, who had a freelance pattern making business.

In the months after, Sandy taught me how to begin building my own freelance pattern making business. When an amazing job opportunity arose for Sandy and she no longer had time for her freelance clients, she surprised me by handing them all off to me! Sandy is now the Head Designer of an amazing new fashion line called Kiln, and with the addition of her clients, I was able to quit my full-time job and fully focus on my own freelance pattern making business.

I have been self-employed for about a year and a half. I still have many of her clients and have developed clients of my own. My fashion client roster includes: n:Philanthropy, Katharine Kidd, Daniella Hunter, Cult Gaia, Kiln, Esby, Nicholas The Label, Between Ten and many more

In addition to fashion, I have expanded into TV and Film. My first piece is about to debut on TV as the Super Suit for the character Lightning on the TV Show Black Lightning! This was a thrilling experience as I worked with Costume Designer LJ Shannon and Assistant Designer Sarah Mgeni in collaboration with design house Creative Character Engineering. CCE created all of the hard goods and outfitted the suit with fiber optics and lighting.

I am now excited to say that I work in two of the biggest industries in LA, Fashion and TV/Film!

Has it been a smooth road?
Even though it seems that I have had my business handed to me on a silver platter, and in some ways that is true, it has definitely not been an easy road. I cannot begin to express how many nights I have barely slept. I think I might understand what it is like to have a baby – only I have had a business baby!

In addition to having to learn how to balance my workload, I have also had to learn how to balance my finances. Taxes were quite shocking last year! Being self-employed is a whole other ball game!

Unexpectedly, having my own business has caused me to do deep self-work. I have had many lessons in self-worth, setting boundaries, fear and knowing my own limits. It is a scary and crazy empowering thing to only rely on yourself for all of your income!

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Brooke Boyle Pattern Making story. Tell us more about the business.
I offer Pattern and Sample Making services. I personally create all of the patterns and work with individual sewers and or sewing teams to create the samples. My services include 1st through Production patterns and revisions, samples and SMS, consultations with design and or tech team for handoffs and fittings as needed. I offer manual or digital patterns as necessary and detailed pattern cards with technical direction.

I specialize in Men’s and Women’s clothing. I am skilled with both knits and wovens. I draft patterns both from blocks and or by draping. I can create anything from swimwear, T-shirts, tailored suits, evening gowns with built-in boned corsets, everyday wear, outerwear, activewear, and costumes. Due to my wide range of client needs, I am consistently using my full skill set and staying up to trend with any new developments in pattern making.

I am one of the few freelance pattern makers on the cutting edge of digital pattern making technology. Digital patterns are beneficial to my clients in many ways: Remote work is easy. I have clients who are based in other states and I can simply email patterns to domestic and overseas contractors. Pattern pieces cannot get lost. If a sewer or contractor accidentally loses a pattern piece, no problem. I can just reprint it. Digital patterns free up office space. My clients do not have to worry about keeping an extensive paper pattern library when everything they need is just a click away.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Pattern Making software just keeps getting better and I’m so excited! There are a bunch of new products out there that are making it easier and easier to get the fit close to perfect the first time. These new products allow you to virtually sew the garment together and fit it on an avatar of your client, actor or fit model. This cuts product development time and cost! It is absolutely the future.

Contact Info:

• Phone: 310.467.9507
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brookeboylepatternmaking/?hl=en

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