ack, you would catch me as I'm just starting to get buried in my busiest time of year.

Marketing is the real key... sure you have to have good graphics, good patterns etc but how you place yourself is critical, how you name yourself, must be catchy etc.

I'd send the patttern making out to a contract pattern maker, first y'll need to come up with a fit model. This is the body that represents how the line is going to fit. Example, the standard fit model is somewhere around a size 8 or 10 and everything for a certain line is graded ( pattern maker's term) up or down from there. Depending on the particular company, the fit model may have an atheletic build, a curvy build etc. You know how when you buy a certain line of clothes because they fit you just right? Chances are the fit model is close to your body type. See what I mean?

There's a really excellent book called The Entrepeneur's Guide to Sewn Product Manufacturing that explains a lot of this stuff, and how to be successful at it.

Irulan