Patience finds delight in sewing for men (W'mens Pg) Dec 27, 2007

WITH an all-male clientele, Ms Patience Newman of Patnew Designs is a lady who finds delight in designing men's outfit.
Her designs range from suits to long and short sleeved shirts, boubou and caftans, casual, executive to church wear, as well as outfits for special occasions such as engagement, wedding and naming ceremonies.
One may think that it is only women who have special needs for different occasions but at the showroom of Patnew Designs located at North Kaneshie, near Big Boss she has a wide range of men’s outfits from which men can select what they want for any special occasion.
With an ambition to be a lawyer as she was growing up, Pat, as she is affectionately called, had to divert her course as pressing family needs made it impossible for her to pursue her dream.
She therefore decided some 17 years ago to go into trading and established her company called Patnew Ventures of which the designing outfit is a subsidiary.
With only two months experience as an apprentice, Pat started sewing cloths for friends of her father and brothers and that was what made her decide to go into the sewing of men’s clothing.
She also explained that she concentrated on the sewing of male outfits because according to her, that sold faster. She has trained about 28 people in the fashion business.
With her workshop located at Exhibition in Dansoman, Pat has employed 12 people who assist her at the workshop and they produce about 50 different types of men outfits a day.
She gets her fabrics from a supplier in the United States of America (USA) and buys some on the local market. She mentioned her preferred fabrics as cotton and African prints such as Woodin, GTP and ATL, all of which she buys on the local market.
At the showroom of Patnew Designs, a man can also purchase watches, neck ties, shoes and other basic necessities for any occasion.
She markets her wears not only in Accra but also takes them to other places such as the Western and Ashanti regions and hopes to explore the international market in the near future.
Pat says she is ambitious and plans to expand her business but complains about problems with the acquisition of loans, which she says is not flexible. She, however, indicated that she intends to establish a one-stop shop where people can walk in and have all that they desire in the next few years.
She also operates a cleaning service and an interior decoration outfit and she hopes to add a restaurant and salon.
Pat described sewing as “the greatest job on earth” explaining that people always want to have new clothing. She, therefore, advised people who have the flair to go into sewing and designing without any hesitation.

• Ms Patience Newman arranging some of her accessories at the showroom.