Earlier quoted context omitted.
After re-reading the question a couple of times, I get the idea that oldmanstan may not know how to sew. There's a step between "sketching the artwork" and "making the garment" -- designing the sloper. As an apparel manufacturer, is this a service you provide, or do most of your customers bring you a set of base patterns? If not, oldmanstan will probably need someone to take his artwork and turn it into a base patter…
What books would you recommend to the randomly interested?
And here's a website: http://vintagesewing.info/
And a good book on textiles: http://www.amazon.com/World-Textiles-Visual-Traditional-Tech...
There are some other books I've read over the years (a couple of them very rare), that I can't seem to find references to. But if you need beyond that, feel free to email me.