textstudio.se

Freelance translator

Translating from English, French and Spanish, to Swedish.

Specialized in textiles, fashion, footwear, home decoration, furniture, handicraft & DIY.

Translation and transcreation.

About me

I have a background as a textile engineer, and I have worked with product development of ready-to-wear products for many years. My love for languages made me change course and I graduated from the master’s program in non-fiction translation at Linnaeus University in 2015. Since then, I have been translating mostly textile related texts, product texts and marketing texts. My background in the clothing industry makes me very confident when translating texts about textiles and fashion. I know about the design process, trends and fashion expressions, but also garment construction, technical details, different materials and their characteristics.

I am a full member of SFÖ-SAT (Swedish Professional Translators and Authorized Interpreters). The CAT tools I use are Trados Studio and memoQ. I also use Adobe creative cloud (InDesign and Illustrator). Occasionally, I have written textile related magazine articles, and I hold a journalism degree from JMG (the Department of Journalism, Media and Communication) at the university of Gothenburg.

Areas of expertise

Textiles & Fashion

My first degree was in Textile Engineering and I have worked in the clothing industry with product development for almost 30 years, for companies such as Patagonia, Levi Strauss and MQ Marqet. I still work as a consultant for different fashion companies. This is an important strength when translating texts about textiles and fashion. I know the difference between a material (e.g. lyocell) and a trade name (e.g. Tencel®), I know about garment construction, different seams, new materials and trends. If a text talks about a “dropped shoulder”, a “peplum top", a “welt pocket”, a "button-up shirt", "mop", "aop", “paperbag pants”, “pintucks” or a “tartan pattern”, I know exactly how it is called in Swedish. If the length is given “from HPS”, as “outseam” or in inches, I know how to translate the information into Swedish. I know what a “garage” is in a clothing context. I am familiar with different size systems, and I know if there are any questions I need to ask the customer, in order to get the translation right. I have translated thousands of product texts, but also marketing texts, customer information texts and a fashion exposition.

Sports

I have worked with product and marketing texts for sports companies, translating both sports equipment and sportswear, for a wide variety of sports. The sports I have translated the most texts for are motocross and BMX; men's, women's, junior and children's clothing, equipment and protective gear.

Food & Recipes

I have translated declarations of contents for foods and information of various food products. I have also translated several recipes for baking and cooking.

Furniture & Home decoration

For many years, I have translated product and marketing texts for furniture and home decoration. It is important to keep track of all the different materials, finishes, trends and styles. Products I have translated include tables, chairs, sofas, shelves, wardrobes, carpets, beds, bedlinen, pillows, tablecloths, curtains, kitchenware, tableware, cutlery, vases, pots, mirrors, ornaments, sculptures, clocks, frames, pictures, lamps, outdoor furniture.

Handicraft & DIY

I have worked as a needlework designer, I have made over a hundred knitting and crochet descriptions for yarn companies. The vocabulary and abbreviations in these descriptions are very specific and it must feel like an impossible task to translate if you are not a needleworker yourself. In addition, some terms mean different things in American English versus British English. For example, a British “double crochet” is a Swedish “fast maska”, while an Amerian “double crochet” is a Swedish “stolpe”. I have translated knitting and crochet projects, including amigurumi figures, and also other crafts, artist materials and DIY projects.

Lectures

Every month of September, since 2017, I am invited to give a lecture to the new students of the Master’s program in non-fiction translation at Linnaeus University in Växjö. The purpose is to give the students an insight into how to start working as a translator and inspire them in their coming studies. I give lots of hands-on examples of tricky translation situations and common errors, regarding my areas of expertise: textiles, fashion and home decoration.

Contact

You can contact me at:

PI@textstudio.se

Petra Ivarsson, Freelance Translator