Dress Design & Design Process
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Dress Design Process
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Designing a dress and the process it entails is specific to each individual. The general process can be applied to designing varied types of garments. Each designer has her own process; some work more hands-on solely using fabric, while others create their designs using paper and rarely sew. There is no right or wrong way to design a dress.
Preliminary Sketches
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Many designers do preliminary sketches of their designs to work out details before working with fabric. For a dress, determine the length, fit and cut you want. You can create multiple iterations by drawing over a base design with an overlaid piece of tracing paper. Then scan your design and begin playing with fabrics and color variations in an image program like Photoshop. Creating multiple layers in Photoshop allows you to see the variations next to one another.
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Selecting Fabric
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Keep the properties of the fabric in mind when selecting a fabric for your dress: They all drape differently. Silk fabric is much more slinky, while a jersey can be clingy--they would most likely not be suitable for the same dress design. The color and patterning of the fabric can greatly change the look of your design; explore this during the preliminary sketching stage.
Draping
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Drape the mannequin with your fabric. Using fabric pins, pin the fabric onto the mannequin to replicate the sketched designs. Once the mannequin is draped to your satisfaction, bring it to a pattern maker to have a pattern made. If you find draping difficult, take your sketches directly to a pattern maker and have him make the pattern from your sketch. Make sure any details are notated on your sketch and the draped mannequin.
Finalizing the Design
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Cut and sew your sample using the pattern from the pattern maker. Use the fabric you selected for your dress so the garment drapes properly. Once the sample is sewed together, take notes on any areas you would like changed. Alter these parts on the pattern and resew the altered design. Continue this process until you are satisfied with the design.
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