How to Make Fashion Sketches

Fashion sketches are used by designers and sewers to guide their creations and put their ideas on paper. They serve as rough drafts of their projects and precise measurement takes a backseat from creative concepts. Fashion sketches for designing and sewing are usually drawn standing up, to be able to feature the clothes completely. Here are steps to making a fashion sketch.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Sketch book
• Pencil
• Ink pens
• Colored pencils or pens

1. Draw the head and the upper body first with a pencil. Fashion sketches usually feature sharp lines and greater proportions in particular areas, emphasizing a part of the body that the clothes will highlight. Angles are important rather than soft curves, and sometimes the whole body isn't drawn completely to leave an abstract sense to the drawing. Fashion sketch is a very rough draft--those who draw them are more concerned with their crafts in design and clothes-making more than drawing.

2. Start working on the clothes and draw them at the same time as the rest of the body. A fashion sketch shouldn't be drawn with an outline of the figure first and the clothes later, as if dressing a paper doll. Since clothing is the main point of the sketch, it should be drawn immediately as if it's the body itself, with emphasis on the shapes of the clothes and the way they fall on the body. Draw other parts of the body to complete the sketch.

3. Add concepts for accessories such as bags, scarves, hats and shoes. These accessories are part of the whole outfit and should be drawn with the clothes on the model to give the designer a fair judgment of concepts that work and those that won't. Sketching is a trial and error practice, and by putting ideas on paper, the designer gets a better grasp of concepts that work with the design. Hairstyle can also be an accessory, so if there is a style that complements the look, be sure to include this.

4. Color in using colored pencils and sign pens. Black ink will further make an area pop out through outlining. Using different colors adds dimension to the drawing. Vary the pressure when working with color, to give the sketch shadows and highlights. Never mind coloring outside the lines, since neatness in drawing doesn't count much compared to the tangible creation that result from the idea. Some designers even purposefully color outside the outline, making the sketch more artistic and abstract. They do this because fashion sketches are often change throughout the design process, and spending too much time on the drawing makes it more definite and harder to change.