How to Design Ladies Fashion

Becoming a fashion designer is one of the most rewarding and lucrative career choices. Although it is highly recommended that you go to school to get a formal education, it is not a must. There are some people who made it big in the fashion industry without the benefit of a formal education. With talent, determination and a lot of luck, you can become a successful fashion designer. Here are some tips to help you kick-off a career in fashion design by designing ladies' fashion.

Things You'll Need

• Fashion design software
• Design sketch pad
• Lead pencil
• Pen
• Colored pencils
• Fabric swatches

Instructions

1. Sketch out an idea on a piece of paper. Sometimes an idea just comes right at you at any given moment. Once it hits you, grab your pen and paper and just draw. This could be a casual dress, an evening gown, a pair of ladies' pants or a blouse. Whatever it is, when your creative juice is flowing, go ahead and indulge it.

2. Make a template of a model. This is a tip for those just starting out or those who do not feel they are creative enough to draw sketches on their own. Lay out a piece of paper, preferably an opaque one where you can see an image underneath. Place the paper over a full body picture of a model or a celebrity. Trace the figure of the model by outlining the head, shoulder, arm, waist, legs and hips. If you can find a picture of a swimsuit model so much the better, for it would make it easier to outline the body figure. Create several templates with different poses. This means a different pictures each time. You can trace from fashion magazines or download famous models from the Internet. Check out the Resources link below for a sample under "Model Pictures."

3. Stick on the template over hard stock paper. Use spray on adhesive or any paper glue. Then use a felt-tip pen or marker to darken the body outline.

4. Draw on your design. Place another opaque piece of paper over the templates you created for different model poses. Then draw your design using the fashion template as your guide for body figure.

5. Draw the neckline. There are different neck lines you can experiment on--it can be a V-neckline, a round neckline, turtle necks, Chinese collar or even a scooped neckline.

6. Draw the shoulder line, upper arm, armpit, down to the elbow-line and wrist. You may opt for a strapless or off-shoulder style. Choose the style of sleeves, whether sleeveless, short, long or elbow-length. For long sleeves, design the style for the wrist. You can choose plain, buttoned, zipped, hooked or even gartered. For the fit, you may want the sleeves fitted, loose or flared.

7. Draw the outline for the upper body. If designing a blouse or dress, you can opt for a fitted or loose bodice.

8. Draw the waistline. If drawing a blouse you may want to limit the length down to the waist or hips. There are styles, however, that are only up to the belly or mid-rib. An empire waist style is a popular choice for women wanting a slimming effect.

9. Draw the lower part. If you are designing a dress or a skirt, you can draw from A-line, balloon skirt, pencil skirt, tube skirt, column skirt, asymmetrical skirt and pleated skirt. Choose the length whether short or mini or long skirts. For pants, you can choose from shorts, capri, skorts, dress pants, tights, flare or bell bottom styles.

10. Add embellishments such as pockets, zippers, buttons, frills, ruffles, ribbons or sashes, belts and straps. Add color by adding shades on the rendering (use colored pencils).

11. Choose the fabric. This step may come in at any time during the design process. More common than not, the idea or design comes first prior to fabric choices. Choose the fabric that would work best for the design you are creating. For example, choose Georgette or silk for a nice flowy dress, choose gabardine or polyester for dress pants. Choose denim for pants that you create for an informal or casual look. Choose cotton for blouses or spandex for tights. Add the swatches on your design or portfolio by using fabric or spray-on adhesive and adding a legend or label where the fabric choices would go or would be used for.

12. Label and sign your design. Put a title, header and a footnote about the design which includes the style and the date you created the design. Then affix your signature.

13. Place your collection in a nice portfolio folder or envelope and organize them in a filing cabinet or filing box. You may also opt to make copies of your design by going to office supplies stores and using their colored copiers. You can also save your design electronically by scanning the image to your computer then save copies to a CD or USB flash drive. Keep the CD in a jewel CD case and then store in an box or CD organizer. Label your flash drive and store in a safe place.

14. Market your design. You can approach garment shops, retailers or department stores specializing in ladies' fashion and see if they can be interested in your design. You may also want to sew samples of your design for better presentation.

Tips & Warnings

• You can buy software to create your design for ladies' fashions. Digital Design Pro is one of the popular software packages available on the market that allows you to create fashion design using your computer.

• Make sure to have your designs copyrighted so that no one can lay claim on your original work.

• Avoid copying other designer's work and marketing them as your own.

Resources

• Fashion Designer Qualifications
• Model Pictures