How To Design Clothes? A Guide For Beginners

This blog will walk you through the process of designing fashion, whether you want to learn how to do it or become a fashion designer with your own line of clothing.

What a person wears reveals a lot about them. Perhaps this explains why so many people are fascinated by trends and fashion. Designing your own clothing is an option if you have a distinctive and imaginative sense of style.

It’s not as challenging as you might think to make custom clothing. A few basic abilities and an eagerness to learn are all that are required. Many of the necessary skills may already be in your possession. How to design your own clothing, then?

1. Research
2. Design Process
3. Pattern Making
4. Sample Making
5. Selling Your Designs

To learn more, adhere to our detailed instructions. 

How to Design Clothes?

I will go over each of the many skills below that are necessary to be able to design clothing.

Research

Research is always the first step in any design process, and fashion design is no exception. Research takes up the majority of my time when I begin working on a new collection. I’m looking at and thinking about:

• Color
• Fabric
• History
• Mood
• Season
• Texture

As part of the research process, I will collect primary and secondary source materials. I will then compile all of these into a sketchbook or onto large pinboards so that I can see how everything fits together.

The time spent researching and finding inspiration is important for aspiring fashion designers. Keep it in a folder or scrapbook for later use—it might be a piece of fabric scrap you like the feel of or a magazine color scheme.

Actually, I have a wonderful concertina folder that contains a lot of tear sheets from books and magazines that I find inspirational.

Design Process

You’ve completed all the research, gathered fabric samples, and crammed a wall (or sketchbook) with ideas. The design process is up next! This can be done in 2D or 3D, digitally or traditionally.

• Fashion Design Software

Some designers are not interested in sketching out or creating physical, three-dimensional designs. That’s totally acceptable, and some of the fashion school classmates I took classes with later became designers. If you don’t want to design clothes by yourself, you can find a designer for your clothing line.

There are many clothing design software options available now, and I am in all honesty unfamiliar with many, as I prefer the paper and pencil route alongside draping, but here are some that I am familiar with that you could research further that will enable you to design in 2D/3D:

1. Adobe Illustrator – this is the main design software that I use for any digital fashion design and pattern making
2. Adobe Photoshop – while not a CAD program, I do use it for pulling color schemes from my visual research and creating digital prints
3. Alvanon – makers of dress forms, also have a ‘virtual’ form that is available on a subscription basis
4. Clo 3D – 3D design, but I haven’t used it as it’s not fully compatible with Apple Mac computers
5. Gerber AccuMark – professional-level software (acquired by Lectra)
6. Sketchbook – works on the iPad, but I’ve not tried it on other devices
7. Tailornova – quite new but looks more accessible

• Traditionally

Getting a pencil and some paper out and starting on some fashion sketches is the more conventional approach to the fashion design process.

To develop ideas for clothing designs, I make sure to have all of my visual research in front of me. I draft rough ideas and then polish them. It’s a multi-stage process that I supplement with 3D research, dress form draping, and sketching based on that.

Pattern Making

After you have honed your design concepts, the next step is to make the patterns. In order to check fit and proportion, this step is crucial in the design of clothing, and I never omit it. Your 2D sketches will now start to come to life in front of you!

You’ll use a house block (or a custom block if you’re designing clothing for yourself), which will help you maintain sizing and shape consistency throughout subsequent collections.

Sample Making

It’s time to sew a sample after the sewing pattern is made; this is typically done in shell form only using muslin or calico and is done to determine the size, proportion, etc. It may take several toiles to reach this stage, but once the design is perfect, the final sample is made in the actual fabric.

Selling Your Designs

You’ve learned how to design clothes, but what next? If they’re for yourself – congrats! Now, you probably have a fantastic, coordinated capsule wardrobe. You’ll want to market your designs if they’re meant for other people. You can sell your clothes designs online.

• Clothing Manufacturer

Finding a clothing manufacturer to produce your clothing designs for you and selling them under your own clothing brand is your first option. You can either sell them directly to customers through your own website, store, or boutiques at wholesale prices so that they can resell them.

• Custom Clothing

Another option is to make everything from scratch and sell each item as a piece of personalized clothing. It is, therefore, more cash-flow efficient because it is only produced if you receive an order and you won’t have money locked up in unsold inventory.

• Sewing Patterns

As sewing patterns, you can also sell your creations. This is a business type that many trained fashion designers transition into, but you will need to have the patterns graded and tested across a size range before selling.

What’s Your Goal? 

Your ultimate objective will determine the method you use to create clothing. Do you want to create clothing exclusively for yourself? Or do you intend to launch your own clothing line? In either case, you must develop certain essential skills. However, making clothes for yourself is ultimately simpler than making clothes for other people. 

Design Your Own Clothes  

Creating your own clothing is a great way to have a wardrobe that is exclusively yours. Sometimes it’s hard to find clothes at retail stores that fit you just right or that suit your style. 

Making your own clothes is not only a satisfying process, but it’s also cool to know how to do it. Before starting their own clothing line, the majority of fashion designers first design for themselves. 

Design Clothes For A Fashion Line

Do you think your designs will find a market in the retail sector? A lot of drive and imagination are needed to create a fashion line, so that’s awesome. Initially, you may have only designed clothes for yourself, but now you also need to consider what will look good on other people.

When your designs are released, you must also research current trends and anticipate what people will want to wear. Making a fashion line requires extensive research. However, it will be simple if you have a strong interest in fashion.

Learn How To Become A Fashion Designer

There are two ways to pursue a career as a fashion designer. The first is to enroll in a traditional course that will give you more practical experience. Or, you could go about it unconventionally by pursuing your passion without having a degree, certificate, or another credential.

Some might argue that you do not need a degree to become a fashion designer, but you need to understand that it’s not an easy feat to pull off. But given how passionate people are about the subject, it will be worthwhile. Neither a set method for success nor a right or wrong way to go about it exists.

The direct or informal approach will entirely depend on you and the effort, time, energy, etc. while formal education in fashion design follows a structured approach. that you decide to put into achieving your dream. What you need to be ready for is what follows:

Sewing Skills

Sewing is the foundation of clothing production. As a result, you should improve your sewing abilities if you want to become a fashion designer. Understanding techniques make it simple to draw. Additionally, you will interact with and use various fabrics of various natures. These factors unintentionally influence the designs.

Some designers have a signature stitch, style, or technique that they base their work on if you pay close attention to their creations. Experience, experiments, knowledge of the subject, and research all help with that. Spend a lot of time as a beginner honing this skill; it will help you immensely as you advance.

Designing

Putting many crucial components together successfully is necessary to designing clothing and developing your collection.

• Of course, drawing is the first major step in this process and the foundation for creating the outfit. It’s a good idea to start by sketching out a quick design. Moreover, writing it down is distinct from picturing it! Because it’s the only way you can improvise, be ready to sketch frequently.
• The next big step is selecting the fabric and its intended use for it. However, if the colors and even the shades are off, even the most futuristic and creative patterns and prints could look uninspired. Every color has a myriad of shades and finding the perfect tone to match it is an art form in and of itself. You need to have a keen eye for detail. For this reason, whenever you look at a noteworthy collection, you can see how the designer has extensively played with each color and pattern while using the theme as a base. A lot of balancing is required.
• Technical details that most laypeople like me don’t understand. Because you develop your crude sketch into the blueprint for each garment, it is no less than science. How else do you think so many body types fall into a size category? As they choose the sizes, alter each pattern, and ensure that every piece of the puzzle fits together, big companies have a team of people working on a wide range of details for each collection.

Deciding A Niche

All aspiring fashion designers strive to create haute couture and believe that creating pricey garments will help them break through. However, the opposite is true and it is not true.

In addition, there is much more available than just haute couture; markets have expanded greatly, and if you are really talented, you may be able to access a completely new realm. As you advance in your fashion designing course, internship, or career, gradually begin to consider a niche based on your areas of interest. Your options are as follows:

• Haute Couture– When every dress or piece of clothing was made for a specific customer, made-to-measure fashion or haute couture first emerged. The fabrics, colors, styling, and fit receive much more consideration than the cost. Haute couture designers were only available to the most affluent members of society. But times have changed, and the talent pool has grown. Now more than ever, haute couture is available everywhere, from runways to flagship stores to red carpets. Every fashion designer hopes to get there one day, but it’s not a great place to start. Nevertheless, if you keep trying, you will succeed.
• Mass Production – Contrary to haute couture, it is this. These outfits are readily available in large quantities, are affordable, and are suitable for everyone. The outfits are produced by machines for large brands using their team of designers’ selection of a specific model, type, or pattern that is popular at the time. a business strategy that has a higher number of opportunities than costs of production, making it the most profitable.
• Ready-To-Wear (Pret-a-Porter) –  The next big thing in the fashion industry is ready-to-wear, which is a hybrid of the two. As a result, similar high-quality clothing is also produced, albeit in smaller quantities, by designers whose creations are displayed in exhibits, on runways, and on red carpets. These clothes are unique but ready to wear.

Customer Need Analysis By Identifying Gap In The Industry

You can’t have your foot in two boats at once, so pick one and do a ton of research on it. The sector may be men’s wear, women’s wear, children’s wear, sports, bridal, athleisure, or a combination of two or more. You can learn research methods that will aid in your analysis of the target industry in fashion design courses.

You may be interested in How to Design Children’s Clothing?

You must delve further to comprehend the demands of your niche and determine whether there is room for you to enter. Find opportunities to launch your collection if there is a gap. This pre-production requires a lot of brainstorming and, if done well, is already half the battle won.

Fashion Merchandising

Understanding the pricing strategies based on the production costs and overheads involved is another fascinating and crucial aspect of becoming a successful fashion designer.

Consumer behavior, pricing, and the economics of running a successful fashion business are all topics covered in the course of fashion merchandising. It’s one thing to have a passion, but it’s quite another to run a business, which isn’t for everyone.

Market Analysis And Strategy

Whether you decide to pursue fashion design after your course or go in a different direction, you must be aware of the other skills that must be developed in addition to the actual craft. Designing dresses is one thing, but it’s equally important to comprehend market dynamics and have a launch strategy. What elevates your business to the next level is understanding the pulse of your market and customers.

Understanding The Target Audience

Recognize the target audience’s demographics. You should be aware of this even before starting your collection. Put yourself in the target audience’s position and consider what you would want from a brand.

That makes the process less arduous and is a great starting point. What distinguishes you is how you interact with underlying elements. While you learn some of it theoretically, the rest you learn through experience.

Conclusion: Design Clothes

It’s a fascinating and dynamic field of fashion design. It requires a lot of effort and can be fiercely competitive. If you want to become a successful fashion designer, you have a long road ahead of you, but some straightforward advice above you can take to begin the process of designing clothes, regardless of whether or not you want to do this for a living.

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