Featured Schools

Ever wonder how a piece of clothing makes it from the mind of a designer to the rack? Read on to discover the life of a garment from rudimentary idea to part of your favorite outfit.

One day an aspiring designer, perhaps a fashion school student, comes up with an idea for a lovely piece of clothing. A chic skirt, a classic coat, or a fashion-forward ruffled blouse. Hurriedly the student puts her idea down on paper. This might be another work for her fashion design portfolio! She makes sketches, rough drawings of her new ideas.

Executing Fashion Design

Next our fashion school student takes her sketches to the lab where she will use computer-assisted design (CAD) software to plan a pattern. By plugging in the dimensions and playing with the lines of her design she uses the software to create a detailed image of her pattern in 3-D. Fashion schools teach students how to "grade," or make different sizes from the same pattern. Today's CAD software makes this task easier. Now our student will mark her fabric to minimize waste when cutting pieces.

From the Table to the Model

Since our student is only making a sample she can cut the pieces of fabric and assemble them herself. Our fashion school student then pins her pieces together and sews (usually by machine) along the seams, taking time with any special stitching or seams that must lie a certain way. At this point she can see how her design fits using a mannequin or model and make final adjustments. When her final product matches the one in her head, voila! Our fashion school student has just added something to her fashion design portfolio.

Source:

Bureau of Labor

About the Author

Lynsey Hemstreet is a freelance writer and hairstylist who loves anything pink and sparkly. She has a BA in Journalism from San Francisco State University

Ever wonder how a piece of clothing makes it from the mind of a designer to the rack? Read on to discover the life of a garment from rudimentary idea to part of your favorite outfit.