From Concept to Completion: Designing a Garment

Every designer has their own way of working and coming up with concepts and executing them, but we all follow the same general rules. In order to have a good and coherent collection, you have to follow the steps that take you from concept to design.

One of the most important things when designing a collection is inspiration. Not to say that you cannot design without inspiration, but if you do; your work will most likely lack depth and originality. That is why inspiration comes in so many different forms; strange shapes, nature or a piece of writing. It does not matter what it is, all that matters is the idea it injects into your project. Thus, you will start to collect details of what this project is really about. Fabrics, construction details, silhouettes and colour schemes. Anything that will make your idea clear.

Once your inspiration has done its work, you have to put your ideas together and come up with a concept. A concept is best written and usual includes statements that portray what your collection is all about. You want people to read or hear your concept and know exactly what to expect.

This does not always require perfect drawings, but you need to be able to present your new and original ideas. If you cannot draw a croquis (a stylised figure wearing your designs) then you can draw your ideas as flats, which just requires you to have knowledge of garment construction so you can show every stitch and seam visible.

At this point you could hand over your designs to someone else to make the patterns, cut and construct, but if you have no one to hand it to; you will be making patterns for each of the garments you designed. This is by far the most critical part of the process. If your patterns are not done right then they will not translate what you designed, meaning your garment will look nothing like what you envisioned.

This should be the easiest part if you can sew well, meaning you can maintain an equal seam allowance throughout the garment and you use the appropriate finishing on your garments.

Voila! You have a garment! Hope this helps you with your next collection.