Has your waist changed and you now have bottoms you can’t wear? Or, does your weight fluctuate and you want to design clothing that allows for this? This webinar focuses on creative techniques of altering existing garments or plan new ones to allow for ‘flexible waists’. Garment Designer tips and techniques will be given.
In pattern design, the goal is to make clothing that flatters. This webinar will teach you some basic skills on how to analyze yourself for silhouette, facial shape, and body proportions. You then will learn what garment styles are most appropriate for you. We will use various styles in Garment Designer to illustrate styles you should choose. In the end, you will be on your way to making wise decisions in your choice of silhouette, neckline, and accessorizing details in clothing design. For sewing and all textile arts.
Take a tour of the software with Susan Lazear as your tour guide! Susan will show you Garment Designer’s main attractions as well as help you discover destinations you may not have known existed. This tour will help seasoned travelers and new tourists explore Cochenille’s pattern making software for sewing or knitting. So join us and take a scenic stroll through Garment Designer’s menus, shortcuts and capabilities to help you gain a sense of direction when navigating our program!
Designing garments is step one, but accessorizing that garment with the right ‘add-ons’ is what makes it unique. In this webinar you will learn how to use all the items in the Extras menu to add Collars, Cuffs, Pockets, Edgings, and Additional Shapes to the body of your garment. Learn the lingo of styles, how to plan and place them, and how to build them. Fashionable inspirations will be shown as well to inspire you to add ‘extras’ to your pieces. For the knitting, crochet and sewing.
One of my most recent projects was to design both fabric and garment with an Adinkra influence. The Adinkra is a hand-printed cloth created by the Ashanti in Ghana, Africa. The Adinkra cloths were traditionally made for royalty and religious purposes. The motifs in the cloth communicate meaning. Most of the cloth is white with a black print, but red cloth can also be used.
I have a lot of images of Adinkra textiles on my Pinterest page which can be found here on my African Textile page.
I decided to design an original print in the Adinkra style using black motifs from their alphabet.
Examples of Adinkra symbols
I created the design in Illustrator and tried two options, black/red on white and brown on gold.
Experiments in color
Then, an upload to Spoonflower.. and wait for the fabric to arrive.
Meanwhile, on to Garment Designer to create the sewing pattern. I am a fan of asymmetry, and thus chose to create a two-piece dress with a slightly raised waistline that runs on an angle.
I added a pocket as you can see below.
Garment Designer Pattern
And, the final dress.
Finished Dress
Here are a few references should you want to learn more about Adinkra cloth.
