Tools & Equipment
Computer Equipment
For home sewers, wanting to make their own patterns for themselves, computer equipment isn’t essential. A computer and printer are useful for viewing, downloading and printing patternmaking information, or some basic patterns or blocks (i.e. from this or other websites), but all of the patterns on this website can be created manually without the use of a computer or software.
Learning to use computer software programs for patternmaking is only necessary for those wanting to do more than patternmaking for home sewing purposes. You may want to learn to create croquis or flats on the computer (figure 1 below); you may want to learn to create repeating patterns for printing onto fabric (figures 2 & 3 below), or you may want to learn to create patterns in professional software for going into business.
Examples
Croquis & Flats
Examples of a Croquis and some Flats – Back & Front. (Note that Croquis used in the Fashion Industry don’t usually have detailed faces).
Repeating Pattern 1
Example of a repeating pattern made in Illustrator.
Repeating Pattern 2
Example of a repeating pattern made in Illustrator.
Software Used for Fashion Design
Below find some information on programs related to Patternmaking for Fashion Design purposes, and what they are used for.
| Type of Program | Uses | (Some) Software Programs |
|---|---|---|
| Vector Graphic creation Programs | create flats, croquis, repeating patterns | Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Inkscape, SketchUp, ZPaint |
| Raster (pixel) based Graphic Programs | create croquis, repeating patterns | Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Paint, Artweaver, GIMP, Corel PaintShop |
| Fashion CAD Software | fashion patterns, blocks, layout of pattern onto fabric | Wild Ginger, Patternmaker USA, xx, xx, xx |
For those wanting to learn how to use Illustrator and/or Photoshop for creating flats, croquis and repeating-patterns, I can highly recommend www.lynda.com and www.tutsplus.com.