Bringing Your Designs to Life

Bringing your vision to life consists of more work than one would imagine. This process takes a lot of patience as it involves multiple trials & error, varying your end product. Here I have laid out our journey of bringing our designs to life.

From getting inspired through fashion weeks latest trends to seeing your ultimate muse wearing your envisioned piece. Taking your work of art and turning it into a design one can physically wear requires a lot of attention to detail.

You will need the following supplies for the oncoming steps. Sketchbook, mannequin silhouette (you can google image these & print them out), pencil (I prefer led pencil because of how thin these write), a really good eraser, fine tip liner for your final design, pencil crayons, a sharpener, ruler (small & large), stencil paper (you can get the big ones from your local fabric shop), tape measure, scissors, pins, thread, chalk pencil, and an optional – mannequin.

SKETCHING – You want to sketch out your design and be as detailed as possible, I cannot emphasize that enough, DETAIL is everything. If you can’t physically understand how some angles, creases, folds, placings are drawn, a trick I typically use is to simply close my eyes and envision a model wearing the piece(s) I have envisioned to begin with.

MEASURING – Here is where your tape measure & ruler comes in handy, you can also use the standard model size 4. You’ll be required to measure certain widths and lengths to see how much fabric you’ll need and keep them jotted down in a clear placement on your design sketch.

STENCILS – As you’ve previously jotted down your measurements now comes the stencil. Having a large piece of paper really helps but can vary on your design. The above image shows a simple body suite, so a one meter of stencil paper was more than enough. You’ll want to draw out your design with life size measurements.

PRACTICE FABRIC – Once you’ve cut up your stencils and connected your measurements as required, it’s time to place it over the fabric (ensure you do this on the reversed side – whichever side of the fabric will be facing the inner portion of your body), start tracing your stencil on the fabric.

TIME TO SEW! – After tracing and cutting out your fabric, it’s time to pin and sew! Back stitching really helps to lock in the start and end part every time you sew.

PATIENCE – Last but not least, being patient is super important especially when trying to get your design made into a physical piece.

Enjoy the process & happy sewing!

XOXO - Sallie