Construct a detailed set of garment flats

Advanced Construction Details

Add Ribbing To An Existing Garment
As demonstrated in the video for Unit 1.1, use the Stroke Panel to add ribbing to an existing garment.

Create a segment that lies directly in the center of the area you wish to add ribbing to.

With the segment still selected, go to the Stroke Panel and check the box labeled “Dash Line”. Adjust the Stroke Weight value until the edges of your segment reach the top and bottom of the ribbing area. Adjust the “dash” and “gap” values in the Stroke Panel to alter the appearance of the ribbing.

Practice adding different kinds of ribbing by applying the following values to the “dash” and “gap” boxes:
Create Zipper Teeth
As demonstrated in the video for Unit 1.1, use the Stroke Panel to add zipper teeth to an existing garment.

If you haven’t designed a garment that needs zipper teeth, create the appearance of a zipper like so:

Create a vertical straight segment that spans the length of your zipper. With the straight segment selected, go to the Stroke Panel and check the box labeled “Dash Line”. Adjust the “dash” and “gap” boxes to read with the following values:

Once you have repeating rectangles, Copy (Ctrl + C) the segment and Paste it in place (Ctrl + F). Using your Selection Tool (V), drag the copied segment to the right and then above the original segment. Adjust the placement until you’ve created an even, staggered pattern from the dashed line.
Learn How To Use Offset Path
In the video for Unit 1.2 I demonstrated how to create an Offset Path. Offset Path creates a duplicate of an object with the path set off by a specified distance. It can be accessed from the Adobe Illustrator Menu from Object > Path > Offset Path.

To acquainted with Offset Path, create a rectangle and apply an Offset Path to it. Try using both positive and negative values. Continue to explore Offset Path by applying it to curved segments and various shapes. Offset Path will apply to any closed shape or segment.

Create a simple patch pocket from a square or rectangle. Use Offset Path to add even stitching within the patch pocket like so:

Now, use Offset Path to create a drawstring or a tie. Begin by creating a curved line using the Pen Tool (P). Once you’re satisfied with the shape, select the shape with the Selection Tool (V) and apply an Offset Path with your desired values.

Take your Direct Selection Tool (A) and select the original path you made. Delete the path.

Repeat the process but this time, design a more elaborate drawstring with a bow.
Create Darts Using The Width Tool
The Width Tool (Shift + W) is a tool that allows you to bulge or pinch along a selected path. Get acquainted with the Width Tool by adjusting the width on random paths or shapes.

Use the Width Tool to create darts to an existing garment. Simply pinch an anchor at the end of a segment to create a vanishing point.
Create Faux Fur Using Roughen
As demonstrated in the video for Unit 1.3, use Roughen to create the appearance of faux fur on a garment. It can be accessed from the Adobe Illustrator Menu from Effect > Distort & Transform > Roughen.

I recommend practicing first by applying Roughen to a random shape. Once you’re comfortable with Roughen, select or create a segment of an existing garment that you’d like to convert into faux fur. Apply Roughen and check the Preview box to view the adjustments you’re making to your shape. I recommend keeping the size of your Roughen small and increasing the detail of the Roughen to create a subtle faux fur appearance.
Turn In Your Unit 1 Deliverable
For your Unit 1 deliverable, I’m requesting the following construction details or techniques be applied to one or multiple garments:

1. Ribbing (using the Stroke Panel)

2. Zipper Teeth (using the Stroke Panel)

3. Drawstring Tie (using Offset Path)

4. Darts (using the Width Tool)

5. Faux Fur (using Roughen)

Coloring and Designing Patterns

Add Color To Your Garment Flat
As demonstrated in the video for Unit 2.1, use Selection to select all of the colorable components of your garment at one time. It can be accessed from the Adobe Illustrator Menu from Select > Same > Fill Color (or Stroke Color or Stroke Weight).

With the Direct Selection Tool (A), select one shape from your garment that has a white Fill and black Stroke (standard fill/stroke setting). With the shape selected, go to the Menu bar > Select > Same > Fill Color. Illustrator has now selected every shape that contains a white Fill. From here, simply select a different color in the Swatches panel (be sure that you’re editing the Fill color), or double click the fill color in the Tools Panel to apply a hex code.

If you built your garment correctly, you should not encounter any major problems when adding color to your flat using the technique I demonstrated in the video. If you are experiencing some problems, make sure your garment flat complies with the following guidelines:

1. All of major shapes of your garment flat are closed (body, sleeves, collar, etc.)

2. Stitch lines have a thinner Stroke value than the whole of the garment (I recommend giving a 0.5pt value to all stitch lines)

3. Stitch lines have no Fill value

Once you learn how to select objects according to same Fill colors or Stroke weights and colors, you will have better hindsight to create clean garment flats that are easy to work with from now on. Try adding color to all of your existing flats using this method. Once you’re comfortable with this process, try building a new garment with the intention of separating colors of the garment by adding shades of gray to the Fill values of contrast pieces.

If you desire to add contrast stitching to your garment flat, select any single stitch line, (and with the line selected) go to Select > Same > Stroke Weight to select all stitch lines. Make sure you’re adjusting the Stroke color when you select a new color from the Swatches panel.
Design A Block Based Pattern
Before you design your own pattern, take a few minutes to explore the existing library of pattern swatches that Adobe Illustrator offers.

“Block Based” Patterns are patterns that are built within a grid or square, with no components of the pattern overlapping the edge of the base square. Some examples of Block based patterns are checkers, plaids, gingham, and stripes.

The process of creating a block based pattern is quite easy. As long as you remain within the constraints of a square, you will have a successful pattern. Pull a plaid pattern from the Internet or from one of your favorite garments and try recreating that pattern on Illustrator.

When you’re finished illustrating your pattern, select the entire square and all of its contents and drag the whole group into the swatches panel (a “+” sign will appear below your cursor to indicate where you’re able to place the pattern). Test the quality of your pattern by filling a large rectangle with your fill. If there are no obvious breaks or inconsistencies with you pattern, that means you’re successful!

To apply the pattern to a garment, simply replace the fill value of the garment with the pattern swatch by clicking it in the Swatches panel.

If you need to resize your pattern, simply select your entire pattern and scale it smaller with the bounding box. Once you’ve reached your desired size, drag the entire scaled pattern back into the swatches panel and replace the fill of the garment with that pattern instead.
Design A Seamless Pattern
“Seamless” patterns are patterns that have no obvious indication of where its repetition begins and ends. Unlike block based patterns, seamless patterns have design components that overlap the square they’re set in.

The trick for creating a successful seamless pattern is to accurately place those components that overlap the border.

When you’re done designing your seamless pattern: make sure to place an empty square (no fill or stroke value) that is the same size as your background square and send it to the very back of your pattern. Select all components of the pattern including the empty square then drag it into the Swatches panel.

Luckily for those who do not prefer this method, Illustrator offers a pattern building tool called Pattern Options. It can be accessed from the Adobe Illustrator Menu from Window > Pattern Options.

This function allows you to build a repeating design with ease because it automatically and accurately places overlapping components where they need to be.

Another advantage of using Pattern Options is that it gives you multiple options for pattern tiling, which can be difficult to achieve when using the manual method. This function is especially useful when creating polka dot patterns.

Grid:

Brick by row:

Hex by column:

To save a pattern, click “Save A Copy” which is located near the tabs of your Adobe Illustrator projects.

Feel free to play around with this function, however I recommend making at least one seamless pattern using the manual method.
Turn In Your Unit 2 Deliverable
For your Unit 2 deliverable, I’m requesting the following:

1. A full colored flat (using Select > Same) with at least 2 colors in the same garment flat.

2. Contrasting Stitching (using Select > Same)

3. Design a “block based” pattern (using the manual method)

-examples: plaid, checkerboard or gingham

4. Design a “seamless” pattern (using the manual method)

-examples: chevron, scallop, or random placement of shapes

Extra: Design a seamless pattern using the Pattern Options tool in Adobe Illustrator.

Adding Technical Details

Use The Warp Tool
The Warp tool (Shift + R) molds objects with the movement of the cursor. When set with smaller values and size, the Warp tool is useful for creating draping details on a garment flat.

Here are my recommended settings for the Warp tool:

Practice using the warp tool by altering the appearance of a plain segment by taking the warp tool and dragging it in and out of the segment.

This process may require lots of undos. Be patient and keep working towards an ideal draping effect.
Use The Brush Tool
The Brush Tool (B) draws freehand and calligraphic lines, as well as art, patterns, and bristle brush strokes on paths.

The Brush tool is useful when you need to draw freehand lines to add indications of drape onto your garment flat. After you’ve warped your garment to add drape, use the Brush tool to enhance the appearance of drape.

Here are other common examples of using the Brush tool to add drape lines:
Learn How To Use Pathfinder
You can combine vector objects to create shapes in a variety of ways in Illustrator. The resulting paths or shapes differ depending on the method you use to combine the paths. Pathfinder effects let you combine multiple objects using one of ten interaction modes. If you can’t see Pathfinder on the right tools panel of your artboard, go to Window > Pathfinder.

Pathfinder panel

Here’s a summary of the Pathfinder effects:

Add/Unite: Combines all the selected objects and merges them into a single shape. If the objects are different colors, the merged shape takes on the attributes of the top-most object.

Subtract/Minus Front: Uses the top object(s) as a sort of “cookie cutter” to subtract their shapes from the bottom object.

Intersect: Deletes everything that does not overlap, and combines the rest into a single shape.

Exclude: The opposite of Intersect. Instead of getting rid of everything that isn’t overlapping, it gets rid of everything that does overlap. The resulting shapes become a compound path.

Divide: Probably the most often used, Divide cuts the artwork into separate pieces wherever shapes overlap. Color attributes of the original shapes are not changed. After Dividing, you can use the Direct Selection or Group Selection tool to move the resulting pieces independently. You can also ungroup the shapes and move them with the Selection tool.

Trim: Removes the part(s) of the objects that are overlapping or hidden. If the objects are stroked, Trim removes the strokes. It does not merge objects with the same color attributes.

Merge: Depending on the shapes you start with, you might think that Merge does exactly what Trim does. Merge has one exception, however. It does merge overlapping objects filled with the same color (regardless of the stacking order).

Crop: Uses the topmost object to crop away everything else. Think of it as an inverse cookie cutter. It also removes strokes.

Outline: This is another Pathfinder that, at first glance, may seem to do nothing. But look closer and you’ll see that it is sort of like Divide, only instead of individual shapes, the result is individual line segments

Minus Back: Does the Opposite of Minus Front/Subtract. Anything overlapping and in back of the frontmost object goes away.
Design The Back Of A Garment
As I demonstrated in the video for Unit 3.2, you can use Pathfinder to easily design the back view of a garment.

Here are the steps to creating the back view of a garment from an existing front view:

1. Make a copy of the front view of your garment. Paste it and place it next to the original.

2. Begin deleting the components off of the copy of the garment flat that you are certain you will not need on the back view. This includes pockets, yoke lines, certain darts, buttons, etc.

3. For components that you know you will still be able to see from the back view, send them to the very back of the garment flat. This can include pockets and collars.

4. Select all shapes that compose the shape of the front of the garment and any additional shapes that you added in the back to give the appearance of having a back. While they’re all selected, go to the Pathfinder tools and select Unite.

5. After you’ve united the shapes, you should have a solid shape that looks like the back view of the original garment flat. From this point, you can add the construction details that are appropriate for the back of the garment.
Turn In Your Unit 3 Deliverable
For your Unit 3 deliverable, I’m requesting the following:

1. Add the appearance of drape to a garment (using the Warp tool and the Brush tool)

2. Create 3 kinds of trims using Pathfinder (examples include buttons, zipper pulls, and clasps.)

3. Design the backs of 2 garments using the method I demonstrated in the video

Brian France

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