Tutorials:
How to Sketch Fashion Flats in Illustrator (Without The Pen Tool)
Learn to sketch without the Pen Tool in my free 13 minute video (and cut your design time in half). I created it just for fashion designers just like YOU.
How to move and scale patterns in illustrator
It’s simple to resize / move / transform patterns inside objects in Illustrator – and this video will show you how. You will learn: 00:19 What is an engineered pattern in fashion? 01:20 How to place a repeating pattern swatch on the chest of your fashion flat by drawing it manually or using a clipping […]
How to Draw Ruffles Filled with Repeating Pattern Swatches in Illustrator
With a few simple tricks, this tutorial will show you how to add dimension to your ruffle sketches and add a pattern fill to your fashion illustration: You will learn: 00:42 How to conceptualize drawing your fashion flat to fill it with a pattern swatch 01:40 Tricks to draw the ruffles with the Pencil Tool […]
How to trace a photo of a garment in Illustrator
If you’re not a good hand sketcher and can’t draw from your head (like me), you may need to trace a photo. This tutorial will show you step by step how to trace a photo of a garment using simple tricks in Adobe Illustrator.
How to Edit Embroidery Artwork in Illustrator and Photoshop
If you have a comp of embroidered artwork you want to mock up on your garments, you may need to cut out the background or change the colors. This tutorial will show you how to: 01:08 How to use a clipping mask to hide (“crop”) parts of your artwork in Illustrator 03:29 How to quickly […]
How to Create Technical Flat Sketches in Illustrator
Many designers use inefficient methods to create tech sketches in Illustrator. This tutorial will show you the quickest and most effective way to organize your files so they’re easy to edit, manage and maintain. You will learn: 00:34 The main tool you want to use to efficiently create tech sketches in Illustrator 01:49 How to […]
Adobe Illustrator for Beginners (Getting Started Series)
Essential for all fashion designers new to Illustrator, these 3 videos will get you up to speed fast. If you’re a total beginner, don’t move ahead until you’ve watched all of them.
How to Make A Hangtag in Illustrator (and Photoshop)
Fashion designers are expected to do a lot – and sometimes that includes designing and developing labels, hangtags and packaging. This tutorial will show you some cool Illustrator tricks (and a little photoshop) to help you create / mock up a hangtag for your badass designs. You will learn: 00:31 How to use Live Corners […]
What Goes in A Tech Pack?
I get a lot of questions from fashion designers about what you need to include in your tech pack (or spec sheet), how do you know when it’s complete, and how detailed you have to be. This video will walk you through everything you need to include. In this video, you will learn: Is there […]
How to Color Your Fashion Flat Sketch with Pantone Swatches in Illustrator
You’re probably using Pantone colors to design your fashion collection, so you want to color all your flat sketches with them. It’s very easy to do this in Illustrator by limiting your swatch library (even if you’ve already filled your artwork with non Pantone swatches). In this video tutorial, you will learn: 00:32 How to […]
How to Get Fashion Flats from Illustrator into Excel for Tech Packs
You’re probably doing your fashion tech sketches in Adobe Illustrator, but creating tech packs in Excel or PDM / PLM software. It’s tedious to export every image from Illustrator as a JPG and then import / place it into your tech pack. This video tutorial will show you the quickest way to get artwork out […]
How to Add Arrow Callouts to your Fashion Tech Sketch in Adobe Illustrator
After you sketch your fashion flats, you need to turn them into tech sketches to spec out all the details. In this video tutorial, we’ll use the Graphic Styles feature in Adobe Illustrator to create custom arrowheads for all the construction and detail callouts in your design. I’ll also show you how to save these […]
Change Color Fashion Flats to Black and White in Illustrator
We design in color, but we need a black and white sketch to create tech packs and spec sheets. This one quick trick will show you how to easily convert color sketches (or any other artwork) to black and white in a few clicks. You will learn: 00:24 How to change solid color positions to […]
How to Back Save Newer Illustrator files to Open in Older Versions
You’ve probably seen one of these error messages before: “The file was generated by a new version of Illustrator. Would you like to import this file? Some data loss may occur.” “Can’t open the illustration. The file was generated by a newer version of Illustrator and cannot be opened. Please resave it in a format […]
How to Create Fashion Flats with Smooth Curves in Illustrator
You know that pesky little V or butt shape that appears in your hem lines, neck lines, or other curves in your fashion flat sketches? Let’s get rid of it! In this video, you will learn: 01:14 How the “v” happens at your center front neckline or hemline 01:45 How to reflect half the fashion flat along […]
How to Add a Background Color to a Pattern Swatch in Illustrator
If you’ve ever wondered why your pattern swatch is see through, it’s because you don’t have a background color on it. This video will show you the easiest way to add a background color directly in the pattern swatch. You will learn how to: 00:29 Create a simple pattern with the Pattern Making Tool in […]
How to Create a Repeating Pattern Swatch from an Image
This quick tutorial will show you how to take any image (from the internet, a photo, or a scan), crop it in Photoshop and turn it into a repeating pattern swatch in Adobe Illustrator.
How to Sketch Fashion Flats Faster with these 5 Illustrator Shortcuts
Simple tricks to help speed up your Illustrator workflow…because sketching fashion flats doesn’t have to take forever. In this video, you will learn how to: 00:52 Add stitching to your fashion flat with this simple hack 02:37 Create stylized movement lines by changing one setting 04:19 Change the width of a path from thick to […]
Illustrator for Beginners (Part 2): Grouping & Aligning Objects
If you haven’t yet, watch Illustrator Illustrator for Beginners Part 1 first. Some of the tricks in this video may seem basic or unnecessary, but as you start creating more complex artwork in Illustrator, these fundamentals will prove invaluable for your fashion designs. In this tutorial, you will learn: 01:15 How (and why) to group objects in Illustrator 02:45 […]
Illustrator for Beginners (Part 1): Getting Comfortable in the Workspace
This video will give you a quick overview of the Illustrator interface and show you how to draw a button. The essential tools and drawing techniques shown here are fundamental for every fashion designer. Everything you design in AI will build on these essential skills (and make sure to watch part 2 next). You will […]
