Getting Technical

Technical drawings or 'flats' are really important within the fashion and textiles worlds as they show the garment to scale and show the technical details within the garment, something which a fashion illustration would not show. As I had never done this before I found it quit difficult and baffling at first to be honest! But with a bit of time and practice I feel that I have definitely got to grips with the skill and have been practising ever since. Basically we got a simple shirt, laid it out flat and then started to measure every detail of the shirt. We then divided the number by 5 and drew it onto the page. To help us with this we used equipment such as the Flexi Curve and a steel ruler. This took a while to complete so we decided to work in teams to speed the process up. Although when I got home I found it was easier for myself to concentrate when I was alone and had no one looking over my shoulder. I then went on to practice different garments such as a pair of jeans, and some dresses.

We started out by drawing our shirts free hand to see what the difference in quality and precision would be. I feel that between the above and below image there is a certain difference between the two.