Design Your Own Clothing

Do you love to unleash your creativity through fashion design? Whatever your skill level, creating your own clothes can be very satisfying. There are plenty of online resources to help—so haul your laptop over to your sewing table and get clicking (and stitching).

1. Get inspired. Spark your creative genius by checking out top designers’ latest collections at Fashion Net. This site has links to the Web sites of the major designers in New York, Paris, Milan, London and Tokyo, plus the latest trends in architecture, art, graphic design and photography—all key inspirations for any designer.
2. Travel back in time. Fashions from the past are great inspiration. Go online to research past eras—or even buy vintage patterns. MomsPatterns! sells original patterns from the 1940s to the 1990s, sorted by decades as well as by categories like Mod, Costumes, Rockabilly and more. Search by size, style or era. The site includes advice on how to resize patterns to fit you, and prices are reasonable.
3. Play around. Get the design juices flowing by restyling your old clothes. Got a dress you haven’t worn in a year? Could you lengthen it? Shorten it? Embellish it? Cut off the top and make it into a skirt? If the item is headed for Goodwill anyway, you may as well have some fun playing around with it first. Need ideas? BurdaStyle is a “virtual sewing circle” where users post free downloadable patterns, get tips from other users and learn from how-to’s. Click on “Creations” to view hundreds of users’ projects—many of them made from recycled clothing. You’ll find dozens of ways to get creative with your closet cast-offs.
4. Put it on paper. Designers start with sketches. If drawing isn’t your strong suit, visit Fashion Templates.com. Fashion templates are standardized sketches of male and female bodies that you draw clothes over (kind of like paper dolls). This site lets you purchase inexpensive templates and even download some for free. Depending on your skills and preferences, you can use Photoshop, CorelDRAW or Freehand to sketch on the templates, or print them out and sketch on them the old-fashioned way. Fashion Templates also has lots of advice about drawing fashion sketches.
5. Pick a project. You don’t have to create your own design from scratch, of course. Weekend Designer is a blog featuring patterns and directions for clothing, accessories and home decor. The designs range in difficulty from fairly simple (a pencil skirt or a St.-Laurent-inspired caftan) to complex (a fitted vest or an overnight carry-on bag).
6. Find your fabric. Shop where the Project Runway contestants shop without leaving your home. Mood Fabrics’ online store includes a Design Assistant feature that suggests fabrics for your project. You can shop by material, application, color, cost and more.

Get More Advice

Want more projects and advice? Check out these useful sites:

Pattern Review features reviews of all things sewing-related: patterns, books, Web sites, stores, online classes and more. You can also talk to other users in chat groups and on message boards; take online sewing classes; and buy patterns from all the major pattern companies.

Sewing Stash: You could spend hours perusing this site’s thousands of links to other sites on all aspects of sewing. Topic categories include patterns and projects (many of them downloadable for free); sewing information; resources for buying sewing supplies, fabric and equipment; sewing machines; sewing events and groups; and forums and blogs on all aspects of sewing.

The Sewing Divas: This blog focuses on haute couture, so if you want to download the pattern for John Galliano’s 2001 pirate jacket or whip up a skirt from the latest Armani collection, you’ve come to the right place. You’ll also find links to other fashion blogs, sewing tutorials and tips, book reviews and more.

Threads Magazine has advice on everything from fashion sewing to quilting and home décor. Of particular help are the videos that show you how to do everything from making a zipper lie flat to making a muslin pattern.

What The Craft features a blog, more than 30 step-by-step tutorials on topics ranging from “Sewing Basics” to “Becoming an Indie Fashion Designer,” a resource directory and forums where you can give and get advice.

Need more inspiration? Catch up on what past Project Runway contestants are doing now at the official Project Runway site, http://www.bravotv.com/project-runway.