Remember when we had to draw everything by hand before making a pattern?

Back in my first year of design school, maybe 2010, we had to sketch every single piece on paper, then use rulers and French curves to draft the pattern. It took me a full day just to get a simple dress block right. Now, I do almost everything in CLO3D or on my iPad with Procreate first. The switch happened for me about five years ago when I got a freelance job needing ten quick mock-ups in two days. I couldn't have done it without digital tools. You can tweak a dart or change a sleeve length in seconds instead of redrawing the whole thing. It saves so much time and fabric, but I do miss the feel of pencil on vellum sometimes. Has anyone else found a good balance between keeping the old hand-sketching skills sharp and using new tech?

2 comments

2 Comments

holly_brown7d ago

Tbh, that bit about tweaking a dart in seconds is so real. I had to do a last minute hem change for a client and just dragged it in the software instead of re-cutting. Honestly, I still sketch ideas on scrap paper first because it feels more free.

black.wesley6d agoMost Upvoted

Guess we're just making things too easy now. Holly_brown, that software trick saves time but kills the craft of fixing things by hand. The real skill gets lost when we drag sliders instead of learning why the cut was wrong.