{Drawing on the Half } Maximum results, in less time!

~ Draw. Start out by drawing your garment on half of the croquis. I use pencil, then go over the lines which look right with a fine pen, wait for the ink to dry and erase the pencil lines. You could color half your image at this point if you wanted.

~ Scan. Carefully tear out your page along the perforated edge, and scan to your computer. I scan my images straight into Adobe Photoshop.

~ Contrast. Using the 'levels' { image/adjustments/levels} feature, I play with the contrast to clean up the image.

 ~ Duplicating and Flipping. There are multiple ways of doing this, but what I do is;

• Make a copy of the 'Background' layer you're in. Then delete the original background. 
• Using the Magic eraser tool {with the contiguous box checked } remove the white from around your image. 
• Create and new background layer and fill it with white. 
• Now your Flat sketch should be on a layer of it's own. Float over it with the move arrow, and hold down 'Alt'. Now grab it and move it slightly, this will generate another copy of your garment. 
• Go to Edit/Transform/Flip Horizontal, and your new layer will become the mirror image of the first. You can use the arrows on your keypad to perfectly align them. 
• Merge the two garment layers.

At this point, you have the option of coloring your sketch using Photoshop, or printing it out and coloring it by hand, or leaving it black and white!

See the next step to change it into a Vector illustration in Adobe Illustrator.

 

~ Changing a black and white JPEG into a Vector Image. Import your jpeg into Illustrator.

Ensure that the image is selected, then go to Object/ Live trace/ Make and expand. Now with the White arrow, click on the background, and delete it. You should be left with an editable vector image.

~ Color and Stitch; I like to use illustrator to add neat details such as stitch placement, drop shadows, and color or fill. There are different schools of thought regarding coloring flats, some people think you should leave them clean and use adjacent fabric or color swatches to describe the fabrication.

If you want though, Illustrator is a powerful tool which can be used to simulate all kinds of fabric or color treatments and finishes.