what is fashion design, fashion design, crafts of chadds ford, learn about fashion design, a fashion designer

It doesn't matter what age you are, you can begin fashion designing at any point in your life. Alyssa at age 6 began sewing with us making crafts and quilts. Two years later her interest changed to fashion. At age eight she designed and made these cargo pants and matching headscarf.

What is Fashion Design?

It could be something as grand as the top fashion designers in New York or Paris, who design some of the most elegant clothing in the world using the best of fabrics, or it could something as simple as taking a regular white t-shirt, ripping the sleeves off, and ripping the bottom off, dyeing it light blue, cutting holes in it and replacing the fabric with lace, and adding ribbons, buttons, and bows! Someone seeing the results, and ordering 10 for her little shop. There..., I just became a fashion designer!

The easiest way for someone to fashion design is to do as described above OR take a simple pattern and add your own "thing" to it. Here is an example. Jamie's teacher ask her to make her an Indian dress for their skit of the "Lewis and Clarke expedition" they did at school. Jamie took a very simple "night shirt pattern and transformed it to this! The left picture is the night shirt and the right picture is the SAME pattern, but the outfit was designed differently. First, for the fabric we used ultra suede to look like leather, we made the sleeves, and hem longer, we added a belt, and we fringed the bottom and sleeves to give the "Indian dress" look. Pretty cool huh? Jamie's teacher loved her new dress!

If you really are interested in Fashion Design than familiarize yourself with the latest and current fashion trends and the most popular fashion designers by looking through fashion magazines and fashion books in the industry.

Also follow up on the newest television fashion shows so you can be tuned in on the latest styles, color, fabrics, and designers.

Today, you can purchase sewing patterns that are based on the latest style and are easier to follow than ever before. I have some patterns from the 1940's and they are difficult because it was under the assumption back than that everyone sewed. Today patterns are much easier to follow telling you every step, good suggestions, and great illustrations.

Here are 2 other examples of fashion design. The picture on the left is Maddie who took a regular skirt pattern and added a "poodle" that she made out of fur and ribbon to give the 1950's effect. This is her look and her idea. Amber took a little girls dress pattern and altered it to fit her size first, before she began pinning, cutting, and sewing it. She added different kinds of lace to achieve the look she was trying to get. Once again, her idea, her design. In both cases, the girls did simple pattern alterations.