Why tech drawings are black and white
Technical drawings/CAD (computer aided design)/Flats is the blue print of your design to give to a factory to reproduce. It has no artistic flare, it is drawn flat so can not be misinterpreted (as fashion figures are drawn disproportionately. It shows every construction detail, every stitch, every style line and trims.
The reason it also drawn flat is that the technical drawing is on your spec sheet with arrows to measure different parts of the garment, the factory lays the garment flat to measure your garment so the measurements correspond with your technical drawing. Think about how many people will see your technical drawing: the pattern maker, the machinist, the QC department etc, so nothing can be left to interpretation, everything has to be accurate .
Usually a front and back is required and close-ups can be provided in anything that you think needs more details, no shading or movement should be drawn in to your picture. Solid lines are your style lines or parts of your lingerie and the dashed lines is your stitching details.
If you were to have the working drawing in colour, details may be missed like the bar-tacks as you wouldn’t be able to see them due to the colour. Also if the tech pack needed to be printed out and no colour printer was present all you would be left with would be a grey version of your design. That said I usually include a coloured version of the technical drawing as well so the factory can see where each colour way goes, this is especially important if you have the same design in a numerous of colour ways. Colour also distracts the eye to what is important.
If you are going to get someone to draw up your technical drawings make sure it is with someone that not only has digital drawing experience but has a lot of garment making experience, so they can know how to finish each edge or seam.
If you would like to do your own technical drawing, please see “how to write a bra and brief tech pack” as the book contains descriptions on the different finishes on the lingerie.
If you need any templates to get your started please then there are numerous technical drawings here on the website.
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