How to Design Knitwear | a course with Natalie in Stitches

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Introduction | How to Design Knitwear

After a successful beta round in 2022-2023, How to Design Knitwear is back!

How to Design Knitwear is a professional development course for people who want to design and publish their own knitting or crochet patterns. It brings together the depth of content of a undergraduate programme with sensitivity to size and shape inclusivity, so that you can design for anybody – and any body – you want to.

Module 01 | Visual Communication

If you have ever struggled with:

• Expressing your ideas
• Feeling that your drawing skills need improvement
• Presenting your designs in a way that feels true to you

Then this first module will help you to feel more confident about sketching and articulating your ideas. Sometimes, you just need to get something down on paper to clarify the beginnings of a design idea. (I say ‘sometimes’, but I really mean ‘always’!)

The goal of the Visual Communication module is to start eliminating struggles with creative expression.  Over the course of 6 weeks, you’ll learn drawing and compositional techniques that will help you to articulate your vision.  I’ll also throw in plenty of exercises to get you warmed up and taking an experimental and playful approach to drawing. You don’t need to have any previous experience with drawing or fine art.  If you do, or have experience with other styles of visual communication, you’re very welcome too!

By the end of the Visual Communication module you’ll have:

• A solid foundation of drawing techniques
• A visual library full of mark-making experiments, studies and compositions
• Increased confidence in your ability to express yourself authentically.

The only materials you’ll need are:

• A set of drawing pencils, ranging from B to 6B
• An A3 drawing pad or sketch pad.

The learning outcomes for the visual communication module run throughout all subsequent modules of the How to Design Knitwear course. Drawing is another way of design thinking, and it supports the more mathematical elements of the course.

Module 02 | Design Development

The Design Development module builds on visual communication skills & applies them to surface pattern design, garment silhouette & styling, fabrication, & figure drawing. In other words, we’re ready to look at the body & give form to our design ideas. After 6 weeks, you’ll be clearer about your design identity & its emotional import. And – most importantly – you’ll have a wealth of ideas ready to take forward to the Pattern Drafting module.

By the end of the Design Development module, you’ll have:

• An understanding of the elements and principles of design;
• A wealth of research and experimentation with silhouette, surface pattern and fabrication;
• A solid foundation for creating visual impact and building emotional connections.

The only materials you’ll need are:

• A set of drawing pencils, ranging from HB to 6B;
• An A3 drawing pad or sketch pad;
• Squared paper – 0.5mm or ¼ inch squares (at least in the beginning).

This module builds on visual communication skills by applying them to surface pattern design, silhouette, garment styling and fabrication.  In other words, we’re ready to look at how our ideas relate to our bodies and emotions.  You’ll learn how to conserve your energy by using design and idea generation techniques especially for maximising the potential of your ideas.

The applied maths elements of this module – specifically, geometry and ratio – anticipate further processes involving sizing, fit and grading.  These processes won’t be covered here (it’s much too soon!), but early application of visual maths will set a good foundation for later work.  Throughout this module, you’ll be prompted to think ahead in a way that develops your problem-solving skills and treats the artistic and technical aspects of design as two wings of the same bird…which they are.

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Also Featured | Dart Manipulation

Dart manipulation is at the heart of many fashion designs and fitting resolutions. It is not taught as a module in its own right because the content runs across both the Design Development and Pattern Drafting modules. These sections of the course will introduce key concepts and techniques using blocks or slopers, but also apply this knowledge to knitwear design.

Incorporating silhouette, shape and darts at the design development stage paves the way for more solid and inclusive grading and fitting solutions. Because darts are an integral part of the design, not an afterthought or a can kicked further down the road, they can inspire designs from scratch as well as facilitate problem solving.

It’s strongly recommended that you bring your own design ideas to the table for workshopping and group discussion. You may be more inspired by the silhouettes you need to create for certain body types. This is another kind of visual research; instead of being led by pattern, objects or imagery, you could be driven by what suits the body or bodies you want to dress and represent as a designer.

We will cover:

• Pivotal dart manipulation;
• Slash and spread dart manipulation;
• Bust, raglan, and shoulder darts.

Case studies from my portfolio (Aneeta cardigan, Falling Leaves sweater, Karin sweater) will encourage you to relate dart manipulation to surface pattern, directional construction, fabrication and garment styling.

This means that you will:

• Have a solid understanding of how dart intake is represented in volume, seams, and panels;
• Know to how use blocks/slopers and related pattern cutting equipment;
• Visually analyse design ideas and establish a starting point for design realisation;
• Have a library of exercises to use as a basis for future knitwear designs.

Be prepared to do some visual research – dart manipulation is as interesting as you allow it to be. There will be plenty of practical exercises, prompts and experimentation. Be ready to draw or sketch quickly and use your imagination freely! Your primary research is important.

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Module 03 | Pattern Drafting

In this module, the compositional relationships established in the Visual Communication and Design Development modules begin to take form – which is exciting!  Pattern drafting for knitwear is when design realisation takes place, when you explore the ways in which you can relate your ideas to other people on a material level.  You’ve established a visual connection; it’s now time to reach people in a more tangible way.

This module is less to do with pattern writing, although we’ll look forward to that stage of the design process by way of analysis, reflection and annotation.  I warmly recommend Kate Atherley’s book on pattern writing if that’s what you’re looking for.  Pattern drafting is all about the alchemy of bringing ideas to life using visual and applied maths.  The pattern is where the magic happens.

You will definitely be able to produce a working pattern after completing and implementing what you’ve learned in Pattern Drafting. However, Kate Atherley’s book is more concerned with fine-tuning and polishing your pattern writing skills to prepare for publication. She covers style sheets, voice, and much more, whereas this course focuses on having a solid pattern to send to your technical editor in the first place.

Over the course of the Pattern Drafting module, you’ll learn how to draft and calculate:

• Set-in sleeves;
• Raglan sleeves;
• Finishings (necklines, button bands);
• And other shaping and styling faithful to your design ideas.

Time will be set aside for everyone to work on their designs with support, so that any garment ideas, styling and silhouettes not covered in the outline can be included.  All drafting will be taught manually and using CAD (e.g., Excel) so that the maths is as well anchored as possible.

The drafting techniques taught incorporate geometry, anatomy, and size and shape inclusivity.  There are no formulas; plug and play is not in the vocabulary!  The method of drafting can be applied to any set of body measurements. As a result, whether you are looking for a bespoke solution or using size charts, you are welcome and acknowledged.

We will be looking at bodies holistically and building in tolerances for shape.  Whilst no draft or pattern will fit everybody straight out of the box, you will learn how to identify key areas for fit. This puts you in a strong position for giving good advice to knitters about alterations and customisations, and sets you up beautifully for reliable size charts and sound pattern grading in the next module.

By the end of the Pattern Drafting module, you’ll be able to:

• Draft knitting patterns faithful to the silhouette and styling envisaged during design development;
• Understand the geometric, anatomical, and mathematical relationships underpinning pattern drafting for all human bodies;
• Differentiate between the types of garment ease and understand the context for each type;
• Feel more confident about drafting knitting patterns that can be graded sensitively and accurately.

You’ll love this module even more if:

• You’re inspired by silhouette and have wonderful ideas for garment shapes;
• You don’t want to take a template-oriented approach to design – ideas rule!
• You believe in letting knitters into your patterns so they can make their own alterations;
• You’re fascinated by garment fit and want to learn about applied fitting principles for knit.

Equipment and materials needed include:

• A scientific calculator;
• Squared paper (0.5cm or ¼ inch);
• A basic stationery kit (pencils, eraser, notebook);
• Easy access to Excel or similar spreadsheet software for the CAD elements of the module;
• You may also like to have drawing materials from earlier modules on standby – A3 sketch pad, drawing pencils – to help you work through ideas and support your drafting work.

Module 04 | Pattern Grading

The final stage of design realisation is pattern grading. After generating a pattern for one or two sizes, you’ll want to make the dimensions of your design as accessible to knitters as possible. Grading knitting patterns is more than just producing a range of sizes for knitters to choose from; it’s about honouring body shape, representation, and the styling features of your design.

The fairy dust of composition and idea generation has settled in the Visual Communication and Design Development modules, and your confidence has grown.  Thanks to your new skills and understanding of Pattern Drafting, you’re creating something even more tangible – something you can knit up and sample.

As your pattern takes shape, you’re beginning to think about the body shapes of the knitters who might want to make it too.  You didn’t go on this journey just to make knitwear for yourself; you want to share it with others and make a positive difference to their lives and wardrobes.  That’s where CAD and pattern grading come in.  This module is all about grading knitting patterns.

Course outline

CAD and Pattern Grading takes a very design- and designer-oriented view of pattern grading.  It’s all about looking at the design holistically, realising that it needs a grading solution as unique as the design idea itself.  You’ll get a solid introduction to grading terminology, principles and techniques, and begin to see how they relate to the proportions of your design.  Your creative problem solving and decision making skills will definitely be stretched as you learn about grading knitting patterns!

Your applied maths skills and understanding of anatomy form the perfect foundation for pattern grading.  This means that you’re not guessing, nor at the mercy of the software you use to generate the numbers you need.  Because the way your brain works and processes data is unique to you, there’ll be a focus on setting up spreadsheets and workspaces that don’t make you feel lost.  Putting your comprehension front and centre means that you’ll feel more confident about communicating with tech editors, knitters, and other members of your community who’ll have questions about the fit and size range of your patterns.

By the end of the Pattern Grading module, you’ll be able to:

• Understand the anatomical relationships that inform grade rules;
• Analyse and interpret sizing charts;
• Make meaningful connections between grade rules and styling details of a design;
• Choose and deploy CAD solutions to realise a graded knitting pattern.

You’ll get a lot out of this module if:

• You want to have creative control over the grading process;
• You believe that creative power shouldn’t be hampered by technical skill;
• You’re committed to making your knitting patterns accessible to a range of body shapes and sizes.

Equipment and materials you’ll need are:

• Easy access to Excel or similar spreadsheet software;
• Squared paper, 0.5cm or ¼ inch squared and 0.2cm or 1/16 inch squared;
• Coloured fineliner pens may also be useful.

Frequently asked questions

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Have I missed any questions about the knitwear design course? If so, let me know…

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