🚀 go-pugleaf

Hi Natasha I teach Illustrator and Photoshop for fashion and textiles to designers and students at RMIT.  Flat sketches can be done really quickly.  I am presuming  you are talking technical drawings.   I use the pen tool and create half the garment outline from CF neck to lower CF, leave the  path open use the grid for scaling dimensions and place minimal anchor points, usually placing a straight line anchor point only at seam junction points then edit only the anchor points you need to be curved such as armholes with the conversion tool. You can create a cusp point to create concave curves either side of an anchor point when you use the conversion tool.  Then reflect a copy, join the two sides by using pathfinder unite or ctrl J and then add design detail on top of the basic outline shape.   Details such as stitching lines can be created using text and applying them as patterns to use as pattern brushes on hemlines etc.  Once you have a basic top, skirt, pant you can create any garment from that shape by editing specific anchor points  Knowing all the tricks is the key to speed, I agree.   I can usually draw up front and back view for two skirts in 20 mins, 2 shirts in 25 mins and then use the shirt basic shape for jackets which takes about 40 minutes.  I wouldn't use any other program because Illustrator is very speedy for this type of work.  The first shape takes the same time as hand drawn but then you use the same template for developing subsequent drawings.  I took 28 hours to develop about 90 colour and pattern filled garment shapes and that is an average speed amongst the designers that I know.  You can use brush strokes to give a softer outline finish if you want that hand drawn effect.    If you want to know tricks let me know through this forum as I would be happy to share tips and hints.  Janette