THE BONUS CHAPTER 

Free Fashion Flat Templates + Brush Library 

AND 

Simple Tricks to Draw More Complex Garments 

and Make Your Flats More Illustrative 

Welcome. To. The. BONUS. Chapter. 

 

If you’re serious about learning Illustrator, this chapter is for you. 

 

If you’re an Illustrator nerd (like me!), this chapter is for you. 

 

If you want to take your designs further than just a line drawing, this 

chapter is for you. 

 

We’ll cover some pretty nifty tricks that I know you’re going to love. 

 

Before you get started, download the free fashion flat templates and free 

brush library. 

Ultimate Guide to Illustrator for Fashion • SuccessfulFashionDesigner.com by Sew Heidi 2 

 

How to Add Ribbing to your Fashion Flat (the 

right way) 

Do you know how many files I’ve inherited from designers with ribbing 

drawn as INDIVIDUAL LINES? I wish I could say it was only a few... 

 

But I’ve seen HUNDREDS of files where the ribbing looks like this: 

 

 

 

Not only is it a HOT MESS (and impossible to edit), it takes FOREVER to 

draw all those lines one by one.  

 

Ultimate Guide to Illustrator for Fashion • SuccessfulFashionDesigner.com by Sew Heidi 3 

But the good news? There is a SUPER simple trick to automagically create 

ribbing with about 3 clicks. (Or so, I don’t know. I didn’t count, but it’s 

not a lot.) 

 

Here are two different techniques to draw ribbing (that are easy to edit 

and adjust): 

 

 

How to Draw Pleats in Illustrator 

Like ribbing, my guess is that you’re manually drawing pleats. So when 

you need to create a pleated dress or skirt in Illustrator, this is when your 

frustration goes THROUGH THE ROOF. 

 

And if you’re a hand sketcher? This is when you want to throw your 

computer OUT THE WINDOW and just pick up a pencil because you could 

do it 100x faster. 

 

That’s because, like I said, you’re drawing pleats manually. 

 

And if I were doing that too? I’d feel just like you do. 

 

Ultimate Guide to Illustrator for Fashion • SuccessfulFashionDesigner.com by Sew Heidi 4 

This tutorial will show you how to draw accordion or knife pleats using 

just ONE or TWO rectangles. 

 

That’s right. If you can draw a rectangle, you can make a really fancy 

pleat. IN A FEW CLICKS. 

 

Watch now. 

 

 

How to Add Shading and Movement to Your 

Fashion Flats with 3 Simple Settings 

I know they’re called fashion “flats”. 

 

But I know you want them to look less “flat”. 

 

Listen, Illustrator is NOT a 3D software program. But that doesn’t mean 

you can’t give your sketches a little more, you know, LIFE. 

 

Here are 3 simple settings you can adjust to do this. They’re so simple, I 

created them as a written tutorial instead of a video. 

 

I’m confident you can follow along just fine ;)  

Ultimate Guide to Illustrator for Fashion • SuccessfulFashionDesigner.com by Sew Heidi 5 

1. Add A Hand Drawn Feel to Fashion Flats in Adobe 

Illustrator 

 

First, make sure to Show Options from the drop down on your Stroke 

Panel (1). Then select the style or movement lines on your drawing (2), 

and from the bottom of the Stroke Panel (Window > Stroke) choose any of 

the various Profile options (3). I like Width Profile 1 (4), but play around 

to find the one you like best. 

It's a small and simple change, but your sketch will already have more of 

a hand drawn look to it. 

 

Ultimate Guide to Illustrator for Fashion • SuccessfulFashionDesigner.com by Sew Heidi 6 

2. Add Subtle Shading to your Fashion 

Illustrations for a 3D Look 

Yeah, I know a fashion flat is a far cry from 3D, but this trick will bring 

some life into your fashion sketches. Create small shapes using your 

favorite drawing tool, for this example I've used the Pencil Tool. Make 

sure they're closed shapes and give them a black fill and no stroke to start 

(1). Open the Transparency Panel (Window > Transparency), set the 

opacity to about 20-30% (depending on how dark you want the shadows to 

be) and change the blending mode to Multiply (2). 

Ultimate Guide to Illustrator for Fashion • SuccessfulFashionDesigner.com by Sew Heidi 7 

When you are working on a black and white sketch, the blending mode 

won't make a difference, but as soon as you add a pattern or color fill, it 

will automatically create a darker shade of whatever is under it. 

 

See below how when you look up close, the blending mode of multiply 

versus normal creates a much more accurate shadow. 

Ultimate Guide to Illustrator for Fashion • SuccessfulFashionDesigner.com by Sew Heidi 8 

3. Add a Thick Outline to your Fashion 

Sketches in Illustrator 

Once your illustration is done, make sure the entire sketch is grouped 

(Object > Group). Select the sketch and from the Appearance Panel 

(Window > Appearance), click the drop down and choose Add New Stroke 

(1). 

Increase the weight of your new stroke by quite a bit. In this example, 

I've bumped it all the way up to 7pt (2). Right away, it is not giving the 

effect we want, but we're about to fix that. Drag the stroke layer you just 

created under the Contents to change the stacking order – this will apply 

Ultimate Guide to Illustrator for Fashion • SuccessfulFashionDesigner.com by Sew Heidi 9 

the stroke just around the edges of the Contents (3), and not around 

every single object. 

 

 

It adds a lot more depth to the sketch. If the stroke looks too thick once 

you've completed the above steps, you can always edit it via the 

Appearance Panel later. 

 

Now your fashion flat sketch has been transformed quite a bit by using 

these 3 easy tricks in Illustrator to make our designs more beautiful! 

Ultimate Guide to Illustrator for Fashion • SuccessfulFashionDesigner.com by Sew Heidi 10 

 

How to Show Distress and Fading on Fabric 

There are a lot of cool ways to emulate distressed textures in Photoshop. 

 

But that’s not what this tutorial is going to teach you. 

 

Because when you do these effect in PS, you have A LOT less control to 

make changes or edits.  

 

Believe me, it just makes things more difficult if you want to change 

something later (which I guarantee you will). 

 

Which is why this video is going to show you some really simple tricks you 

can use to emulate these exact fabric washes in Illustrator. 

Ultimate Guide to Illustrator for Fashion • SuccessfulFashionDesigner.com by Sew Heidi 11 

 

Go ahead, hit play now. 

 

 

How to Make Your Fashion Flats More Beautiful 

(in less than 2 minutes) 

Just because a sketch looks fancy and complex, doesn’t mean it’s fancy 

and complex to create. 

 

There are some really amazing (and super simple) things you can do to 

add life, movement, and get the hand drawn look and feel you’re 

desperate for. 

 

And they each take less than 2 minutes. 

 

Here are 5 of my favorite ones, delivered to you on a silver platter: 

Ultimate Guide to Illustrator for Fashion • SuccessfulFashionDesigner.com by Sew Heidi 12 

 

 

Hidden Shortcuts to Draw Faster (and more 

accurately) 

There’s nothing I like more than discovering a hidden shortcut. 

 

Ok, maybe there are things I like more. Like 90% + dark chocolate, red 

wine, and terriers. Lots of terriers. 

 

Photo of my dog required here: 

 

 

 

But beyond that? Man oh man is it exciting to discover a new trick in 

Illustrator. (Told you I was an AI nerd.) 

 

Ultimate Guide to Illustrator for Fashion • SuccessfulFashionDesigner.com by Sew Heidi 13 

And this video include 5 of my favorite ones that you can use on your flat 

sketches. 

 

Think things like: 

 

● Drawing realistic movement lines...by changing 1 setting 

● Creating color chips...with 1 click 

● Adding perfectly aligned rows of stitching...without drawing 

anything 

 

Best part? Like the last video, you can do each of them in less than TWO 

minutes. (Again!? Gasp!) 

 

Hit play already, would you? 

 

 

 

And finally, since you made it this far...all the way to the (almost) end of 

the bonus chapter, I’ve included one last bonus video for you. 

 

It’s one of my most popular free courses. 

 

Cut your Design Time in HALF with these proven shortcuts. 

 

Ultimate Guide to Illustrator for Fashion • SuccessfulFashionDesigner.com by Sew Heidi 14 

Don’t believe how awesome it is? Here’s what Anya had to say: 

 

Ready for #mindblown? First, download the printable cheat sheet that you 

can tape on your computer screen so you don’t have to memorize 

everything (#yourewelcome) and then, click play below. 

 

 

 

Awesome work! Now, you’ve really made it to the end. CONGRATS! 

 

Here’s what I’d love for you to do next (if you didn’t already). 

 

Send me an email (illustrator@sewheidi.com) and show me some of your 

designs. I love seeing your work! Bonus points if you include before and 

afters :) 

 

Cheers to nerding out in Illustrator and your fashion career success. 

 

Ultimate Guide to Illustrator for Fashion • SuccessfulFashionDesigner.com by Sew Heidi 15