Design for Fabric and Apparel — NCERT Solutions

The two basic types of lines are straight lines and curved lines.

Straight lines

• Vertical lines stress up-and-down movement, emphasise height, and give a severe, dignified and reserved effect.
• Horizontal lines stress side-to-side movement, create an illusion of width, and give a stable and placid effect.
• Oblique or diagonal lines increase or decrease width and height depending on the angle, and create an active, startling or dramatic effect.

Curved lines

• Curved lines may be slight or strong, simple or complex.
• Long, flowing curves appear graceful and rhythmic.
• Large rounded curves give a dramatic touch and may exaggerate size.
• Tiny, puffy curves look youthful and gay.
• In design, straight lines suggest force, strength and rigidity, while curved lines suggest softness, grace, femininity and daintiness.

Shapes or forms

Shapes are made by connecting lines. The four basic groups are:

• Natural shapes — copied from nature or common man-made objects.
• Stylised shapes — simplified or modified natural shapes.
• Geometric shapes — mathematically formed shapes made with rulers, compasses, etc.
• Abstract shapes — free-form shapes that do not resemble any specific object.

These shapes create different effects because the type of line used changes the appearance of the shape and the mood of the design.

Rhythm in dress is achieved by the repetition of lines, colours, elements or details so that the eye moves smoothly through the garment. It can be created by:

• repetition of embroidery, laces, buttons, piping, colour, etc. at necklines, sleeves and hemlines;
• gradation or cordation, where the size of motifs, lines, buttons, colours or textures increases or decreases gradually;
• radiation, where the eye moves outward from a central point, such as gathers at the waist, yoke or cuffs;
• parallelism, where elements lie parallel to each other, such as tucks in a yoke or knife pleats in a skirt.

Harmony or unity is achieved when all the elements of design come together in a pleasing way. It can be created by using the same or related shape, texture, colour and other elements throughout the dress. For example, matching textures in different garment pieces create good harmony, while a mismatched fabric breaks it.