Can't fill in shape with color

Thanks to everyone that answered my question! I used the shapebuilder tool to delete the eraser tool path and no I cannot seem to fill the garment with color at all.

It's always helpful to include an expanded Layer panel as part of your screen capture.

I'm guessing your "Fill" and outline "Stroke" are not the same path. Open the Layer panel and expand the current Layer to see all the elements. See if you see the purple fill object. If so, do this:

1. Select JUST the purple fill object using the hollow arrow (direct select Tool).
2. Lock everything else by typing Shift+Option+Cmd+2
3. Switch to "Outline" mode by typing Cmd+Y.
4. This will allow you to select the section you want to delete using the "Lasso Selection" tool .
5. Now you just need to redraw the area that's missing by using the Pen tool .
6. Use the locked lines as a guide. Start by clicking on one of the end points and finish by clicking the other end point.

Your fill should be corrected.

FYI… You should read about the "Live Paint" tool. This is a great way to draw and fill shapes like this. It gives you the freedom to change the shape without redrawing multiple lines. It also allows you to fill different areas with different colors or patterns.zd

Oh, and you probably already figured out the "Erase" tool may not be the best approach here, especially if the elements were vector, since they can simply be selected and deleted. It IS possible to limit the Eraser effect to only certain objects by first selecting them. This will cause the Erase tool to ignore everything else.

Alternatively, as the last step, instead of using the Pathfinder panel, you could use the Shape Builder tool.

With the Shape Builder tool selected, hold down Alt or Option and click or drag over the parts you want to delete.

You need to delete those path segments the eraser created and then join it with the new path.

How to adjust path segments in Illustrator

You should ask your instructor to show you how to work with paths. THis is foundational stuff every Illustrator user needs to know.

Instead of using the eraser, try this:

Draw one side and duplicate it.

Draw a shape on top of the side where you want a different neckline. The color of the shape doesn't matter, but it should have no fill color and it should have a stroke color and it should be on top of the garment.

Select the both garment and the neckline shape.

In the Pathfinder panel click the Minus Front icon.