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Threads eLetter

An Online Extra to Threads Magazine

Meet the Threads Croquis Family: Your Tool for Fashion Sketching

Schematic figures are the basis of easy, accurate garment drawings

by Jennifer Sauer

Open or download the 6-page PDF file below for six figures. (Requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print PDF files.)

CroquisFamily.pdf

(Download should take approximately 1 minute on a 56K modem)

Drawing unique garment designs for your specific body shape (or for the body of anyone you sew for) is simple when you have a croquis that matches your figure type. To get you started, we've created croquis (schematic figure drawings providing standard proportions) for an "average" woman, man, and two children (one 5-6 years old, and an older sibling, about 7-11 years old), as well as a petite and a plus-size woman. Simply print out the croquis provided here, slip one under a sheet of paper, and draw your dream garment over the figure. Use your sketches to make fabric choices, plan construction order, and communicate your ideas with others.

Everyone is unique, of course, so you may want to customize one of the croquis offered here to match your own figure more accurately. Once you've got all your glorious design ideas down on paper, you're one step closer to sewing and wearing them.

For more details on making professional-looking fashion sketches, see the February/March 2003 issue of Threads (#105).

Jennifer Sauer is associate editor of Threads.

Illustrations: Robert Boston

An Online Extra to Threads #105
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