I have a bit of a confession to make. Despite going to design school and having taken lots of art classes, I am not confident in my sketching skills. Especially fashion sketching. Granted, I’ve never studied fashion drawing specifically. But still. Shouldn’t I just be really good at drawing clothing? I want to be really good at drawing the clothing designs I have in my head but they usually turn out looking like lopsided lumps.
But here’s the thing. Drawing and sketching takes practice. And most of the time I’d rather be sewing. So, I’ve been satisfied with my lumpy drawings as long as I can record my ideas and get to sewing.
But then, My Body Model came around. I was a part of the initial testing of the app and I’ve got to say, it’s pretty cool. You enter about 20 measurements into the online app and it generates a croquis that looks like YOUR ACTUAL BODY. Side note: In case you, (like every word processing program in existence) are unfamiliar with the word croquis, it officially means a quick sketch. In fashion drawing, it’s the outline drawing of the body that fashion designers use to sketch clothing. Standard croquis are very, very elongated and not representative of most people’s actual proportions.
The great thing about My Body Model is that you can create a croquis that actually looks like your body. So, when you sketch using this croquis, you get a much more accurate idea of what the design would look like on your unique proportions. In the photo above, you can see the photos that I took to help with the app development side by side with the app generated croquis. Pretty amazing right!? I can’t believe how close it comes to looking like my body. In the app, if the first croquis generated doesn’t look quite right, you can adjust the measurements until it looks the way you want it to. The first one I made looked a little off and I realized that I had taken my neck length measurement wrong. I adjusted the measurement in the app and voila! my extra long neck was now part of my croquis.
So with my new custom made croquis in hand, I have started doing some sketching. I’m mostly using pencil and I have my trusty eraser nearby to even out my wibbly-wobbly lines. I’m hoping to make sketching part of my process because I know that with practice, I will develop my sketching skills and become better at it. And developing that skill will give me another way to express and explore my creative ideas. Another way to take the designs in my head and make them tangible.
I love that My Body Model provides you with a bunch of different options to print out for sketching, from 1 croquis per page to 12 per page. I printed out a few different options and cut them in half to go into my half-letter size Sew DIY Printable Planner. It’s so cool to see my not-actually-that-bad sketches next to all my project notes and plans. With the sketches it’s easy to see what different garments would look like as outfits on my actual body proportions. If you’re interested, this planner is available in my shop and comes in four sizes (Letter, Half-letter, A4 and A5). Just like with your My Body Model croquis, the pdf planner makes it easy to print as many copies as you want for endless sketching and planning.
Next month, to coincide with Me Made May, My Body Model is hosting a #sketchmystyle challenge to encourage makers to start sketching with realistic looking croquis. I look forward to practicing my sketching and incorporating it into my practice.
If you want to create your own custom My Body Model croquis, you can get 15% off your purchase with the code SEWDIY through April 22. (Disclosure: I will receive a small commission on any sales made using this code. This does not increase the price for you. As always, thank you for supporting this blog and my partners.) Happy sketching and sewing friends!
