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Meet the Threads Croquis Family: Your Tool for Fashion Sketching

Download the croquis family (pdf). This file includes six figures: average woman, petite woman, plus-size woman, average man, child, and toddler.

Photo: Robert Boston

by Jennifer Sauer
An Online Extra to Threads #105

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.

Get more on croquis:

• Learn the Basics of Fashion Illustration
• More Fashion Illustration Basics from Yelen Ayé
• How to Make Personal Croquis

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).

Open or download the Croquis Family pdf file for six figures. (Requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print pdf files.)

Illustrations: Robert Boston

Threads Magazine, editor
Posted on Oct 27th, 2008 in design, design, hand drafted patterns, sketching

Comments (3)

Candyjunkie45 writes: thanks a lot! i wanted to do plus-size models but needed a sample thanks!
Posted: 3:28 pm on February 19th

elizabeth61 writes: What a fine gift to your loyal following. I have never used croqui's before, but this is just exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so much for making this so easily available on line. It is the kind of thing that makes Threads readers so appreciative.
Posted: 10:00 pm on May 28th

Ladyladon writes: HI, NOW THAT WAS JUST WHAT I NEEDED. I HAVE BEEN ON HERE ABOUT TWO MONTHS LOOKING FOR THIS. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I COULD NOT COME UP WITH THE RIGHT WORDS UNTIL NOW. I LOST ALL OF MINE YEARS AGO. BUT NOW I CAN GET BACK TO DRAWING. THANK U THANK U!!!!

Posted: 5:30 pm on April 20th

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