Do you ever see a garment in the shops, or worn by someone on the street, and inspiration strikes?
It might be the whole garment that catches your eye, but often it’s just one detail: an interesting neckline, the length of a jacket, an unusual dart placement, a collar, a pocket or a sleeve treatment. Something you’d love to remember — and perhaps incorporate into a future design of your own.
The trouble is, by the time you get home, those little details can be surprisingly difficult to recall!
One simple solution is to keep a few design sketch figures handy. When something catches your eye, you can quickly sketch the detail directly onto the figure and add a few notes alongside it. It doesn’t need to be a beautiful fashion illustration. A few lines may be all you need to capture the idea for later.
Create your own
You can, of course, create a silhouette that reflects your own proportions. Simply photograph yourself standing in a neutral pose, trace your outline, and make copies for your own personal use.
That gives you a particularly useful starting point for experimenting with garment proportions, lengths and design details before you even begin your pattern design.
Or use our new Design Sketch Figures
If you’d rather have one ready to go, there are now newly designed Sally and Sebastian Silhouette Design Sketch Figures (croquis) available as free downloads in the Sure Fit Designs UK Creative Freebies area.
Print a few and keep them somewhere useful — in your sewing room, your handbag or tucked inside your pattern-design notebook. Then, the next time inspiration strikes, you have somewhere to capture it.
They’re not about being able to draw. They’re simply a place to record an idea while it’s fresh — ready to revisit when you’re back at your pattern-drafting table.
Download the Sally and Sebastian Design Sketch Figures
Happy sketching — and keep your eyes open. Your next sewing project might just walk right past you!
Until next time,
Caroline