Making your croqui

To make your croqui, you need a digital camera, your computer, a pencil, tracing paper and patience. Dress yourself in clothing that will show you all of the lines of your body, you could do this in underwear (which is probably better), shapewear or a yoga outfit. Preferably something that will show the reference lines that you will need in the future (like waistline, neckline, etc). Set up your camera or have someone take a photo of your full body. Try to get them to fill as much of the frame with your body leaving a little on the top and bottom so that you don't cut your head or limbs off. Also, since you are doing all this prep, make sure to take the back as well as the front, and take a few in different poses, so at least one with the arms down at the sides and another with one hand at the hip, and maybe another with the both hands on the hip (these will come in handy if you try to draw a butterfly sleeve or dolman). And if you want to see what you would look like in heels, by all means take a few of those as well. So here's your homework..

Photos - in underwear, shapewear, bikini:)

Hands by your sides Front, side, back

One hand on hip Front, back

Both hands on hip Front, back

*** Try the same shots with heels, especially if you are planning a formal or dressy outfit, something you would normally wear heels with.

As an example we have Kate Moss. She's skinny isn't she? Perfect right? I'm using her as an example because we are sometimes blinded by our own imperfections. I tried to find an example in the fashion magazines that was in underwear, and was a full body shot, but I think this will work as a sample.




Upload those photos to your computer. Open up the first image, and don't panic, I have never liked being photographed. I had a few feelings of ugh, how many more sit ups will I have to do? How many cupcakes will I need to give up, this is just an exercise, and no one need ever see these, they are just for you.

Decide which stance you want to start with, take a piece of tracing paper and place it over your screen or print the image out in black and white. Do not use permanent marker or pen, use a pencil. Lightly outline your body completely, try to do this as carefully as possible capturing as much detail as you can. Be sure to mark all of those points which give you a guide to your future garments.



Outline body
- mark the base of the neck (where the little V is)
- waist (bellybutton)
- crotch
- knee
- ankle
- elbow
- wrist
- hands (you can just draw lines for the knuckles)
- shoulder
- high bust point
- head


If you are tracing from the screen take the paper off the screen and work on a table top and work on the lines a little more until you are happy with it.

Outlines automatically look larger because they don't show shadows and areas that recede. So don't throw it out because you don't like what you see. Even models don't have perfect bodies and what you are looking for is a realistic shape, so that you can play later. When you finally get something you like, take a thin line black marker and put in your final drawing. This will help with the next step.



This is just to illustrate that no one lives up to the fashion croqui which is more like this...


We will dress Kate's croqui in the next post.