I’ll admit, I initially made a digital croquis of myself for no reason other than to see what I could come up with. I didn’t really plan on using it – that is, until I finished drawing the figure. I printed out a couple in different sizes, took them home, and started eyeballing my pattern stash.
And now I CAN’T STOP DRAWING. It is so much fun! I’m no artist, but I am pretty good at copying stuff. The patterns are so easy to draw from because they have little line-drawings, so you can just copy directly onto your figure, making any necessary design changes (such as making the vintage wasp-waists more like your own waist). If you really wanted to, I’m sure you could print the croquis out to the exact dimensions of the line drawings, and then just trace everything over – I don’t have that kind of patience, though.
After I printed my croquis to the correct size (mine are approximately 5.5″ tall), I simply laid a sheet of paper over the print-out and traced lightly with a pencil. I drew the clothing on the croquis and erased whatever needed to be erased, then traced over everything again with a fine-tip sharpie. And I think they look pretty good! Not perfect, but good enough for me!
Then I stuck them all over my fabric board:
You can see I got a little crazy & drew several!
I pinned fabric swatches to each one, and wrote the pattern number on the bottom.
I even made one for my coat!
Silly croquis – couldn’t bother to put on pants or anything 😉
Speaking of my coat, progress is plodding along! I haven’t posted any updates because I’m at the boring tailoring stage – fun for me, boring for pictures. Here, have some pictures anyway.
One of two bound button holes – and a fabric-covered button to boot! Covering that button was a PAIN IN MY ASS. I dread covering the other 3. But it looks good, no?
I started pad stitching the other day, and it has gone by really fast. Much faster than pad stitching my Lady Grey coat. I’m not sure if it’s because I actually know what I’m doing this time ’round, or if it’s the fabric I’m using. Probably both. PROTIP: if you plan on tailoring a coat, do yourself a favor and pick some wool coating that has a lot of texture. The stitches don’t show at all. I wish I’d figured this out on my last coat, it would have saved me hours of time.
See my new toy? I bought myself a Kindle Fire for Christmas 🙂 (right before I discovered the Featherweight, actually – hence why it’s being paid off via layaway and not livin’ the good life in my sewing room. Wah!) It’s great for my crafty time – I can keep it in my sewing room & listen to music/watch sewing videos while I work, and it holds all my PDFs for knitting patterns so I’m not carrying around a bunch of ratty pieces of paper.
And yes, I listen to 80s pop when I sew. Or the Rhythm is a Dancer station. I love shitty 90s dance club music, lol.
I finished pad stitching the lapels last night while watching The House of Yes (which is my favorite movie – it’s really messed up but but but Parker Posey! Dressed as Jackie-O!). Like I literally pulled the last stitch through as the credits started rolling. I told you pad stitching is going faster!
Then I put the lapels out for a little steam session:
And here they are as of this morning! Beautifully rolled!
Next up – actually putting the jacket together! Yay!
LLADYBIRD 
So prettily efficient, I love it!
All these croqui on the blogs makes me wanna join in too 🙂
P.S. Is that Billy Idol on your kindle screen (3rd from last photo)? Gotta a love a bit of 80’s/early 90’s rock/punk 🙂
Re: your croqui… I reckon if you were to make the computer-copy really pale grey + thin lines too – you could print out maybe 2, or 4 per sheet of paper. Then, you’d not need to trace each time perhaps juts print off a batch? I.e. just draw straight over the top of the ale lines, then… rescan the new designs drawn-on (if you want to save them down) to save forever ‘n’ ever !
Duh! sorry for the double-post, had trouble logging in – please feel free to delete the comment with Anonymous next to it hun!
All these croqui on the blogs makes me wanna join in too 🙂
P.S. Is that Billy Idol on your kindle screen (3rd from last photo)? Gotta a love a bit of 80’s/early 90’s rock/punk 🙂
Re: your croqui… I reckon if you were to make the computer-copy really pale grey + thin lines too – you could print out maybe 2, or 4 per sheet of paper. Then, you’d not need to trace each time perhaps juts print off a batch? I.e. just draw straight over the top of the ale lines, then… rescan the new designs drawn-on (if you want to save them down) to save forever ‘n’ ever !
Haha, yep, it is Billy Idol! Love me some 80s music 🙂
I don’t mind tracing, but that is a good idea for people who don’t care for too much!
That pad stitching looks fantastic!! The croquis are awesome. I’ve seen so many around I might have a go myself.
That pin board is going to inspire so many people you know?! I like this way of project planning- its more touchy feely real than writing a list or using a spreadsheet, which I’m not knocking, just like the handrawn croquis plus fabric and pattern.
How about making paper outfits for your croquis with fold on tabs? That would be fun!!
Btw your tailoring is overwhelmingly expert looking. You deserve a star.
I actually considered that – or at least coloring in the outfits with my giant stash of colored pencils. But then I’d probably end up spending more time planning than sewing! Haha!
Thank you! This is my second go at tailoring a coat, so I’ve had a bit of practice 🙂
Your stash documenting has deeply inspired me. I have been making sketches in a notebook and gluing swatches in, as a tribute to you. Also, it’s fun.
House of Yes is the best. The play is truly awesome, actually. Lines is, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go baste the turkey, and hide all the sharp objects”.
Yay! Happy to share my inspirations 🙂
I saw the play at a local college a few years back – and I was really impressed that it was essentially the move, word-for-word. Although the actress who played Jackie-O wasn’t nearly as beautiful & charming as Parker Posey 🙂 haha
Lladybird, your croquis is looking adorable (I believe it is “croquis” as you said originally, not “croqui”–it’s a French word, meaning “rough sketch”)… definitely much better to draw on the clothes than try to put flats on digitally, since the flats aren’t really designed to drape like real fabric would.
You know, I googled all over the world (it felt like, anyway!) and I couldn’t get a definite answer either way. I’m going to take your word for it, though, because you at least know what the croquis means 🙂 haha
And thank you! I think you have the cutest croquis out of all the ones I’ve seen, so your approval is definitely a compliment!
I love your croquis army lol – so cute! 🙂
Totally admiring your coat tailoring skills; I’m a sucker for jackets and that’s one thing I would love to learn how to do 🙂
Your croquis are looking awesome! What a great idea to plan ahead for projects 😀
Th epad stitching is looking super neat and I can’t wait to see the progress on this coat.
I’m going to be taking on Lady Grey this coming winter so I’ll be staying tuned for further pro-tips 😀
SO COOL! I can see why you can’t stop drawing. How fun.
I love your croquis, I have to do this!
Totally cute lil ole croquis you got there! You’re so organized, it’s inspiring. What’s first on the list? Oh, and I have a total girl crush on Parker Posey. Can you believe she’s from Missississippi? Our hometowns are right next to each other.
You have convinced me to try and make my own croquis seeing how well yours have turned out with their individual garments…
Love your inspiration pin board too!
I think I may just have to put making a few croquis on my lengthy to do list, looks like fun. I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas, too! 🙂 I’ve also been using it to listen to music while sewing, and I’ve been getting a lot of reading done. I store some embroidery patterns on it, and I use it to record my various lists. There are so many good uses for the new toy.
I found this post from Polka Dot Overload. Your croquis are adorable! They’ve inspired me (along with Mikhaela’s post) to try to make my own. Thank you for sharing!