Gertie's New Fashion Sketchbook: Indispensable Figure Templates for Body-Positive Design (Gertie's Sewing), Hirsch, Gretchen Spiral-bound – September 8, 2015

Received this in the mail last week and am very pleased with the purchase. I know several reviewers were not happy with their purchase but I found nothing wrong with the sketch book. The book has a heavy duty spiral binding with hardboard cover and back. The pages are of a nice weight for sketching and erasing and are perforated at the top so you can detach your sketch easily. The author offers a nice introduction with notes on how to sketch your figure along with a brief history on various design era's and pointers on how to sketch your designs. There is a short compiled listing of recommended reading and sources. Onto the actual sketch pages. Many reviewers stated they could not see their croquis but I did not find that to be the case. The first four croquis in my book were indeed difficult to see but in flipping through "every single page" in the book the remaining croquis were fine and could be seen. I especially loved the pages with three figures on them offering you the opportunity to sketch the front, back and side views. I have included some pictures that I took with my cell phone. Not sure how they will view online but hoping they will help aid you in your decision to purchase this book. I do like the actual figures as well because they are more realistic as to what a women's body is and not the elongated figures of the fashion industry. As the author stated there are three sketch lines that you can follow to make your figure smaller or larger. Given this information the figures in this book are not plus-size but will give you an accurate depiction of say a small, medium and large body type. I would recommend giving this sketch book a try and can't wait to get creative and use it!!!

I love this book! I like to sew, and wanted a way to see design ideas on paper to refine ideas before mockups. Sadly, I stink a drawing and my figure proportions have always been off. This book is full of very light figure outlines in different poses you can trace. And the best part is they are real people proportions not sky high tall thin models. So I get an idea what the garment I’m designing will look like on my actual figure versus a model. And the more I trace I find the better my freehand is getting as I get used to the figure proportions. Perfect book!

Such a cute croquis book. The figures are real proportions and offer a fantastic springboard for any idea. I'll have to check out Gertie's other books

Great for sketching designs for future projects.

What I like best about this sketchbook is that the figures are realistically proportioned. When designing something for a real person, this works much better than the "high fashion" figures. It is easier to get a visual idea of how a style will work while sketching vs sketching on a runway model style figure and then finding it doesn't translate quite as well to a typical persons figure.What I'm not as fond of is that the figures are so light it's difficult for me to see them without looking very carefully. Granted, all similar sketchbooks are light in the same way and my eyes are getting older.

First 2 pictures are sketches with the help of the models body outline.3rd is sister's fashion sketches before the book.The book has model outlines that really help your drawings look good. My sister had a really hard time drawing clothes she was sewing until I got her this.

My daughter loves creating outfits but never likes the usual alien thin bodies she had to draw them on. This was a HIT! It only has one body shape, but it is a realistic one. It is also very lightly printed, so the clothing is easier to cover the lines.Please keep printing this, and consider adding a variety of bodies o work with.

This was a cool concept. However the figures are barely visible. You would need to outline the figure before designing the garment. I would pass on this as they are cheaper better quality than this one. It is unfortunate because I think Gertie has a great brand this venture did not work out.