Are you ready to uplevel your wardrobe planning and have fun with fashion drawing on your body model croquis? Announcing the #MyBodyModel3x3 Capsule Wardrobe Challenge! This community drawing challenge is for creative makers to design their own mini capsule wardrobes, paper doll style!
This capsule drawing challenge will run from September 13-23 on Instagram. This will give you plenty of time to practice and improve your fashion sketching skills (we welcome ALL skill levels), play with outfit combinations on your body model croquis, and design a wardrobe that you’re passionate about. You can also join in by posting in our private Facebook sketchalong.
If you don’t yet have your body model templates, we have a special discount for you! Enter promo code “3×3” for 15% off any purchase of 1-5 download Credits, between now and September 23. Click here to learn more about our pricing model.
Read on for challenge rules and guidelines, a free planning worksheet, some inspiration examples, and list of PRIZES!
What is a Capsule Wardrobe?
A capsule wardrobe is a collection of versatile garments that can be mixed and matched with one another to make outfits you love. In a world where “fast fashion” rules, a capsule wardrobe is a way to express and explore personal style more intentionally and sustainably.
While it may be daunting to design your entire wardrobe as a coordinated capsule, thinking in terms of “mini-capsules” can be much more manageable – and fun!
What is a Mini-Capsule Wardrobe?
A mini-capsule is a small collection of around 6-12 pieces that can be coordinated for maximizing your outfit potential. These garments don’t have to go with everything else in your closet. They just need to work well together.
Designing a mini-capsule wardrobe can help you to…
- Define and curate your personal style
- Choose sewing and knitting projects that will coordinate with clothes that you already have
- Select yarn, fabrics, & patterns with intention
- Identify garments in your closet that you will love and wear the most
- Get dressed with more ease and confidence!
This fall, we challenge you to get creative in planning and designing your seasonal mini capsule wardrobe, all while experimenting with a method of planning that might be new to you…the sudoku-inspired 3×3 planning grid!
A Sudoku…for Wardrobe Planning?
The “wardrobe sudoku” or 3×3 method is a fun way to help you choose pieces that you love from your existing closet and decide which new pieces will coordinate for the best mix & match outfit potential.
Here’s how it works: Start with 3 tops and 3 bottoms that can be mixed & matched for 9 base outfits. Then, add 3 layering pieces to create an additional 27 outfits!
Free Printable! 3×3 Capsule Planning Worksheet
We created this free planning worksheet to help you design your 3×3 mini-capsule collection. The idea behind the grid is that you choose 9 different garments (3 tops x 3 bottoms x 3 layers) and then use the rows, columns, diagonal, edges, etc. to make outfit combinations. A total of 27 outfit combos can be made with this grid (not to mention the original 9 outfits without layers!)
Ready to Get Started?
Use your personal body model templates to sketch your 3×3 mini-capsule collection, and play with mix & match combinations. Then, share any photos (or video!) of your 3×3 collection on Instagram with tag #mybodymodel3x3. We’d also love to see any progress photos leading up to the challenge!
Remember, you’re welcome to include garments that you already own (including me-mades, RTW, or thrifted pieces) as well as garments that you want to make, purchase, or refashion.
And, be sure to follow the #mybodymodel3x3 hashtag and support other challenge participants by liking and commenting on their posts!
Sketching Options:
Depending on what works best for you, you can sketch digitally or on paper. You could make a paper doll of your body model croquis (so fun!), or you could use your 3-models or 9-models page from your MyBodyModel download package to draw the outfits. (The 3-model sketch page works perfectly with the 3×3 planning worksheet!)
Here are some sketching options that you can choose from, depending on your wardrobe goals, your personal style, and your drawing comfort level:
- 3 tops x 3 bottoms = 9 outfit combinations (such as in this blog post by Doctor T and Sierra’s digital drawings, pictured below)
- 3 dresses x 3 layers = 9 outfit combinations (see this blog post by Victoria for inspiration)
- 3 tops x 3 bottoms x 3 layers = 9 base outfit combos + 27 additional combos, or 36 outfits total! (such as in this blog post by Sarah)
- Want an extra drawing challenge? Try each outfit with 3 different pairs of shoes, or 3 different accessories!
Every post of a new 3×3 will be considered one entry, and you can post as many 3×3 mini-capsules as you would like! For example you might get inspired to share a sleepwear capsule, a workout capsule, a weekend capsule, a work from home capsule… The options are limitless (and it’s okay if there’s some overlap).
Prizes! (Sooo many prizes!)
To make this challenge even more fun, we have prize contributions from some of our favorite indie sewing and knitting pattern designers!
Prizes include PDF sewing and knitting patterns from…
Our amazing prize sponsors! Listed alphabetically: Blank Slate Patterns, Bristol Ivy, Halfmoon Atelier, Helen’s Closet Patterns, Indigo Dragonfly, Laela Jeyne Patterns, Made by Rae, Ms. Cleaver Creations, Muna and Broad, Seamwork, Sew Altered Style, Sew DIY, Sew Liberated, and Style Sew Me!
Winners will be chosen randomly at the end of the challenge, so that it’s all about community participation and nobody has to worry about their drawings being “good enough.”
We’re also awarding a Grand Prize for best community participation in the Instagram challenge: a Seamwork one year unlimited membership valued at $180!
And we’ve reserved some special prizes for participants in our private FB sketchalong group: a 3-pattern bundle from Helen’s Closet Patterns (Gilbert Top, Pona Jacket, & Winslow Culottes!), a PDF pattern of the winner’s choice from Sew Liberated, two $25 gift certificates for hand dyed yarn from Dye Lot Studio, an enamel pin (“I am a sewing machine”) from SewHere, and a PDF tee and tunic pattern from Fit for Art Patterns.
Wondering what a 3×3 mini capsule plan might look like?
Here are a few examples for inspiration!
Are you ready to join the #mybodymodel3x3 capsule wardrobe challenge?
Here’s how to participate: Leading up to the challenge, help us build some buzz by posting about it on Instagram, and/or sharing in the Facebook group to let us know your mini-capsule goals. We’d also love to see any progress ideas or photos! Then, on Instagram between Sept. 13-23, 2020, post your 3×3 capsule sketches drawn on your personal body model croquis with tag #mybodymodel3x3. Every eligible post will be considered one entry in the random prize drawing. You can also join by posting in our private sketchalong FB group.
If you haven’t made your body model yet, it only takes a few minutes (for real)! And, we have a special discount for you: Enter promo code “3×3” for 15% off any purchase of 1-5 download Credits, between now and Sept. 23. And, if you’ve made your body model but haven’t been sketching regularly, this could be a fun motivator to get more practice.
To make sure that this challenge can be open and accessible to everyone, MyBodyModel croquis are not required, but they do need to be realistically proportioned croquis of your own body. (No unrealistically proportioned fashion croquis!)
But… What if I can’t draw?
Zero drawing skills? No problem! This challenge is all about community participation, exploring and experimenting with your artistic side, and most of all, having fun and supporting each other. If you’re just getting started, check out our Free Video Tutorials: Fashion Sketching for Absolute Beginners series on YouTube or follow along our sketchalong videos posted in the private FB group.
Happy Sketching, everyone! I’m SO EXCITED to see your capsule wardrobe plans! (Can you tell? I think this may be the most exclamation marks I’ve ever used in a post!)
Want more inspiration? Check out these recent blog posts:
- “Fall Capsule Wardrobe Planning with my 3×3 Sudoku Grid, by Sarah
- “Focusing my Knitting Projects with MyBodyModel Paper Doll,” by Victoria
- “Using digital layers to draw a 3×3 capsule wardrobe,” by Doctor T
A big thank you to all our prize sponsors! And special thanks to our awesome summer interns, Devon Garcia and Sarah Austin, for their help in putting this together!
An obsessed garment sewist with a passion for body-positive fashion drawing, Erica founded MyBodyModel in 2017 and led the company for more than five years before it became part of Cashmerette in 2023. You can find Erica and her beginner-friendly drawing classes & style workshops at Illustrated Style School and @illustratedstyleschool.
![We’ve got the low-down on sewing project planners from Elana! 📋 When Elana needed a way to organize her ideas and stay motivated, she turned to investing in her own personalized planner. Using Microsoft Publisher, Elana was able to create the planner of her dreams, altering it to fit her needs and wants. She says: “I designed my own planner using Microsoft Publisher, pulling inspiration from several printable options that weren’t exactly what I wanted. I love that I am able to add my MyBodyModel custom croquis to any page and can make my own sketching layouts.” She also provides a number of recommendations for readymade options. From there she plans, visualizes, chooses fabric and sketches staying focused but also flexible. “My personalized sewing planner is in a three ring binder so if plans change, I can just move that project page. When I come back to it later, I know at a glance what I wanted to do. I am a fairly indecisive person who also wants to sew all.the.things, so having this visual system really helps to maximize my sewing time by keeping me focused and cutting down on time between projects.” She goes on to say: “I know my system is working because I’ve already completed several projects.” We love when a plan works, don’t you? #SewingPlanner #MyBodyModel #FashionSketching #SketchAndSew #MyBodyModelStyle #SewingProcess #SewingSketch [Image description 1: A stack of Elana’s go-to tools for sewing project planning laid out on her desk includes her planner surrounded by colorful pens, a pencil and a cup of coffee.] [Image description 2: Elana’s “Projects to Make” pages from her planner laid out on her desk surrounded by pens and stickers.]](https://www.mybodymodel.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
1 thought on “Announcing the #MyBodyModel3x3 Capsule Wardrobe Challenge!”
Oooh! I’m so excited for this!