Carol Kimball is a fantastic human being! I have to let the world wide web know because Carol flies under the radar. She’s a very humble lady and gracious woman, that if you didn’t read about her somewhere else, you’d have no idea the experience that she has!

Carol is very interested in clothing being designed for ‘real’ figures and not some 14 head fashion plate! So, she makes and sells a product called Master Sketch Pads for ANY body. The kit comes with a special pad of paper that is thin enough to see through and cards containing sillouhettes of various body types.

The idea is to put the cards under a page – beginning at the back of the book – and draw your apparel ideas over top of them. You continue to turn pages down, retracing each garment design, until you get one that you like. The figures that she provides on the cards, include all the necessary reference points marked; bust lines, waist lines, etc. and body types (inverted triangles, squares, ovals, etc).

As a seamstress / alterations person, this is a great aid. I can show my clients ideas that would help them to show off their body to it’s best advantage. As someone who sews for myself and my family, I can draw out designs for all of us and know that it comes close to their proportions. As a designer, I can feed all those flutterbys that clutter my brain.

I contacted Carol to ask her how much it would cost to commission her to draw me some figures in a sitting down position like in a wheelchair. She not only drew them for me, but she included them in her body types card set and let me help pick out the ones to include. The first night I got them, I sat up until 4:30 am drawing on them! The kids hijacked my pad of paper the day I received the kit. I sent Carol pictures of what they had drawn just to show her the use the kit was getting. Yesterday, out of the blue, they received a box with their very own kits compliments of Carol! Needless to say – they were thrilled and I was thrilled! LOL Carol is just such a nice person!

If you love to sketch out clothing designs or have a family member that does, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Carol’s Master Sketch Pad – It’s the next best thing to having Carol’s arm right on your drawing table!