For the first day class i'm soooooo excited :D
Once all the fitting and adjustments and alterations are behind me,
now I can whip out my shears, cut the cloth and stitch up my sewing pattern! ihikk ihik
I love the tracing wheel not only because it can be more accurate
but mainly because it's so much fun!
MARKING TOOLS
Test out a few different marking tools to see which ones you prefer.
Test them out on your fabric too - different fabrics will respond differently to different markers,
so try them out on a small scrap of whichever fabric you're using to check that.
1)Washable pens - These pens are cheap and widely available in multi-coloured packs
2)Tracing wheel - Place dressmaker's carbon faced down on your fabric, lay the pattern on top, then use a tracing wheel to trace the lines onto the fabric.
3)Hera marker - This little gadget, used a lot in quilting, scratches a little groove into fabric fibres, which will come out in the wash.
4)Chalk pencil - Usually available in white, blue and pink, chalk pencils are easy to use, and they rub off fairly easily - which is both a pro and a con, depending on which way you look at it.
5)Tailor’s chalk - These chalk triangles have slim edges and are useful for making quick, smooth lines onto fabric.
CUTTING TOOLS
1)Dressmaking scissors → Invest in a nice, sharp pair of dressmaking scissors which will glide through fabric easily.
2)Rotary cutter → Optional and a matter of personal preference.
A rotary cutter is useful for speedy cutting and for fabric that slips and slides around easily.
3)Embroidery scissors or thread snippers → Keep these handy for snipping your threads.
4)Paper scissors → To keep your dressmaking scissors sharp, have some dedicated paper scissors for cutting out your patterns.
5)Pinking shears → Not shown here as I don’t have any, but some people like using pinking shears to cut a zigzag edge on seams for a speedy finish.
CUTTING METHODS
Option 1) Pins + Dressmaking Scissors
Option 2) Pattern Weights + Chalk/Pen + Dressmaking Scissors/Rotary Cutter
Option 3) Pattern Weights + Dressmaker's Carbon + Tracing Wheel + Dressmaking Scissors
This is my favourite way of marking and cutting fabric,
particularly when I don't want to cut into my pattern.
Hold the pattern pieces down on the fabric with weights.
Slip a piece of dressmaker's carbon between the pattern and fabric, face down against the fabric.
Trace over the pattern lines using a tracing wheel moving the dressmaker's carbon as you need to.
Remove the pattern. Cut out the fabric directly on the traced lines using dressmaking scissors.
As well as marking the cutting lines of the pattern,
don't forget to mark in the other bits and bobs such as darts, buttonholes and gather points..
Happy learning ;)
