Pattern Marking

[the_professors_assistantKeymaster]

When marking the fabric based on the pattern, how do you recommend making marks that are in the middle of the pattern?  Cut the pattern, poke a hole in the pattern, lift and fold the pattern?  As you can tell I am a real beginner.

[the_professors_assistantKeymaster]

Hi there! There’s many ways to do this, so as you sew more, you’ll find a method that works best for you.  I, personally, like to do a method that’s least damaging to the pattern because I may want to use it again and again.  While the pattern is still pinned to my pieces, I poke a straight pin into my mark on my pattern and through the fabric pieces.  So now the straight pin is going straight down through the pattern and fabric pieces and the head of the pin is sticking straight up.  I work my way from out to in.  So once all my marks are made except for that one in the middle, I carefully unpin my pattern and lift it up around my straight pin, making sure the pin doesn’t come out from the fabric.  Where the straight pin is going into my fabric, that’s where I make a mark.  And if you have two fabric pieces just flip the piece over and you’ll see the pin coming out on the other side, and then make a mark on this piece at that same location.  If this is confusing, check out our tutorial on Marking Fabric and you can see me do a demo.  Hope that helps and let me know if you have any other questions.  We’re here to help beginners. 🙂

[the_professors_assistantKeymaster]

Sorry that I haven’t watched the pinning video so this is probably already there.  The most important thing about marking fabric is to make sure you use something that’s not going to leave a permanent mark on your fabric.   Chalk, washable ink pens, dressmaker’s carbon paper, etc.  It’s really worth spending a little extra for the right tools.  I also usually use the pin method that Professor Pincushion explains in the video.  Other times, I use dressmaker’s carbon paper and a tracing wheel.  A lot depends on how lazy I am feeling and whether I’ve used pins or weights to cut the pattern.  Full disclosure, I hate the “pinning the pattern to the fabric” step the most so when I’ve pinned the pattern and there’s not much to be marked, I usually use carbon paper but when I use weights,  I use the pin method.  I am a baster so I guess I’m just eager to get on the machine.

[the_professors_assistantKeymaster]

As usual, rdejam, you bring up brilliant points. It definitely is important that you use the right marking tools so you don’t ruin your fabric accidentally. I’m with you as I find the pinning and cutting everything out, to be the most boring step in the world. If I had an assistant to do all that work for me so I could just do the sewing, I would be the happiest person in the world. 🙂

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