An essential tool, for anyone who sews, is the dressmaker chalk, fabric marker, and tracing wheel.  Marking ones fabric pieces is important, because it is a visual guideline you can use to line up pieces, make darts or pleats, or for making buttonholes.  At one point or another, you will need to transfer marks from your pattern to your fabric and use these specialty tools.

There are many different markers out there to help you in your pre-sewing steps and the most common are the dressmaker chalk, beeswax, fabric pencil, disappearing ink, ink that vanishes with water, and tracing wheel with transfer paper.  Picking the right one for your project is very important, because it is essential that you're able to locate these marks on your fabric when you need them and that that it's appropriate to use for your fabric.  We go over these tools and how to use them.  We also show examples of different marks you're likely to come across in using commercial patterns.