Newbie pattern help

Hello - newbie here

I'm coming back to sewing after a long absence (I've been busy knitting for the last few years).

I really want to make some things that there aren't patterns for, so I'd like to have a go at making my own. I've got a book (!) and my mum's going to help me, as she learnt from a Chinese tailor over 40 years ago.

But the thing I'm wondering is - what do people do about paper? I've had a look on all the haberdashery sites, and no one seems to sell blank pattern paper. I've thought about using tissue paper (too flimsy), greaseproof paper (too stiff and not wide enough), tracing paper (also too stiff/narrow)...

Are there any bright ideas out there? By all means, suggest vendors if you know of them, but I'm in the UK.

Thanks in advance.

Reply to
LaviniaSews
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I've used Sew Essentials for the odd item. They keep squared pattern making paper -

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Reply to
The Wanderer

what about using something other than paper? I made a two patterns recently, on muslin - 'tracing' from a vest and shirt that fit me well.

-Irene

Reply to
IMS

I use patternmakers Dot & Cross:

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you google for it, you are bound to find a more local supplier. :)

Reply to
Kate XXXXXX

Wow - thanks everyone!

The MacCulloch and Wallis site looks particularly interesting. I'm a bit of a haberdashery fetishist as well, so that should keep me going for ages!

Thanks v. v. much.

Lx

Reply to
LaviniaSews

I really like Swedish Tracing Paper:

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Beverly

Reply to
BEI Design

That's at least a dollar a yard. Muslin found on sale might be cheaper. Muslin also can be had wider than 30".

Reply to
Pogonip

It's really nice for making a pattern that will be sued over-and-over, because it can actually be sewn, altered, and taken apart. However, non-woven interfacing at TSWLTH on a

50% coupon would probably be cheaper.
Reply to
BEI Design

Cripes, the lawyers have their hand in *everything* these days...

:-(

Beverly

Reply to
BEI Design

Lavinia, I don't know where I got it in my head that you were asking about making bras. Did I delete another post you wrote? Or did I just read into what you did write?

If I did read into your post I'm sorry for bothering you, AK in PA

Reply to
AK&DStrohl

Was that a Freudian slip? Do you have pending litigation? LOL!

Reply to
Pogonip

If you know a doctor or nurse who works in a doctor's office, ask if they have a spare roll of the examining table paper. I got a partial roll from my doctor and still have some after 4 years. Of course, now that I sew only for one DGD and myself. Before that, I used the best interfacing I could buy at TSWLTH, but that can be sort of expensive if you use it often. Emily

Reply to
CypSew

That was a result of my very inadequate typing skills and a spellchecker which works just fine for most errors, but obviously not for glaring typos. :-[ Of course I meant "used"...same letters and everything.

Beverly, who is taking a break from the kilt, I just finished the top band, sewed on the underapron buckle and strap, and basted the under-apron lining. I am going to await a fitting on DGD Sunday to proceed.

Reply to
BEI Design

Fabric.com's re-orderable muslin is 58" wide and costs USD1.80/yd, but it's rather heavy -- just a tad too coarse to make into pillowcases. On the other hand, it's heavily sized and easy to write on -- I ran some pieces of it through my 24-pin printer.

Joy Beeson

Reply to
Joy Beeson

If it's flat and thin, I've used it for pattern paper. I heartily

*don't* recommend old wallpaper: it shatters when folded.

I've resorted to ironing packing paper, and I see a shirt front drawn on a disposable cleaning rag peeking out from under my ankle-length T-shirt, which was drawn on wrapping paper. When Woolworth's was still around, I used a lot of shelf paper. For smaller pieces, I keep an obsolete desk calendar and a package of paper spreadsheets.

The best pattern paper happened when Alfred's got stuck with some "interfacing" -- probably stabilizer -- that was too thin to do any good and sold it off at ten cents a yard; it was like very tough onionskin paper. The worst was a purpose-made pattern tissue; it was so transparent that it was hard to see where the edges were, and so coarse that marking darts etc. was like trying to write on window screen. On the bright side, one could transfer markings by chalking right through it. I don't appear to have kept any patterns made of it.

All problems for the foreseeable future solved when I *finally* caught the office to our weekly shopper ("The Paper") open and invested a dollar or two in an end-roll of newsprint. It's been a couple of years, and there's still quite a lot of paper left on it.

Joy Beeson

Reply to
Joy Beeson

(snip)

I wonder, although this is not what you asked, as you are just coming back you may not be up-to-date with all the latest things available. For instance, if you look around on line there are patterns for things I never dreamed of. Also, have you considered pattern drafting software? Several of us in this group use it, and those who are clever with computers can draw anything they like. Those like me who are amateurs find that within the programs there are more than enough choices just by clicking on a button. I, personally, use the Wild Ginger brand, you can see it all at

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They have patterns for both clothing and accesories. There are about half a dozen other companies doing this, I think if you were to do a Google search they should be easy to find.

If you tell us what patterns you are seeking, this group has a tremendous body of collective knowledge and can direct you to just about anything you need, whether it be ethnic, vintage, costume or practically anything else.

Welcome aboard, and good luck in your search.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans (but born and bred in the U.K.)

Reply to
Olwyn Mary

Thank you so much, everyone, for your helpful comments. There's definitely some out-of-the-box thinking going on here!

Olwyn (lovely Welsh name, there!), the software looks very useful and perhaps that's something I might invest in some time in the future (but money's pretty tight at the moment). Part of me, though, likes the idea of being able to draft something with my own two hands, and I'm excited by the concept that I might be able to make things that aren't bound by the vagaries of fashion. Romantic and naive? Perhaps.

The potential garment that sparked all this off was a pair of slacks worn by Daphne du Maurier in a photograph from about 1942. The high- waisted, baggy, pleated 'mannish' slacks that were really the only acceptable trousers for upper-class women during the war. My partner would look wonderful in them, with a little blouse and perhaps a tank top (I can knit that!). I began an online search for a pattern and I've found one or two vintage patterns that might do but they are terribly expensive. I'm sure in terms of time I'll 'spend' a lot more learning to make my own pattern, but then I'll be developing a new skill. We're working our way towards becoming more self-sufficient in lots of ways (very 'Good Life', for those that recognise the UK allusion) so this would be part of that.

Oh, and AK in PA - I wasn't intending to make bras, but that's certainly something to think about!

Thanks again, everyone, for your kind and helpful comments. Lx

Reply to
LaviniaSews

" snipped-for-privacy@googlemail.com" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@u30g2000hsc.googlegroups.com:

have you seen Folkwear's Hollywood Pants or Rosie the Riveter patterns? while Rosie is an bib overalls pattern, there is a view without the bib. both are in their Retro collection:

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Reply to
enigma

Rosie the Riveter? Fabulous! Thanks very much for that link

Lx

Reply to
LaviniaSews

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