It's been a while since I've used a sewing pattern requiring tracing, and relearned/ remembered a few things while busting out the Everything Tote from Weekend Sewing.
- Soil separator paper works really well for tracing patterns. It's a bit thin, but fairly strong.
- None of the pencils I could find work well on soil separator paper -- too much drag. Sharpies are too messy. Washable Crayola felt tipped markers (yes, I have a four year old in the house) rocked it. They dried quickly (no smudging) and were easy to clean off my quilting rulers (and my table, and my hands,...). Just remember to use a light hand or the marker ink will soak through to the original pattern sheet.
- The rocks I crocheted a few weeks ago worked great as weights while I was tracing my lines. No pinning required, quick and easy!
- If you think you'll be using the pattern multiple times and want a sturdier pattern piece, it's really easy to transfer the pattern from the soil separator cloth to a heavier paper. Just lay the soil separator pattern on top of the heavier paper and trace with a washable marker. The marker ink will mark through the thin soil separator paper making clear tracings on the heavier paper.
Tracing a pattern was much MUCH easier that I remembered. No excuse not to bust out the Japanese sewing and Ottobre Design books now!
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