Making Patterns your Bitch
Patterns! We all need them. We all use them. Even the best self-drafters will need to use a pattern once in a while (whether as a base to make something way better, or just to outright make what the pattern is for), but damn are they tricky to deal with.
I left my cats alone with a pattern for 10 minutes...
They rip, they tear. They aren’t very reusable unless you’re the most careful person in the world. Once they’re cut out, forget ever going up a size. And they’re expensive! Lets face it, patterns suck sometimes.
Sales
Sales are a god-send for anything cosplay. Cosplaying is expensive as hell, you need that extra dollar off. No matter how small the sale, every penny counts. Always be on the look out for sales, especially pattern sales.
Never buy patterns at retail price! I promise there will always be a sale somewhere just around the corner. Waiting a week may be the difference of 10 dollars to 99 cents, so it’s definitely worth it. That being said, always be on the look out for these sales, whether you need a specific pattern or not. Hoarding patterns is a-okay when said patterns are a dollar (just take a peek at the catalogs, you’ll probably want to buy everything).
Tracing
As I mentioned, if you’re buying a pattern and just cutting out your size, you’re basically rendering that pattern unusable in the future. The best way to keep your patterns for longer is to skip cutting them out and instead op for tracing. To trace you’re going to need a good tracing paper. These can vary heavily in price and in usability.
Parchment Paper
I don’t particularly like using parchment paper outside of baking as it only seems to come in 12″ wide rolls. While the perfect size for baking sheets, it’s horrible for large patterns (you can only tape together so many sheets before you get annoyed). However, parchment paper is rather cheap, ranging for $4 and up for longer rolls.
Conclusion: Only use parchment paper for absolute emergencies or on very small patterns.
Freezer Paper
Freezer paper comes in a slightly bigger size than parchment paper at 18″ wide (it comes in wider varieties, but I’ve found them to be more expensive as they come in larger rolls). Once again, freezer paper requires some piecing together due to it’s size. When ironed, the paper sticks to the surface it’s on, making it optimal for stencils and for using on fabric (look ma! no pins!). This does pose a problem though, you can’t iron out any creases or wrinkles. Freezer paper is also very opaque, so it’s harder to trace the pattern. But for around $6 for a 33yd roll, it’s totally worth grabbing a tracing wheel and marking it out that way.
Conclusion: It’s cheap and has more than one purpose (stenciling), definitely worth grabbing a roll, just not necessarily for pattern tracing.
Butchers Paper
I’ve never actually used butchers paper for tracing, so I’m not sure of how it really holds up compared to other methods. The paper comes in bulk rolls, so you’re going to be dishing out a little more money for it, but due to the nature of bulk items, it comes in a lot of sizes (12″, 18″, 24″, 30″). If you’re looking into getting butchers paper, make sure you’re buying it in white since brown paper will definitely be less sheer. For a 30″x700′ roll it’s about $19 (so .08 per yard). Since other people do use it for pattern tracing, I’m assuming that it does actually work. Worst comes to worse, you’ll have to use a tracing wheel if the paper is too opaque.
Conclusion: Try it if you want, it’s pretty cost efficient and it seems okay to use. If you can, ask someone with access to butchers paper for a small snippet to see how it holds up.
Medical Exam Paper
There are so many people raving about medical exam paper. It’s very cost efficient, though it seems they only come in bulk (but for $35+ for 12, I’m not complaining). In addition to its wonderful price, when layered over a pattern, the pattern is still very visible. Unlike freezer paper, you can still iron out any wrinkles or creases (and you’ll need to, if you’ve been to the doctors you know how easily this paper gets wrinkled).
Conclusion: This is the best for your money, it’s wide enough that you don’t need a lot of taping, and it’s cheap enough that you wont need to buy more for a long time.
Swedish Tracing Paper
Swedish paper is well loved for pattern tracing, but the price for being great is pretty dang high. At $10+ for a 29″x30′ roll, it’s not particularly cost efficient at all. It does have a lot of pros which outweigh the cons. For instance you can see the pattern clearly under it, which is great since if you make one mistake, it’s there forever (pencil doesn’t erase at all!). It’s not very prone to wrinkles, but if you do find yourself needing a good ironing go ahead, it wont melt!
Conclusion: I’d say buy a roll and use it very sparingly. Because of its price and small amount, it’s best to only use it on a pattern you know you’ll absolutely use again.
Storing Patterns
Get yourself a binder (get one as big as possible, patterns are rather thick), page protectors and of course, your patterns.
Put your page protectors in the binder and the patterns in the page protectors.
Now, I like to save the envelope tabs from the patterns and write the price I paid on them (it makes it easier to keep track of how much you’ve spent on patterns). Paper clip them together and put them in the side pocket.
And that’s it!
Other great ways to store patterns (because let’s face it, my way is totally the best not the best by any means)
- Some people collect comic books, these gals collect patterns - Nine Ideas in one link - Try an accordion folder - Cute box specifically for patterns
