The Sewing Place

Securing Patterns

DementedFairy

Re: Securing Patterns
« Reply #15 on: April 01, 2018, 13:26:06 PM »
I absolutely hate rotary cutting, and only use it when I want lots of straight lines...which is surely the point?  I see no advantage to having to keep shifting the dress fabric along a much smaller cutting board than I habitually use, especially with shifty fabric.  No wonder so many of you hate cutting out, with all these excessively time consuming methods [tracing?  ick]

Obviously, any problems with dodgy hands may be eased by using them- personally I find that they make my arthritic mits hurt way more
C'est moi!

Acorn

Re: Securing Patterns
« Reply #16 on: April 01, 2018, 14:09:36 PM »
I love using my fabric shears - they make such a wonderful noise!  I'm also not very good with a rotary cutter, even when I'm cutting straight lines. 

That said, I can certainly see the possible benefits if you have arthritic hands, or small hands, or some other reason that scissors are uncomfortable.
I might look as though I'm talking to you, but inside my head I'm sewing.

Bogwoppit

Re: Securing Patterns
« Reply #17 on: April 01, 2018, 17:38:55 PM »
I use rotary cutter with pins.....
Lurking in Lancashire, improving my sewing when life gives me time.

Efemera

Re: Securing Patterns
« Reply #18 on: April 01, 2018, 17:53:02 PM »
Rotary cutters must be a new fangled thing for dressmaking as well as quilting...(I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong) it’s like the new fangled way of pricing fabric.. who the hell thought of pricing dressmaking fabric by the fat quarter or half meters!..drives me nuts!.. all these  new trendy sewers who thing they’ve invented everything...Rant over. ;)

Gernella

Re: Securing Patterns
« Reply #19 on: April 02, 2018, 10:36:24 AM »
I've never used weights until recently when fabric I had resisted pins, so since I have no weights I used every pair of scissors I had, which worked very well.  I've looked at the price of weights  and more or less decided that next time I go in B&Q I'll get a large set of some cheap spanners, they should work nicely!
Stash extension 2024- 6.1 meters
Left at the end of 2023 - 66 meters now (includes fabric found hidden out of sight)  Lining fabric not included

fajita

Re: Securing Patterns
« Reply #20 on: April 02, 2018, 10:41:00 AM »
You could make up some little dry rice filled bags to work as weights. Big ones and little ones, round ones and long ones.

Gernella

Re: Securing Patterns
« Reply #21 on: April 02, 2018, 11:17:52 AM »
Trust me, even if I wanted to they would never get done, can't wear them.  I even used Etsy to get a loose thread/bits holder, things like that are not my bag.
Stash extension 2024- 6.1 meters
Left at the end of 2023 - 66 meters now (includes fabric found hidden out of sight)  Lining fabric not included

Lulu

Re: Securing Patterns
« Reply #22 on: April 10, 2018, 09:34:03 AM »
It has been interesting reading everyone's opinions on this! Thank you all for your advice.

I take your points about rotary cutters being quite dangerous on their own, and with the mats, quite expensive.

And also, that weights might not even be necessary with a few handy bits nearby. Or you could make your own (such a good idea @Fajita )

I also realise that pins are probably going to be the best thing to secure fabric for making clothes, so I'd never be able to avoid them entirely.

I was able to buy a magnetic pin dish at our sewing shop (thanks @Ploshkin ) and some flat head flower pins (as used by @Bogwoppit ), so these should help keep them easy to find and all in one place. As she also said, I'll just have to be careful to not leave them on the table and always put them back in the dish.

I'm going to see how I do with just those for now, and invest in the cutter and mat in the future (given that we've just had the big outlay of the machine). They do look impressively quick, from the videos I've seen on YouTube.

DementedFairy

Re: Securing Patterns
« Reply #23 on: April 10, 2018, 13:49:20 PM »
I have a large cutting board so I can cut out pretty much any pattern piece without moving fabric.

As for tracing, I hate it. But I have no choice. We aren't all as lucky as to be able to wear something out of the packet. I have to make many adjustments and I can't afford to buy many copies of the pattern to do that.

Oh lord not much fits me straight up-but then I now wear looser styles, and a lot of stretch fabrics which help a lot!  When I DO make pattern alterations...I alter the pattern.  It's just paper, I chop it and tape bits in...and there we are, ready to go.

 Personally, choosing the patterns that will pretty much work for my lumpy weird shape saves a lot of fuss.  If I decided to always go for styles that just DON'T accommodate my bag of spuds body, then I'd have  a lot of changes to make too.

Lol I'll just carry on doing things the easy way, ignoring perfectionism, and enjoy the cutting out yay!
C'est moi!

Acorn

Re: Securing Patterns
« Reply #24 on: April 10, 2018, 21:12:50 PM »
This is one of the reasons that I love pdf patterns.   :)
I might look as though I'm talking to you, but inside my head I'm sewing.

Acorn

Re: Securing Patterns
« Reply #25 on: April 10, 2018, 21:38:32 PM »
Yes - I'm sure I've seen them for at least one of the big 4, but I can't find any now.   :[
I might look as though I'm talking to you, but inside my head I'm sewing.

BrendaP

Re: Securing Patterns
« Reply #26 on: April 10, 2018, 22:56:02 PM »
I have a large cutting board so I can cut out pretty much any pattern piece without moving fabric.


My 36" x 24" cutting mat, which lives on top of my desk wouldn't be big enough for lots of things - dresses, trousers - to be cut in one go.  Apart from the price of very big mats, anything bigger would have to live under the bed, be hauled out, dragged downstairs  and plonked onto the dining table.

Re weights versus pins:
My dining table is 2.3 metres long when fully extended, but even so some patterns require more than that amount of fabric which has to be shunted along whilst laying out all the pieces.  How do you manage that without using pins?
Brenda.  My machines are: Corona, a 1953 Singer 201K-3, Caroline, a 1940 Singer 201K-3, Thirza, 1949 Singer 221K, Azilia, 1957 Singer 201K-MK2 and Vera, a Husqvarna 350 SewEasy about 20 years old. Also Bernina 1150 overlocker and Elna 444 Coverstitcher.
http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.

Gemma

Re: Securing Patterns
« Reply #27 on: April 11, 2018, 08:15:36 AM »
As for tracing, I hate it. But I have no choice. We aren't all as lucky as to be able to wear something out of the packet. I have to make many adjustments and I can't afford to buy many copies of the pattern to do that.

I have a growing boy so I'm constantly tracing the next size up.

Have you tried using a needle point tracing wheel - put the paper you want to mark underneath the pattern and wheel away. I find it's very quick - I don't even bother going over it in pen unless I need fitting adjusments, just cut along the dotted line.

jen

Re: Securing Patterns
« Reply #28 on: April 18, 2018, 07:38:09 AM »
If anyone has  issues with hands or back it could be worth trying electric shears. I got a black and decker rechargeable one (needs a new blade now). It’s quick, and has the bonus that floaty fabric moves less. I tried rotary cutters but it drove me nuts.

b15erk

Re: Securing Patterns
« Reply #29 on: April 18, 2018, 08:58:28 AM »
I use a combination of weights and pins for cutting out, and my trusty Ernest Wright scissors. I'm not very good with a rotary cutter, and stick to cutting straight lines with it (bias binding).

My weights are the small, heavy, glass jars that my moisturiser used to come in.  I fill them with  buttons, so they solve a storage problem too!

When the children were young, I've often sewed late into the night.  It's the only way to stop little fingers 'investigating'!

Jessie
Jessie, who is very happy to be here!!  :),  but who has far too many sewing machines to be healthy, and a fabric stash which is becoming embarrassing.