A Few Good Things

I've been slavin' over my classic white shirt for a while (and am a bit fed up with it), and have found a few things I like to have around that make tracing, altering, and redrafting a bit easier. Some are old friends and some are new finds.

The Curve and Square Ruler (CSR) to mark seam lines. It is marked in both English and Metric system and has a French curve, a square, a straight edge, buttonhole guides, and handy slots along the straight and curved edges to mark 1-inch (like the "just in case" seams on my classic white shirt), 5/8-inch, & 1/4-inch seam allowances. The curved edge is perfect for tracing and marking seam lines along armhole, hip, and neckline curves. The CSR even gives you the points on the ruler that match those curves, for example, the hip curve is from 0 to 9 inches. I also have a random collection of Fairgate curves and rulers, but this one is the most handy.

A Calibrated Flexible Curve to measure and mark curved seams, such as crotch curves and princess lines. I ordered mine through a “big box” office supply store and its 24 inches long. There are longer flexible curves available that would probably be even more useful for longer design lines. I guess I'll probably use it to measure the darned armhole on that classic white shirt if I ever get that far.

Swedish Tracing Paper (STP) and Bienfang No. 106 for tracing off patterns. I like the fact that, if I sew desire, I can actually baste the STP pattern together and try it on for fit. Ballpoint pens, lead pencils, colored pencils, and crayons make clean lines on STP with no bleed through. And it cuts like a dream with regular paper scissors. STP can be pricey, so if I know I will be making a lot of alterations to the original pattern , I will use Bienfang No.106 white tracing paper and reserve the STP for the final draft. An added bonus is that scraps of both STP and Bienfang paper can be used as a great tear-away/cut-away stabilizer for delicate seams and embroidery projects. I got my last 5 rolls of STP from Debbie Cook's coop, but you can get it from a number of places online, including directly from Birch Street Clothing . Bienfang No. 106 is available from Mister Art and also comes in canary. I hear canary is easier on the eyes, just what I'll need after going cross-eyed with the classic white shirt alterations.


A Utensil Caddy for pattern weights, smaller rulers (there's my CSR), colored pens & pencils, rotary cutters & scissors, and other marking tools. The caddy is handy because I can carry it around with me to wherever I'm working. I got this one at Walmart at the end of last summer. And I just bought another one because it matched my other one. You can find it in the "summer/outdoor living" section. I also saw them at Joann's and I'm sure the Container Store, Linens 'N Things, Crate & Barrel, and the like will have other versions. I don't have a plan for my new one yet, but I'm sure it will come in handy!

Finally, I just picked up this Gridded Template Plastic in the quilting notions at Joann's the other day when the notions were 50% off. I've been using it essentially as an extra-wide ruler for pattern alterations (primarily on the classic white shirt). I slash my pattern and slip the gridded plastic under it. It allows me to line up my pattern evenly along the total length of the slash. Then I slip in the extra tissue to fill in the open, slashed area and tape everything down. My cutting mat has a 1 inch grid printed on it, but gridded template plastic let me fine tune my alterations down to 1/4 inch.