Awl
Tools & Equipment Awl The awl is used to mark points on the inside of the block or pattern, by piercing a hole through the cardboard or paper. The resulting hole is referred to as a “drill hole”. These drill holes indicate the placement of the dart point, pocket placements, buttons and buttonholes, and other […]
Pattern Notcher
Tools & Equipment Pattern Notcher The Pattern Notcher is used to clip the edges of the block where something needs to occur in the construction of the garment; e.g. at the end of the dart legs, so the sewer knows how much of the fabric to fold together to construct the dart; balance points, so […]
French Curve
Tools & Equipment French Curve A French curve is used to draw curves at the armhole, neckline, curved darts, sleeve cap curves, and hip-line curve, etc. They are transparent and some come with a straight edge including a Seam Allowance Guide and Grading Rules. French curves come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Examples […]
Felt Tipped Pens
Tools & Equipment Felt Tipped Pens Felt tipped pens can be used on your blocks for color coding to identify pattern lines, changes on the patterns or corrections. You can create new blocks for some of these (e.g. an Empire Line Block, or a Sleeveless Contour Block) if you wish, or just reuse this block, […]
Eraser
Tools & Equipment Eraser Blocks and patterns are made on paper or cardboard with a hard pencil; you will make mistakes now and then and you will need to erase lines and redraw them. A softer quality eraser, such as a Gum Eraser is preferable to a hard rubber eraser so that the mistaken marks […]
Pins & Pinholder
Tools & Equipment Pins and Pinholder Pins are necessary for pinning the pattern to the fabric and holding the seam allowances together when sewing the garment. Pincushions are useful to storing and accessing the pins easily. There are a variety of pin types, and Dressmaker #17 pins are generally recommended for patternmaking. However, it doesn’t […]
Sellotape
Tools & Equipment Sellotape Sellotape is used to stick cardboard or pattern pieces together when you are making alterations to pattern work such as cutting and spreading. You may find removable sellotape works better for you. Note: You need sellotape to construct Blocks purchased on this website. If you download the free third-scale blocks or […]
Third Scale Ruler
Tools & Equipment Third Scale Ruler If you are working with Third Scale Blocks to do patternmaking exercises, it is useful to have a Third Scale Ruler to use with them. For the purposes of learning patternmaking principles, making patterns at a 1/3 scale saves paper and requires less desk space than making them full-scale. […]
Scissors: Fabric & Paper
Tools & Equipment Scissors: Fabric & Paper Good quality fabric scissors are necessary to cut out your toiles and garments. Make sure you don’t use your fabric scissors to cut cardboard or paper, and try not to drop them. Standard paper scissors can be used to cut out your blocks and patterns from cardboard, paper […]
Toile Fabric
Tools & Equipment Toile Fabric Toile fabric is a cheaper fabric that is used to make a test garment for a pattern. The preferred material to make toiles is calico or muslin. In Australia, calico seems the more commonly used, in America it is muslin. Calico and muslin are used because they are cheap 100% […]