Pinterest Test

Blue Painter's tape with on one section with design notes

I recently started visiting Pinterest. I have heard a lot about it, seen posts shared on facebook, and found myself laughing so hard I was crying especially when I looked at the "Nailed It" posts. In case you are not following any of these boards the nailed it posts are where someone tries something they have seen on Pinterest that looks like an amazing project. The newbie's results are usually abysmal at best but the caption is always "nailed it", like they too had succeeded.  

Because my interest are in do-it-yourself knitting/sewing projects I recently saw a post where they had used blue masking tape to tape out the exact shapes of ready made clothing to obtain a perfect knock-off copy. I did not share their idea that it would be a good thing to do because I really don't like "Sticky". I don't like stickers on my windshield even if it is a parking permit or inspection sticker. I detest bumper stickers. And I could not wash my kids hands often enough to keep them from being sticky when they were little. So I nearly let this little gem of a tip get past me. 

I have had success with tracing, and marking knock off patterns before, but it takes a lot of patience because if your don't pin the garment flat, it is easy to have the pattern slip, bunch, gap or just slide away so that accuracy is difficult. The blue tape works because it is not very tacky unless you leave it in place too long. It is also easy to tear into smaller strips to use around the curved seam edges. The garment I used fits perfectly and does not have any darts so if you are using this on something with darts you will have to make adjustments so that you allow the correct space for darts. 

Here is what happened while taping the pattern. Depending on my results with the test sew I may be able to honestly say Nailed-It. 

First I started with a shirt that fits perfectly and pressed it to get out all of the wrinkles. I decided that it would probably be easier to just trace the collar and collar stand and blue tape the body and sleeve. My shirt has princesses seams, a seam down the center back and three quarter length sleeves so I had five pieces to copy. I started with the left center front which I will show you here, start to finish. I could have just as easily used the right center front, but either way, you will only have to copy one half of your shirt because each piece is cut in pairs on folded fabric. 

Center front, marking the seam edges first

This shirt also has horizontal tucks across the front. I did not mark them because if I do put tucks in my shirt, I will sew the tucks first before I lay out the pattern. That will save time and keep the tucks evenly spaced. I did mark on the finished pattern where the yoke and tucks start/stop.  In the photo above you can see how I have torn the tape in smaller pieces to get an accurate mark at the curved seams. Where the seams are straight you can use longer pieces. Once you have taped exactly on the outer seams of the piece you are working on, use more tape to fill the space in the middle. I purchased two sizes of blue tape for this. I used tape that was slightly less than an inch wide on the outer edges and wider tape, about two inches, for the center fill. I thought this would give the pattern a little more structure and be easier to remove without separating and defeating the purpose. 

Center front filled, marked, and starting to lift from the fabric

This photograph shows the pattern piece fully filled in, and design marks added where the yoke meets the lower front that is tucked.  If I make tucks I will probably redraw the yoke and tucked section as two pieces, but I will not need that seam if I do not add the tucks. It would be helpful to mark the straight of grain line here too. After this piece I tried to lay the first center piece of tape down along the grain line so I had the straight of grain marked, but this was the very first section I taped and you do learn a few things as you go. When I get ready to cut this out I will probably compare my taped piece to the shirt again to make that mark. The shoulder section is just starting to curl off of the fabric in this picture.  

Removing the tape from the garment

Don't rush it when you remove the tape pattern. The smaller edge pieces will not all want to lift together and you may have to make gentle tugs from all edges to keep your pattern together. When one part would start to rebel I just moved to another side to loosen the tape's grip, working around until the whole pattern lifted neatly from the fabric.

Front center piece placed on tracing paper so I can add the cutting line

To keep the new pattern together I placed it on tracing paper. This just supports the piece and allows room to make the cut lines and keeps the sticky pattern from attaching to something else.

Back side of pattern on tracing paper

I turned the pattern over and used a burnishing tool to smooth the tape and remove wrinkles and air pockets.

Now do the same thing for every piece you need to copy. On this shirt I still had a front side, back side and center back to trace plus the sleeve. The sleeve was the hardest piece to tape because I could not lay it completely flat from seam to seam so I taped it in two pieces along the press line and marked on the blue tape where the shoulder seam touched the sleeve for future reference. I did not make a copy of the button band. I will just cut a piece double the measured width plus seam allowances on both sides, fold, press and sew onto the front just before I sew on the collar stand and collar. It is straight except for a slight curve near the neck and is not cut on the bias. This will not require a pattern but it is one more piece I need to cut. 

The test sew will probably not be a true muslin as I expect the results to be very accurate with little need for any alteration. It that turns out to be true I will have a tried and true shirt pattern.