If you are serious about making your own clothes, I would advise you to purchase the following pattern cutting equipment and tools. This will make pattern cutting easier and making your projects more enjoyable. Just buy what you need for now and slowly build up your equipment inventory. You might think this is a lot to purchase. Believe me, you will need it.
When I was working at the college, we always gave the new students an essential equipment and tools list. These were the basic requirements on any Fashion Course. It is enough for any beginners wanting to learn to pattern cut. The cost of some of these equipment is affordable and easily sourced while others cost a bit more but worth the investment since it will be used frequently and last you a long time. In another blog I will cover Sewing Essentials for Beginners.
Here, I have provided a beginners list of essential equipment and tools for the pattern cutter, but depending on what you want to make, the list may vary from person to person. I will start off with pattern cutting equipment for beginners. In my next blog I will list more equipment for the intermediate to advance level pattern cutter. Click on the links to take you where to source your equipment and tools.
Pattern Cutting Essentials:
Pattern Master
A vital piece of equipment used by most pattern cutters and fashion students. You could only purchase this from morplan.com many years ago but I have started seeing many makes on the market these day, especially from amazon.com. Alibaba.com also stock this design as well as many others.
What does it work?
♦ A Pattern Master is essentially a ruler, a French curve, and a set square all rolled into one.
♦ It has extra markings to help you find a centre of a line (Which is very useful to have).
♦ You can add seam allowances with ease.
♦ There is a 45 degrees marking to help you square off patterns.
♦ The pattern master comes in metric (Centimetres) and imperial (Inches) markings.
♦ You can draw certain size circles with a Pattern Master.
If you have bought the slightly thicker one that is made of perspex then you have made a good purchase. Though prone to chip at the corners when dropped onto a hard surface, it is relatively hardwearing compared to the cheaper, thinner, lighter counterparts. The thicker perspex Pattern Masters are available from morplan.com and amazon.com. Both morplan and amazon now stock both thin and thick Pattern Masters to suit everyones budget.
Back in the days, Morplan was the only place to buy Pattern Masters. To some student £28 was a bit steep to fork out. I had a student who purchased a copy, at half the price, from Amazon. Not long after having it, he dropped it onto the floor and it snapped! This was the Pattern Master with the pink markings. Don’t get me wrong, it was still a good Pattern Master if only he had looked after it. It was light and flexible which the perspex one wasn’t. Some people prefer that. I did notice the markings didn’t last long though. Like only a few weeks compared to the thicker version, which was years! The thicker Pattern Masters actually have the ink in the grooves of the Pattern Master than just printed on the surface.
Substitutions:
You will need all of these to replace the Pattern Master
French Curve: You could use a French curve to help draw smooth, curved lines on patterns. It is not essential if you have great technique but after a while you will be needing one if you want to work more accurately and faster.
Ruler: Preferably a transparent clear one so you can mark seam allowances on. 30cm minimum length.
Set Square or L Shaped Ruler: Help you achieve right angles. Great for squaring off your patterns when drafting as well as marking the bias grain on the fabric.
Never use solvent or acetone to clean or wipe otherwise the marking on the Pattern Master will come off!
Here are a few different designs I have come across. You can get them in half the size as well as 1/2 and 1/4 scale. Click on the pictures for links.
The above left is the longest Pattern Master I have. It is over 50cm long! Great for pattern cutting and grading but not very practical to carry around or store. It is flexible and has 12 functions. The middle picture is a pocket size of the Pattern Master on the left. It is made from slightly thicker plastic. Both available at sewessential.co.uk. Designed by the same person who designed the Pattern Master for Morplan. The Pattern Master on the right is for drafting 1/4 and 1/5 scale patterns. I have only seen this at Morplan.
Pencil
Ideally use a mechanical pencil. If you haven’t got one, then a HB grade pencil kept sharp is good enough. B grade pencils leave dirty marks if you are not careful. H grade is too light for mark making.
Tip: Never use the rubber/eraser on your retractable mechanical pencil. It is usually used for keeping the spare leads from falling out. If you use it, the rubber/eraser will be difficult to remove to allow refilling at a later stage. You will need to frequently sharpen your pencils to help keep your lines accurate. I cannot stress enough about accuracy. A blunt pencil could make measurements out by millimeters. Have a sharpener handy if you are using ordinary pencils. You do not need to sharpen a mechanical pencil.
Rubber/Eraser
For correcting your pencil mistakes of course. I love using Staedtler brand rubbers because they are clean and don’t leave behind much rubbings.
Coloured Pens
After a while you will start to create a lot of lines on your pattern. Using different colours on your pattern will help iron out any confusion later. Tracing a pattern will become a lot easier.
For example: Black for general markings. Blue for Lining. Red for Interfacing, and contrasting pieces should be Green or Purple. These are the colours used by industry but obviously if you want to use gold and silver for your own personal patterns, then it is up to you.
Calculator
Working out measurements when pattern drafting.
Tracing Wheel
Essential for tracing patterns and transferring pattern markings onto fabric. Come in line, spiked as well as dashed lines. The spiked tracing wheel is the most common one I have seen on the market. Use with chalk transfer paper for transferring markings onto fabric. See below.
Tape Measurer
Usually a 100cm tape is good enough unless you are working on a very, very large person. Don’t use very cheap ones you get free from gumball machines or Christmas crackers. They are more likely to stretch in time, not long enough or not accurate. Buy a retractable one if you can afford it. Nothing is worse than having to keep rolling up a 100cm tape just to put it away.
Ruler
Most people will own a 30cm ruler. This is just a basic tool to help you draw, and measure a straight line. You do not need this if you have a Pattern Master. I recommend a clear ruler. You can mark seam allowance on it to use.
Sticky Tape
I prefer using magic tape but any tape is good. At college and university we used masking tape because it was cheap and you could write on it. I like to use a dispenser with mine.
French Curve
Help draw smooth lines on patterns.
You do not need this if you have a Pattern Master.
Set Square/L Shaped Ruler
Help draft patterns that require squaring off or right angles. A piece of paper is good enough to use to gauge if you don’t have a set square handy.
You do not need this if you have a Pattern Master.
Pattern Cutting Paper
You can buy pattern paper in precut packs or on rolls in many widths. It is not essential for the paper to be see through but it will help if you are tracing pattern pieces. Available in Dot & Cross, plain, numbered, and in different weights. Pre cut packs come a grid print to allow you to scale up design. The paper quality can be different from company to company. The latest type of paper is called Swedish Tracing Paper available from amazon.com.
Paper Scissors
Always use paper scissors for cutting your paper patterns and keep your fabric scissors for fabric use only. What’s the difference, I hear a lot of students ask? Not much of a difference! If you buy a special pack that contain 2 or more scissors, just make sure the larger pair is kept for cutting fabric and the next one down is for cutting paper. By doing so, your scissors will last you a very long time. If you can afford a better pair of fabric scissors, make sure you go for ones with slight angled handles so when you are cutting fabric it won’t strain your hands.
Envelopes/Folder/Ring Binder
You will have to put your patterns somewhere. The simplest place is in an envelope with a picture or description of your pattern contents. This would make organising and locating your patterns a lot more easier for later. A folder/ring binder was used during my university days. Samples and patterns were placed in these folders so we could go back and use it for reference. This is also great for keeping our 1/4 scale samples, which we will be learning to do later on in the year.
This is my list of essential pattern cutting equipment and tools I personally recommend to any pattern cutting beginner who wants to learn to draft patterns and cut. With these tools you will be able to make a decent pattern to work with. There are other equipment and tools you might want to add to your inventory. When you become more confident with pattern cutting then I would suggest you to check out my blog on Pattern Cutting Essential for Intermediate to Advance Level. There I will recommend more equipment and tools for your inventory.
Happy Pattern Cutting!
Shan x
Thanks Rebecca. I hope to start my new playlist soon. It’s all about pattern cutting and sewing.
I just want to Thank you for making your patterns and tutorials. Not only have I been able to make a nice variety of face masks, I have learned new sewing skills ! Not since 7th grade Home Economics class have I been so excited to sew. I only wish you had a class online. Its time I take these skills and make my 14 month old grandson some clothes.
Thank you again
Thanks
Thank you learnt new ideas from this 💖