Patternmaking For A Perfect Fit: Using The Rub-... -

Clara cleared off her large wooden dining table and gathered her tools: The target garment (her beloved denim jacket) A large cork tracing board Dozens of fine straight pins Translucent medical pattern paper A tracing wheel with a serrated edge A mechanical pencil and French curve rulers

The rub-off method was the answer. Instead of drafting a pattern from scratch using complex mathematical formulas and body measurements, she would transfer the exact lines, seams, and grainlines of her favorite physical garment onto paper without deconstructing the original clothing. 📐 Prepping the Canvas Patternmaking for a Perfect Fit: Using the Rub-...

She then had to add what the rub-off method doesn't naturally give you: seam allowances. Using her clear gridded ruler, she meticulously drew a parallel line 5/8 of an inch outside her traced seam lines. Clara cleared off her large wooden dining table

Once the perimeter of the front panel was pinned out, she took her tracing wheel. She firmly rolled the spiked wheel along the chalked-out seam lines. As the spikes pressed through the denim and the paper, they left a perfect, dotted trail on the paper beneath. Using her clear gridded ruler, she meticulously drew

Clara laid a large sheet of pattern paper over her corkboard, and then laid the front panel of the jacket over the paper. Smoothing the fabric carefully to ensure the grainline was perfectly straight, she began the "rubbing" process.

With her fresh paper pattern cut out, Clara was ready for the ultimate test: the muslin toile. She cut the pattern pieces out of cheap unbleached cotton and basted them together on her sewing machine.