Friday, March 28, 2014

Eureka! Transferring straight lines

Eureka!

I had this Eureka! moment last year when I was working on a piece that had lots of straight lines. And maybe this seems an obvious thing to do, but if you don't stitch a lot of straight lines (and I definitely don't!) it may not have occurred to you either. What I am about to share with you isn't rocket science but it felt like a real lightbulb over your head moment! :-)

TransferStraightLines Andstitches
If you have long straight lines in your pattern, don't simply trace them. Instead mark the end points and then simply get out a ruler and use that to connect the marks. No more wobbly lines that you have to try and correct!

On the left side I traced the pattern freehand. It isn't *too* bad in this case because they are relatively short lines. But try tracing lines that are 4 or 5 inches or longer and it is bound to be a mess. On the right in the image I have used the 'dots and ruler' method (that's what I'm calling this method) and there isn't a single wobble in sight. So much better.

See, it's so obvious! Why the heck didn't I think of that before?


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6 comments:

  1. This seems so obvious but I definitely wouldn't have thought of it on my own! Great idea!

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    1. Right?! When the idea occurred to me I was like.. Oh. My. God. :-D

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  2. Fantastic idea--I have used a similar method when tracing the straight lines on sewing patterns, but had never thought to use it with embroidery!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! It's mind blowing how sometimes the simplest idea is something we don't even think of. :-)

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