Firstly, thanks everyone who left kind messages regarding my Mom. I guess sooner or later all of us have to deal with parents needing care or moving on. It’s sad but a learning experience as well. I will try to stay positive.
My last few days before next care duty and I’m trying to sort out my pattern-making blocks. I want to make those card blocks that are used for tracing out guidelines for pattern designs. But I’m confused about whether to cut the darts out or not. If they’re cut out, the blocks become a bit fragile & flimsy. If they’re not cut out, how do you trace accurate dart lines as guide for designs?
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Surprisingly I can’t find any good photo examples of these card blocks in the pattern-making books I own. Perhaps this is something that pattern-making classes would have covered. But it seems rather pointless to take a class just to answer a simple question like this.
Do you design your own patterns & work with card blocks? Or maybe have friends who do? Or even taken a class where you were taught how to create and use these card blocks?
Do you have the answer to my question??? 😮
When I went on 2 short course on pattern cutting with LCF they also suggested drilling/punching small holes at the dart-apex + then notching the dart-legs on the edges of the cardboard… then just join up the marks on your traced-off (onto paper) version 🙂
I use an awl to punch holes at the ends and points of the darts. I have also put a couple of holes along a very curved dart. It is then easy to put a pencil tip or fine pen through the holes to mark the paper underneath. I am no expert though.
The majority of darts on my card blocks are cut out purely for tracing round – once you’ve transfered markings onto paper it’s easier to manipulate them 🙂 x
We were taught to use drill to punch holes for darts and interior markings and to notch exterior points in the “oak tag” /card stock block pattern only once it was finalized. The holes is then circled in red pen. These holes are also used to mark pocket placement.
I have seen some people cut out the darts only for use in manipulation not for storage and forward designing. My textbook “Helen Armstrong” may have mentioned this, however, my instructor for patter making II, did not rely on the textbook as much as my patterning 1 instructor. I have seen another pattern design book more inline with the instruction I received although her book was not the actual text we used. PatternMaking by Dennic Chunnan Lo, also tells you to use Drill Holes in the oak tag as well to mark where you stitching should end on the pattern 3/4″ away from the dart endpoint.