My grandmother started me sewing when I was very young. I had my first machine when I was 2, and she let me have all the fabric I could ever dream of having---with the one requirement, I could only pick stuff out of the garbage can. She was a professional seamstress, and though I learned many things from her, I also learned to be a bit lazy. I take shortcuts when sewing all the time, including transferring the pattern markings to fabric.
Until recently, I used straight pins to mark my guides and darts. I've learned this methods is not reliable though; the pins are annoying to deal and often leave their mark on my poor thumb. Frustrated, I transitioned to tailor's chalk. Chalk has flaws too. Sometimes the mark can be large and undefinable as in where exactly to stop/start---an 1/8 inch matters sometimes. The other flaw with chalk is, it can leave marks. For example, on my white dress I used blue chalk that stained the finished garment.
I started cutting McCall's 6565 and came across a dilemma. I used sheer cotton fabric for this project and did not want to ruin my fabric with blue chalk. Since I was cutting multiple garments out that day and knew it would be some time before I assembled the shirt; pinning the darts and pleats was not the best idea. So for the first time in my life, I marked my darts by tacking a piece of thread. I have to say, I love this method. It is faster than pinning and more accurate than chalk. Plus I can leave the guide throughout the project life.
My grandmother started me sewing when I was very young. I had my first machine when I was 2, and she let me have all the fabric I could ever dream of having---with the one requirement, I could only pick stuff out of the garbage can. She was a professional seamstress, and though I learned many things from her, I also learned to be a bit lazy. I take shortcuts when sewing all the time, including transferring the pattern markings to fabric. Until recently, I used straight pins to mark my guides and darts. I've learned this methods is not reliable though; the pins are annoying to deal and often leave their mark on my poor thumb. Frustrated, I transitioned to tailor's chalk. Chalk has flaws too. Sometimes the mark can be large and undefinable as in where exactly to stop/start---an 1/8 inch matters sometimes. The other flaw with chalk is, it can leave marks. For example, on my white dress I used blue chalk that stained the finished garment.
I started cutting McCall's 6565 and came across a dilemma. I used sheer cotton fabric for this project and did not want to ruin my fabric with blue chalk. Since I was cutting multiple garments out that day and knew it would be some time before I assembled the shirt; pinning the darts and pleats was not the best idea. So for the first time in my life, I marked my darts by tacking a piece of thread. I have to say, I love this method. It is faster than pinning and more accurate than chalk. Plus I can leave the guide throughout the project life.
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| the bodice dart has been marked with small tailor's marks indicated by arrows in the picture |
Tailor's tacking is easy. Take a double (triple or more depending on the fabrics) piece of thread and stitch directly through the pattern marking into one layer of fabric. A knot is not necessary as it is easy to pull the pattern piece off if there is no knot. I cut the thread leaving a small tail. Use a contrasting color of thread so it is easy to locate.
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