Thread: making costume templates

I have refined my regular patterns enough that I would really like to have them preserved in a more durable medium than drafting paper! I have some plastic sheets and a burning tool from my stencil days, and would like to know if you can get something similar in sheets large enough to make pattern piece templates. Ideas?

Do you want rigid or flexible? If you want flexible, something like this http://www.plasticsheetingsupply.com...ting-c-38.html might work. Or you could transfer your designs to more mundane consumer plastics that are sold in sheets, like heavy-duty shower curtains, flannel-backed plastic tablecloths, or tarps. If you copy the current pattern pieces to uncut sheets of craft paper, you could take those to a place that does laminating, and then cut them out after they've been laminated. If you want a really sturdy pattern and don't mind if it would be too thick to pin or see through, you could probably even use sheets of vinyl flooring.

I use the clear heavy-duty vinyl/plastic similar to the vinyl tablecloth material, the type often utilized by restaurants to cover fabric table covers. I store the patterns in plastic garbage bags stored in closets hanging from skirt hangers.

Many fabric stores sell pattern material which resembles interfacing in its fiber composition and texture, but is intended for creating pattern pieces. For example:

http://www.clotilde.com/detail.html?prod_id=120
http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/p...RODID=prd34796
http://store.quilting-warehouse.com/145597.html

This is what I use for preserving my patterns. It folds easily, and it's durable. I can write on it with a felt-tip pen to insert stuff like grain lines or titles of pattern pieces.

I use the vinyl purse fabric/upholstry fabric they sell at hancock and joanne. It is much wider than normal fabrics and you can find some random icky looking discounted colors and cut your patterns out of those. They hold up really well.

When I was an Undergraduate and working in a costume shop, we used heavy poster board for our templates. They seemed to work and stand up to multiple uses. Not to mention they come is a fairly large size.

{{{HUGS}}}

Oh- great ideas! and I can color code with the icky sale stuff too- the possibilities!

I've been using swedish tracing paper or kwik sew cloth, and it's great, durable enough to sew together when working out a mock up even, but anything that gets folded wears out & I sew a LOT! poster board tends to get dog-eared too.

I'm planning on punching holes in whatever I end up using so I can clip them together with a binder ring and hang them in the back of my closet, so I'll have to hunt for something that doesn't stretch too much. I was originally thinking hard plastic, but maybe a clip system would work better for vinyl or such- I'll let you know how it all works out!