Amazon has many tracing wheels available.

I guess I should have said I wanted to start today. I've already got the fabric spread out on the table. I can drive to another town to a Jo-Anns if that is the only way to trace it.

I got a fresh permanent marker and started tracing it again, and then I remembered how I used to do it. I put the tissue paper over the printed pattern and traced it. I wanted to do it on freezer paper this time. Did that with one piece but didn't really like it.

You wrote: "From the little I've read, I bought the pattern according to bust size, which, if I measured right, is size 18. But that sounds huge even for me."

Pay *no* attention to the size numbers on sewing patterns. They don't correlate to the ready-to-wear size numbers at all. Just pretend they're French or something. In another language.

Wow, Walmart didn't have a tracing wheel? That's so very basic! And you can order them online.

You can also use carbon paper and a ballpoint pen (reinforce the line you are drawing on using clear tape, so the pen doesn't rip through the tissue of the pattern).

One time I didn't have carbon paper, so I used a pencil to shade the underside of the pattern (using the side of the pencil lead--or a carpenter's pencil would work, since it's wide and flat), and that created a sort of carbon paper on the underside.

Good luck!

Smart of you to try to fit the pattern using cloth.

I use old sheets for my pattern pieces and as mock ups. I will pierce the pattern with a pin at the important parts like corners, notches and such, and then just use a flair black marker and make dots on the sheet. Take the pattern away and connect the dots, using a ruler where I know they need to be a straight line.

If you have an arts and crafts store - or maybe a hardware store (call them ahead!) - they may have tracing wheels.

Other options:

Use a sheer paper on top of the pattern paper and trace with a dark pencil or marker. Tissue paper seems to soft and not easy to reuse, more like a waste of money to me. In the arts or school supply section, look for tracing paper. They may even have pattern paper or "drafting paper" - also in a craft, sewing, or hardware store, or wax or parchment paper bc they are see-through and come on a long roll.

Carbon transfer paper:
This can get messy but it'll do the trick with a wheel, pencil, or any writing tool. Place a paper or tester fabric under the pattern. Put the carbon paper between those layers, facing down onto the new paper. Go over the lines on the pattern with pencil, etc.

The carbon paper will copy whatever pressure you applied with the pencil. It may stain, so be careful. It rips easily, but is very reusable and great thing to have handy.

When buying patterns, look at the measurements instead of just the sizes listed.

Let us know what you used and how it turned out.

You can buy patternmaking books online to do things from scratch. It's simple, but editing to your size takes some time and practice.

You can also try clothes from a thrift store for practice. Get something slightly big, try it on inside-out, and pin where you'd like to alter it.

Annie, do you make enough of the pin holes to be able to draw the exact pattern on your fabric, or do you sew well enough to be able to do that without a pattern? When I was cutting out this pattern, just lifting the fabric and pattern an inch or so off the table was enough to make the paper pull away from the fabric so I didn't end up cutting exactly on the line.

nattydoll, I think you are right about the tissue paper. I found some pattern paper type stuff at Walmart. It's more like interfacing. I bought a yard to see if I like it.

I make enough holes and dots on the sheet so I can replicate the pattern. The idea is to go through the paper and onto the fabric because, as you found out, you can't lift the paper at all or it will change the shape. I usually iron pattern pieces (no steam!) before I lay them out too..it makes them easier to work with and the wrinkles and bumps can change the shape of the pattern.

I also get really fussy about things like darts, and shoulder seams and notches and straight of grain and such. But side seams, not so much as I usually never trust the pattern or measurements. I cut the pattern out with extra fabric at the side seams. I sew the shoulders and the bust line and then pin fit the garment on the side seams to get the shape I want...usually more room in the hips and take it in in the waist.

This post was edited by AnnieDeighnaugh on Wed, Sep 24, 14 at 21:30

I use sewable swedish tracing paper & a highlighter.

I have a couple of favourite patterns that I altered and use over and over.
I placed clear plastic over the original tissue pattern traced and made all markings, then voila, easy to alter.
AND if there is a pattern on your fabric, you can actually see the placement while pinning the pattern to it.

I used a piece of large tracing paper over the pattern, and traced it with a pencil, making sure to transfer alteration lines and alignment marks as well. Then I cut out the tracing paper and used that as my pattern.