Print and assemble
The layout of our sewing patterns is designed to be printed at home with a regular printer. This means that the whole pattern was divided into rectangles fitting into A4 or Letter. The A4 format is mostly used in Europe and Letter in North America. Once all the rectangles are printed, they must be assembled together in the right order.
First, if you are not sure which format your paper is, measure it to see which format it corresponds to.
- A4: 210 × 297 millimetres or 8.27 × 11.69 inches.
- Letter: 8.5 x 11.0 inches or 215.9 x 279.4 millimetres.
The printing zone on all our PDF patterns measure 19 x 26cm, so it can fit inside both formats. However, it is important that you know which one you use for troubleshooting eventual printing issues.
ACROBAT READER:
PDF stands for “Portable Document Format” and is supported by Adobe Acrobat Reader. Be sure that it is installed on your computer so you can open your PDF patterns. If you don't have it, you can get it for free at https://get.adobe.com/reader/. Do not use the browser version of Acrobat!
Smartphone and tablet users can also open PDF files using Adobe Acrobat Reader and it can be downloaded by visiting your app store.
PRINT SETTINGS:
Open your file in Adobe Acrobat and choose File>Print. Then, adjust the settings by ticking both the “ACTUAL SIZE” and the “AUTO PORTRAIT/LANDSCAPE” options. Finally, be sure that the option “Choose paper source by PDF size” is not ticked and click on “Page Setup...” to manually select the paper format that you are using, meaning A4 (Europe & Australia) or Letter (North America). Do not skip this step because your printer could resize the printing zone and change the pattern dimensions.
TEST SQUARE:
Before printing the entire pattern, verify that the settings are adequate. To do so, locate and print the page containing the test square, then measure the test square WITH A RULER.
If the test square doesn't measure as indicated, revise your print settings and see the following points:
- The printer settings can be viewed through the system settings of your computer, which are usually called 'printers & scanners'. Then, check that the default paper format matches the one that you print with.
- A measuring tape lack in precision because it's often stretched. Be sure that you measure your test square with a solid ruler.
- If your ruler is in INCHES, be sure to measure the test square in INCHES measurements. Same with CENTIMETERS AND MILLIMETERS.
LAYERS:
A layer is a feature which allows some content to be made visible or invisible in a PDF document. This means that you can print only the sizes you need.
To do so, click on the layers icon located on the left-hand side of the screen and untick the sizes you do not wish to print. The “INFO” and “GRID” layers should always be ticked.
ASSEMBLING:
First, cut or fold the margins of each sheet along the dashed lines.
Then, tape the sheets together. Start with the sheets from one same row, which means the ones with the same letters. Also, be sure that the numbers following the letter are placed in ascending order.
Alternatively, refer to the tiling layout provided with the pattern to place the sheets in the right order.
Once all the rows are assembled, tape them together so that the letters are placed in alphabetical order. Also, the number following the letter must match within the same column.
Here's a little tip: wait until you have taped all the sides before you tape the corners.
Your pattern is now ready to use. You can trace it or cut directly into the pattern board. All the seam and hem allowances are already built-in. The hem allowances vary from one pattern to another and are indicated in the sewing instructions.
First, if you are not sure which format your paper is, measure it to see which format it corresponds to.
- A4: 210 × 297 millimetres or 8.27 × 11.69 inches.
- Letter: 8.5 x 11.0 inches or 215.9 x 279.4 millimetres.
The printing zone on all our PDF patterns measure 19 x 26cm, so it can fit inside both formats. However, it is important that you know which one you use for troubleshooting eventual printing issues.
ACROBAT READER:
PDF stands for “Portable Document Format” and is supported by Adobe Acrobat Reader. Be sure that it is installed on your computer so you can open your PDF patterns. If you don't have it, you can get it for free at https://get.adobe.com/reader/. Do not use the browser version of Acrobat!
Smartphone and tablet users can also open PDF files using Adobe Acrobat Reader and it can be downloaded by visiting your app store.
PRINT SETTINGS:
Open your file in Adobe Acrobat and choose File>Print. Then, adjust the settings by ticking both the “ACTUAL SIZE” and the “AUTO PORTRAIT/LANDSCAPE” options. Finally, be sure that the option “Choose paper source by PDF size” is not ticked and click on “Page Setup...” to manually select the paper format that you are using, meaning A4 (Europe & Australia) or Letter (North America). Do not skip this step because your printer could resize the printing zone and change the pattern dimensions.
TEST SQUARE:
Before printing the entire pattern, verify that the settings are adequate. To do so, locate and print the page containing the test square, then measure the test square WITH A RULER.
If the test square doesn't measure as indicated, revise your print settings and see the following points:
- The printer settings can be viewed through the system settings of your computer, which are usually called 'printers & scanners'. Then, check that the default paper format matches the one that you print with.
- A measuring tape lack in precision because it's often stretched. Be sure that you measure your test square with a solid ruler.
- If your ruler is in INCHES, be sure to measure the test square in INCHES measurements. Same with CENTIMETERS AND MILLIMETERS.
LAYERS:
A layer is a feature which allows some content to be made visible or invisible in a PDF document. This means that you can print only the sizes you need.
To do so, click on the layers icon located on the left-hand side of the screen and untick the sizes you do not wish to print. The “INFO” and “GRID” layers should always be ticked.
ASSEMBLING:
First, cut or fold the margins of each sheet along the dashed lines.
Then, tape the sheets together. Start with the sheets from one same row, which means the ones with the same letters. Also, be sure that the numbers following the letter are placed in ascending order.
Alternatively, refer to the tiling layout provided with the pattern to place the sheets in the right order.
Once all the rows are assembled, tape them together so that the letters are placed in alphabetical order. Also, the number following the letter must match within the same column.
Here's a little tip: wait until you have taped all the sides before you tape the corners.
Your pattern is now ready to use. You can trace it or cut directly into the pattern board. All the seam and hem allowances are already built-in. The hem allowances vary from one pattern to another and are indicated in the sewing instructions.