Today I want to take a few minutes and talk about PDF patterns. How to work from one and why you might want to.
The obvious benefits of using digital patterns are that they are usually cheaper to buy than a kit and you can download them instantly upon payment. This a great feature for people that want to save a bit of money or want to get started on a project right away.
The other benefit of PDF patterns is that it gives you a lot of space for creativity in the colors and fabrics you choose. I love designing the different colorways that come in my kits but I am oh so aware of how many different ways each of these patterns could go just by changing the fabric and thread colors. I also stitch most of my designs on cotton but you may be a fan of linen or maybe you want to get wild and use some printed fabric. What I’m saying is the limit is your own imagination here.
So what are the challenges with PDFs? How do you get it from the file that you download to the part where you start stitching?
It’s actually pretty easy. Let me show you!
Start by downloading the file. Find the page that has the line work on it. This will likely be a black and white only page with the outline of the design.
Next grab the fabric you are going to stitch on, some tape and a pencil or water erasable pen. I also like these tea juice fabric markers (the black ones are great and don’t bleed).
Tape your line work to a window on a bright day ( you can also use a light board for this step if you have one).
Tape your fabric over top. If your fabric has a right/wrong side then make sure you are tracing onto the right side. If your fabric is a very dark color you may need to use a different method of transfer such as transfer paper or a white iron-on transfer pencil (I’ll save these for a future post).
You should be able to see your linework showing through your fabric. Trace all the outlines making sure to take breaks as necessary!
When its all traced you are ready to stitch. On this piece of fabric I used an air/water erasable pen. The air erasable side is purple and will fade away with time exposed to the air. I do find that the purple ink can fade very quickly on some fabrics so I wouldn’t use it for the whole design but I do use it while I’m stitching to add in quick guide lines. The blue ink side will wash out when rinsed with water after you’ve finished stitching.
I just wanted to show this picture that was traced with a tea juice marker. I like using these as it gives a nice dark line to stitch on. It is permanent though so you have to be careful when tracing and I definitely mess up sometimes.
So now you know how to use a PDF. If you’re interested in trying out one of my digital patterns you can find them here in my etsy shop. Happy Stitching!