Design Tools?

brown paper bags from grocery store I'm a cheapskate they have these folds though, that you have to deal with. Sometimes I use iron to flatten them out some.

Ah good idea! I was thinking of butcher paper as well but I found easel paper which was only $5 for a 12" x 50' roll. What type of marking pencils you use on fabric?

sharpie fine point on silnylon white chaulk pencil on black fabric black ball point pen on non sil/non dark fabric

Tent: Although I'm a committed hammock camper, I just feel some finite measure of security possessing an ultralight tent. I'm making a single pole tarp tent like my Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo, that my daughter recently appropriated. I'm using notebook paper as the tent fabric, Scotch taped together to make a scale model. An engineer's ruler to cut the paper to scale. Pen and notebook paper to sketch the tent and its dimensions, floor lengths, widths, height etc. A scientific calculator (desktop, laptop or smartphone app) to figure the angles, etc. Bike pannier: almost all in my head to start, then drawings on paper. No scale model. I cut the fabric and sew.

tent is obviously too big for a pattern I just lay it out using triangles, just measure sides with tape measure if I want to make a piece parallel with the roll of fabric, I fold the fabric so the edges line up, then mark along the fold line which will be perpendicular to the fabric edge

I've been using plain ol' newspaper and a pen/sharpie to draw my patterns for years. It's free (if you get the newspaper), and a great way to re-use something with a short life-span. When you're finished with the pattern pieces, you can chuck them in the recycle bin. I also use fine-point sharpies to mark up my fabric if the colour is light enough, and a chalk pencil (get them at fabric stores) to mark up dark fabrics.

> tent is obviously too big for a pattern OH? Every one of my tents was cut to a full-size pattern. I used builders plastic sheeting, but brown packaging paper would be fine. Cheers

okay : ) plastic is kind of stretchy. a few big triangular panels are easy to just measure out

Do you all draw out the edges accounting for the pressed foot width?

sometimes, I draw a line where I want the seam to be, and another line, generally 1/2" further out where I cut the fabric for clothing, generally a french seam, I just mark where to cut the fabric, and eyeball where the seam goes

Hi Jerry 200 micron builders plastic does not stretch easily. :-) > I draw a line where I want the seam to be, and another line, generally 1/2" further > out where I cut the fabric Exactly. Works for me – for tents, quilts, clothing, whatever. Cheers

Tents/Tarps — For my first tarp and tent, I used gorilla tape and drop cloth (painters tarp). It worked out pretty well but now I create all of these as models in SketchUp…I can flatten the panels in the software and lay them out inside a rectangle the size of my fabric (width 58" for most stuff, leave 2" on all edges for seam allowance) which is extremely helpful when ordering materials. Clothes — Tear apart old clothes that fit great but are no longer usable and use them as a template for drawing patterns. (I've also just traced around good jackets/pants before) Stuff sacks — I honestly just wing it; It's kind of hard to mess these up beyond functionality after you make a few Backpacks — I feel like these are all about going slow and planning but after you get some experience it becomes much easier. I tend to wing these with cheap materials to create prototypes and then make the final one once I'm happy with the design.

Don't tell the USPS, but for small designs I've been known to take apart flat rate envelopes. It's a nice stiff cardboard, similar to a cereal box. I use it a lot for prototyping, sometimes taping a couple of them together. They're free from the USPS. I ship hundreds of packages a year with them, so I don't feel bad about cutting a few up for patterns. For permanent patterns I use "hardboard" from Home Depot. You have to cut it with a jig saw but you can then run rotary cutters along the edge, which is really handy.

If you have some CAD knowledge, you can download a free drawing package called DoubleCad. It take a little getting use to but then you have a digital pattern. These can be printed out and taped together or you can print out large patterns at FedEx Office. Digital patterns are great because you have an accurate pattern and a good reference to make relative changes. Best regards.

Having used vector drawing programs for 25+ years, that’s what I usually use for more complicated things. Draw it all out, print out a smaller version and tape or glue that together. Than I’ll print it out full size. Often with strategically placed registration marks so I can tile it together. I often mount the resulting pattern to larger sheets of stiffer stock. If it’s something really simple, I usually just measure and mark right on the fabric. White pencil on dark fabric, various pens on light fabric.

every roll of tape you can get your mitts on, pull a racoon on your neighbors recycling bin and use pizza boxes if you have to. (all the bears and mice will admire your new diy gear)