How I assemble PDF Patterns

PDF patterns some people love them, some people hate them, but it's a format that's here to stay. (Until we can transport everything to our house! Damn it Scotty, why isn't the transporter working?!)   I didn't earn the nickname "All the patterns" Heather by turning up my noise at any kind pattern format, so many a PDF pattern has been assembled on my dining room table.

When I tweet, "Gluing together a PDF pattern," there are always a few people who want to know why the heck I'm gluing instead of taping. Well, gluing seems easier to me and holds up a lot better over time since I keep the hard copy of the pattern intact.  It also makes PDF pattern assembly like first grade cut and paste....ahhh those were the days. So here's a little step by step of how I put together PDF patterns for parties that are interested.  I'll be using Burda 135 during my little tutorial.

These are the supplies I get together for PDF assembly. Self healing cutting mat, razor blade, clear ruler, and  Aleene's Tacky Glue.

I prefer Aleene's Tacky Glue because it dries quickly but still gives you a few minutes to slide around the pieces before it sets up.  It's also is very thick so the paper doesn't get wet making the ink run. It's water soluble for easy clean up but also very sturdy on the paper.

Step 1.  Check to see the pattern to see how many tiles across it's been formatted for. I'm gonna work with one row at a time during the assembly process so I like to know how many pages to pull out at a time.  This Burda pattern is 6 tiles across.

Step 2.  Take all 6 tiles of the first row out of the stack.  The first page leave as is, the rest of the pages cut off the left hand margin with the clear ruler and razor blade. (You can and probably will cut up your plastic ruler doing this so use a crappy one. )

(P.S. This is my favorite kind of formatting for PDF patterns. The tiles are clearly delineated where they begin and end, there is no overlap between tiles.  If you cut off the margins then the pattern pieces will line up correctly.  Burda, Grainline Studios and Victory patterns all use this formatting. There are slight mods on this format that also work, like dotted lines instead of solid and I don't mind if the pattern overlaps outside of the margin.  What I'm saying is pattern designers, don't make it hard for people to assemble your pattern. If you wanted to know what formatting I think you should use, it's this one. Steps off soapbox)

Step 3.  Take the first page and run a line of glue down it's right margin and place the second page so that that pattern seam lines line up.  (Always choose pattern seam lines over any other markers) Continue putting gluing the rest of the tiles in this manner until all 6 tiles are joined.

Step 4.  Take out all the tiles from row two of the pattern, in my case 6.  Leave the first page alone and cut off the left margins on the rest.  If row two of the pattern is below row 1 cut off the bottom margins of ALL the tiles.  If row 2 is above row one then cut off the top margins of ALL the tiles.  (In my Burda example row 1 is the bottom of the pattern and you glue up. This is opposite of most PDF's I've worked with.)

Step 5. Put glue on either the top or bottom margin (depending on which way the pattern is growing) of the first tile of row 1 and place the first tile of row 2 on it.

For the second tile put glue in the right margin and the top/bottom one. Continue gluing in this manner until row 2 is glue together with row 1.

Step 6. Continue cutting off margins and gluing as in the last step until the entire PDF is completed.

Step 7.  Let the glue set up for 5 minutes or so.  Aleene's doesn't take long to dry, just check your pattern if you're using a different kind of glue. Once the glue is dry you can trace or cut out your patterns.

I am a hardcore tracer so once the pattern is copied onto trace paper I roll up the PDF wrapping paper style and put a rubber band on it. While I'm working on fitting the garment the PDF roll will hang around my sewing area in case I need to trace another size for see if any marks were not copied.  Once the fit is finalized the PDF roll gets stored in a closet upstairs until I need it again or it gets smashed to bits.

So that's how PDF's get assembled around here, hope you have enjoyed my anal retentiveness.  So what are your feelings about PDF patterns?