How I assemble PDF Patterns

8.21.2013

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?

22 comments:

  1. Having a serious duh moment here - why have I never thought to use an xacto to cut off those darn edges?! I always use scissors and my edges get all woobly and it takes ages! Brilliant and I can't wait to try it with my recently downloaded Lady Skater PDF! Thanks so much for the great tip. Oh and I use my kids glue sticks- its purple so it's easy to see, and the perfect width.

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  2. You have made it seem so simple. I stupidly trimmed all the tiles down and then sellotape them but the overlapping process seems so much easier

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  3. I have one of those paper slicers from Hobby Lobby, but this is pretty close to the method I use. I might have to try the Aleene's glue though, I use glue sticks but it seems like a good sized pattern uses a whole darn stick!!


    I really wish that I still had access to a plotter though, that made it so much easier...

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  4. Great post! Part of me loves piecing PDF patterns together, but another part of me loathes it. I usually use tape with overlapping, but next time I think I will try this glue route. I also then cut my pattern, which I now realise is stupid is as stupid does! Tracing and rolling is the future! Oh and I think you should do more posts like this but in video format where you're our hawt teacher!

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  5. i generally do the overlap and tape, but i may try glueing next time! i never even thought to leave the whole paper intact like that--i usually cut around each piece then trace off the size i need. great ideas here!

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  6. I use the same cutting technique but then put everything together using tape... But I don't trace pdf-patterns, I just cut, cut, cut away...

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  7. Wow, that is great! I think I'm going to try this next time. Yea for having more junk lying around the house.
    AGH You did it again, Heather! :)

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  8. I love the instant gratification of pdfs, but HATE putting them together (I've had the Bombshell and Lady Skater patterns printed off forever, but not assembled). I use the overlap method, but with scissors and tape. I think the razor and glue method would be much faster. Thanks for posting this!

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  9. Hey you're brain just told you to cut paper with scissors. Totally understandable. :) Hope xacto knifing the edges of your Lady Skater goes well!

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  10. I admit part of it is laziness but I do think makes the finished giant piece of paper hold together better. :)

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  11. A paper slicer would be awesome! So would a plotter. Wish I could send PDF's back to my 20 year old self that worked at a place with a plotter.

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  12. Be like me Clare! No wait, don't be like me cause I like you how you are now. I like your idea of video posts. Wonder if I can do that with just me and my camera tripod. Should do some tests.

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  13. Thank you. I have cut around pieces for PDF's that are very large and maybe don't create a nice rectangle when finished. Then I sack them and roll them up similarly.

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  14. Hee hee, I picture you cutting with abandon. I can't cut any pattern, but will not impose my tracing religion on others. ;)

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  15. Thanks Em, but if you stop visiting my blog I will understand. (She makes me buy all the stuff. NOOOOOOO)

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  16. Thanks Shar! I can tell you that the Lady Skater goes together pretty quick. Didn't buy the bombshell (because I don't swim) so I don't know who big that one is.

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  17. Hehe, If I stop reading now then how will I get my daily dose of laughs?

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  18. ;) Maybe I'll have to email you random thoughts. Like "Deep Thoughts" with Heather.

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  19. Aww, thanks. I think I'll keep trying to read this for now. I think of it as building self control. That's good right?

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  20. Oh my goodness... I've done a couple using sticky tape and hated it! So fiddly and awkward! Your method looks much easier, and it makes so much sense to use glue. Doh! I'm definitely going to do that next time - I have a couple of pdf patterns here that I've been procrastinating on because I didn't want the fuss of putting them together. Thank you so much!

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  21. I like it! Will try on my next download. (I'm glad you also trace... from a fellow anal retentive :-) )

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  22. Just bought it and it is 32 pages. Border at the right and bottom to be trimmed and overlapped, as you describe. Going to try sewing it this week, ready for summer

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