Tracing and Prewashing: Preparing for Scirocco by Figgy

Prewashing:  A lot of people ask me about prewashing fabric. I must admit I personally have a very lazy approach because I do not dry the clothes I make for myself. Also, it is very convenient for me to pick out fabric at the shop and just start cutting.
I have learned with the few children's clothes patterns I have done that it is a good idea to prewash. I always dry her clothes and I've already had to tackle a few tough stains so I prewashed this fabric. A tip I can give you for prewashing is to serge (if you have a serger) or zig zag the raw edge before you wash your fabric. This will help with the unraveling and save you about an inch of fabric.


Tracing Patterns:  Another thing I always do with children's patterns is trace them. Brealyn grows so quickly I do not want to buy a new pattern every time I want to remake a project. Patterns for myself I have always just cut out with the hope I will never grow ;).  I have found just using freezer paper from your local grocer is the best way to trace patterns. It's cheap and you can even iron the pieces to the fabric which can make for a quick cut out. You can also "rub" the pattern onto the tracing paper, this works with most patterns. What I mean by "rub" is that with wax side down you can rub the freezer paper over the pattern with an eraser or the end of your seam ripper and the ink will transfer onto the wax side of the freezer paper. I do suggest writing the name of the pattern piece, the size, and any markings with a pen. Also, make sure to transfer the grain line or fold lines with a pen and a straight edge.