Anyways, prior to class I had read that sewers use tailor's chalk. I bought the thin triangle of chalk and brought it to class. It was impossible because it was always breaking, the line was uneven, and it pulled at the fabric!
The teacher suggested whittling a piece of soap to make marks. She made it look so easy, but I am lazy. On to the next option!
I found tons of fabric pens, some with disappearing ink, at my local store. However, I had read horror stories about the ink bleeding through, reappearing, or staining the fabric. Nope!
Then, I read about this: the Chakoner!
It's basically a rotating wheel on the bottom, which dispenses chalk powder in a fine, fine line! The top has a brush to dust away the lines, and the brush lifts out for refilling.
Also, it's in a super cute heart because it's made in Japan. They looove cutesy stuff. Oh, and so do I. :)
Check out this perfect dart I marked!
It was just a couple of swipes, and perfect lines without pulling at the fabric!
Very helpful for situations where you have tons of pleats to mark...
Side note: This skirt had five separate panels to pleat (this shows just 2.5 because I folded the top one). I was all ready to mark my pattern through the entire Downton Abbey finale, but I finished in 20 minutes!
Honestly, I'm super excited about this tool because my two least favorite parts about sewing are cutting and marking. I'm almost more excited to mark my patterns than I am to sew. Wait a second... no, I'm not!
Do you have any favorite sewing tools out there?
Glad to find another SoCal sewing friend! What a super cool tool! I might have to find one of those - cutting and marking are my least favorite steps as well!
ReplyDeleteI know! Now that I have my homemade pattern weights and this tool, cutting and marking will be sooo much easier! I think I found on Etsy, but honestly I'm not positive.
DeleteSometimes it's hard to be a sewer in SoCal because our winter season is so short and I love cold weather garments. But I shouldn't complain too, too much since we get more time to wear our summer dresses!
So funny. I bought a Chakoner but haven't used it yet. Thank you for reminding me that I have one! I'm going to need to do some major marking on my next few projects. Now I'm actually excited about it. :)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite tool is my little orange thread snipper. My machines have thread cutters, but nothing works as well as my little snipper to keep everything neat.
You will be so happy! It takes about 10 seconds to figure out how to use it, and then you'll be marking like a pro.
DeleteI agree about the thread snippers. I don't use my machine's cutter at all!
I purchased one a few days ago, but still waiting to receive it. I recently started using chalk, before I was using disappearing ink pens, but I find that I love the chalk markers even more.
ReplyDeleteI love it so much. Let me know how it compares to the ink pens, I'll be interested to see how it fares!
DeleteOh I'm sold on the chalk wheel! :) The only reason I purchased the chakoner was because the one I'd bought from JoAnn Fabrics was starting to crack. I'd only purchased it two days before. My chakoner arrived yesterday. I'm going to use it today. I have a few additional costumes to make for a play, so might as well use the chakoner, right?
DeleteI've read that some people had issues with the disappearing ink pens bleeding through their fabric or not disappearing, but that hasn't happened with me (at least not yet). But I must admit I love the chalk wheel much better. I've used disappearing ink pens for over twenty years. (In my early sewing days I used a plain pencil).
I can't imagine having to use a pencil to mark because the ones I tried didn't mark well enough, or wouldn't wash out!
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