What Is Sewing Pattern Printing?

Anyone who’s getting into the world of making clothes will soon come across sewing patterns. There are numerous resources online where you can find patterns, both free and paid-for, of varying quality. 

While those patterns are fun to look at online to get inspiration, to actually use them, you’ll need a physical, life-size copy. In this article, we explore exactly what sewing pattern printing is with the PlanPrinting24 team. 

What are sewing patterns?

A sewing pattern is a physical guide which helps you turn fabric into pieces of clothing. Essentially, it’s a template which contains all the information you need, from which cuts to make to where you should sew the seams. Good patterns should contain details which allow you to make modifications so that they can fit a wide range of sizes, shapes and fits.

A sewing pattern will include a collection of flat panels which you will attach to the fabric, allowing you to draw around them and then cut out the desired shape. This is the most important part that needs to be printed, as without it, cutting the correct pieces of fabric will be impossible.

How do you print sewing patterns?

When you buy a sewing pattern, especially if purchased online, you’ll likely receive a digital copy of the pattern. This should provide several different printing size options, including A4, US letter, and occasionally A0. Which of these you’ll use to print your pattern depends on the printer that you have available for use, and on how much additional work you’re willing to do.

Professionally printed

In some cases, you’ll need to print patterns in A0. It’s the biggest universal printing format that you can get, and will generally need to be printed with a large, professional printer. 

While it’s obviously less hassle to print a whole pattern on one large sheet of paper rather than printing multiple pages and assembling them, if you want to do the whole process at home, you probably won’t mind a little extra work.

In some cases where the pattern is huge, and you’d need to print a massive number of A4 sheets just to make one template, then it might be worth getting it printed professionally in A0. 

At home

Most home printers print up to A4, unless you have a more industrial, professional printer. Before you print your patterns out, you’ll want to make sure that you have the format set to whatever size your printer can handle – likely A4. 

Make sure that you select a custom scale at 100%, so that the printer actually uses the size the file contains.

If the pattern isn’t exactly the right size, you’ll end up with clothes which are too small or too large, potentially even warped in a way that you can’t sew them. 

To combine the different sheets into one large template, you’ll have to cut the sheets on the dotted line (if provided) and then tape them together. Then, you’re ready to go!

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