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Getting Your Self-Drafted Sewing Patterns into Illustrator

Getting Your Self-Drafted Patterns into Illustrator

By on November 11, 2013 in Adobe CC Tutorials

You guys. I just started a post with “you guys” which means either hell has frozen over, or you really blew me away last week with your feedback on the first couple Adobe Illustrator tutorials. But seriously, thank you all so much for your kind words and encouragement.

Over the weekend, I created the next tutorial. It shows you how to take hand-drawn, self-drafted patterns and get them all pretty and traced in Illustrator. Several of you complimented me last week on my ability to do a 30-minute tutorial in one take. Well, haha, this week’s took me about 16 tries. You all jinxed me! The combination of my computer battery dying, a couple coughing fits, my runny nose and my husband video bombing me caused it to take all kinds of time to get this one done. But it is done. And I hope you like it.

As always, feel free to ask questions in the comments. I upgraded to Disqus this weekend because although I was responding to everyone’s comments, I wasn’t quite sure if anyone was actually seeing my responses. This should make the whole discussion process a lot better.

Enjoy!

  • Remona Gopaul

    Lauren! Thank you so much for this tutorial. I am just learning and this really helped me. Cant wait for the next one.

    • http://www.laurendahl.com/ Lauren Dahl

      I am so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching. :)

      • Martha McKeon

        Thank you SO much for this, you are totally awesome!

        • http://www.laurendahl.com/ Lauren Dahl

          My pleasure!

  • Mae

    Another great tutorial. I actually have a pattern scanned into my computer already & didn’t know where to go from there. Now I feel really motivated (and excited!) to get into my illustrator and trace it up. I’ll be ready for next week. Thanks so much!

    • http://www.laurendahl.com/ Lauren Dahl

      Yay!! I’m glad I am helping you.

      • Mae

        They are the best. I finished tracing my pattern in less than an hour& only had to refer back to my notes a few times. I’ve NEVER used illustrator before (though I’ve used photoshop quite a bit), but I didn’t expect to be able to learn so fast! The only issue I had was that I created a 45X45in. board to insert my pieces into, but it was way too small. That didn’t seem to be the case with your pattern. Furthermore, mine was a children’s pattern while yours was an adult, so I wouldn’t think that would be the case. It concerned me a little that I had to make my board 200x200in. for everything to fit but I figured for now I’ll practice the tracing and try scanning another pattern later to see if I get the same results. Have you ever had this issue and if so, do you know why my pattern would be so large compared to yours?

        Mae

        • http://www.laurendahl.com/ Lauren Dahl

          Mae – did you scan your pattern as JPG? If so, the resolution might be causing it to pull in bigger than it really is. That’s why I always scan as PDFs. The PDFs usually come in as actual size. Either way, you can simply measure the pattern pieces you have and scale the scans down to the proper size. Go to window –> transform, and it will tell you the dimensions of the pattern pieces you’ve traced. Then, you can measure the widest parts of the scans to scale them. You only need to measure one piece. Then select all your traced pieces and scale them down at once so they’re all at the same proportion. Does that help?

          • Mae

            Yes, they are definitely scanned as a jpeg (yay for amazingly quick problem solving!) & I will use pdf when scanning my pieces in the future. It’s really nice that I can jump on Illustrator and fix the proportions so I can be ready for the next video. Thanks!!

            mae

  • Anne Weaver

    As soon as I can grab 30 minutes to myself, I’m brewing a cup of coffee and watching this video! I’ve got a post scheduled for Craft Gossip tomorrow morning that points to your video: http://sewing.craftgossip.com/video-tutorial-bringing-your-self-drafted-sewing-patterns-into-illustrator/2013/11/12/
    –Anne

    • http://www.laurendahl.com/ Lauren Dahl

      I can’t tell you THANK YOU enough times! The link love you have been sending me is incredible. I really, really appreciate it a thousand (million) times over.

  • http://www.thingsforboys.com/ abby @ thingsforboys

    Just watched this while breastfeeding! So loving these videos. I was able to figure most of this out on my own after watching your first video, but I can’t for the life of me figure out a smart way to split my pattern up into printable pieces for a pdf. Hoping you get to that soon!

    • http://www.laurendahl.com/ Lauren Dahl

      Yes!! It’s easy and fun, and I will get to it soon. :)

      • http://www.thingsforboys.com/ abby @ thingsforboys

        I’m sure you will…just me being impatient! You are a natural at this by the way!

        • http://www.laurendahl.com/ Lauren Dahl

          Wow, what a compliment! Thank you. :)

        • Mae

          I agree, it’s eating at me that I can’t move on because I am loving this video series so much! It’s done SO well.

  • kw

    you rock!! question for you! When I am tracing, it blocks out other parts of the pattern (that have nothing to do with the spot that I am working on) – any idea why and how to fix it?

    • http://www.laurendahl.com/ Lauren Dahl

      It sounds like you simply need to take out the fill color. So in the tools on the left of your screen, make the fill color the white box with the red line in it. Currently, it’s probably white. Does that sound like I’m understanding you correctly?

  • Shaffer Sisters

    Thank you, Thank you for posting these videos. I have about 20 patterns that I need to get traced and graded. I have a small amount of illustrator experience from college, but enough that I have been almost scared to open the program since.

    • Shaffer Sisters

      Are you going to be doing a video about how to draft a pattern piece in illustrator?

      • http://www.laurendahl.com/ Lauren Dahl

        Tell me more about what you mean. I thought that’s what I did already? But do you mean from measurements as opposed to a scan?

        • Shaffer Sisters

          Yes, Measurements as opposed to a scan.

          • http://www.laurendahl.com/ Lauren Dahl

            Perfect – I will put that in the queue. I have a great idea for this one…

  • Jenn AJennuineLife

    Thanks again Lauren!! I was able to follow along and trace a simple pattern I already had as a pdf on my computer. Pattern sales, here I come!

    • http://www.laurendahl.com/ Lauren Dahl

      Wonderful! That makes me so happy!!

  • justine

    Excellent tutorial Lauren. Thank you so much! I think I’ll watch it again while I folow along in Illustrator. I already have my paaterns pieces scanned in

  • http://www.scatteredthoughtsofacraftymom.com/ Jamie

    Thanks so much for this great series. I’ve had illustrator for a while, but no time to learn it. I’ve just been making do with PE. One thing you didnt cover was once you have made the pattern, how to break it back up so each piece can be printed on an 8.5 by 11 sheet of paper. Is there an easy way to do this?
    Thakns,
    Jamie

    • http://www.laurendahl.com/ Lauren Dahl

      Hi there, Jamie! I’m glad you’re enjoying the tutorials. I actually decided to produce a comprehensive course on pattern design. It will be offered through CourseCraft.net, and I hope to have it ready by March 1. It won’t be free, but it will be much cheaper than paying someone else to grade patterns (or never grading them at all!). :) And yes, there is a very easy way to tile the pages. In my course, I’m even giving a downloadable/customizable template for doing so. Stay tuned!

  • Joanna Bostwick

    Enjoy the tutorials! New to illustrator and having trouble with curves etc not being bumpy where the anchor points are after using the handles? how do you fix that?

    • http://www.laurendahl.com/ Lauren Dahl

      Joanna – Sorry it has taken me a while to respond. It really just takes practice, practice, practice!!! Do try holding down the shift key while you pull at the anchors. That will constrain things to a 90-degree angle and it sometimes does the trick. Otherwise, just keep at it!