Pattern Paper overview

I am a member of PatternReview.com. If you don't know about it, you might want to check it out. Members write reviews of patterns and sewing machines. There are occasional fun competitions, it is a great place to buy all brands of patterns and, if you choose, a daily email is sent with updates of all these things along with a discussion board. I look at it everyday. And yesterday someone wrote with questions about where to buy Oak Tag for making patterns. There seemed to be a lot of confusion about what it really is. So I thought I would talk about a variety of paper used for making patterns and why.

Oak Tag is also called Tag Board or Manila.
It is similar to the paper used to make a manila folder, but a bit lighter in weight. It is not the same as poster board.

 In professional sample rooms it is used to make slopers or any other pattern that is going to used again and again. Since it is too thick to pin through, an Oak Tag pattern must be held down with weights and then traced around. When tracing onto fabric, you probably wouldn't use a Sharpie! A pencil or fabric marker are good choices, depending.
These patterns are almost always stored on a rack  ...

like the photo above ... by punching a large hole near one corner ...

and using one of these hangers.

Heavy Kraft paper is sometimes used in place of Oak Tag. This is what we used on the professional costume shops I worked in in New York.
With either Oak Tag or Kraft paper a notcher is really needed. The pattern above is a good example of all the places notches are used. Note that that pattern above has no seam allowance. Couture and a lot of professional costumes are made using patterns like this. Tracing the pattern onto the fabric gives exact stitching lines. The seam allowances need to be added on after tracing and then the piece is cut out.

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These are the tools needed for working with Oak Tag. You can just get a notcher. But, also a tracing wheel with sharp pins for making perforations is good to have as well an an awl and hole punch. 

This is Dot Paper, which is used when working on a design. Many people like the one inch grid made by all these numbers and crosses. This paper is opaque but thin enough to see through, which can make pattern making faster, if you can lay one piece under another to see if seams fit, for example. If the design will only be made a few times this paper is perfect. It is is a design destine for mass production it will be transferred to Oak Tag for tracing onto paper that is laid on stacked fabric then cut with a saw. OR there are probably even newer better ways I don't even know about.

I use poster paper or lightweight drawing paper for almost all the drafting I do. It is similar in weight to Dot Paper, but cheaper and actually I don't like all those dots. You really don't need them if you have a good L-Square ruler.

Here I am about 15 years ago, tracing my working patterns onto the large sheet that will be sent to Simplicity. All paper you see is poster paper, 36" wide. I do it exactly the same today.

My newest discovery (3 years ago) is Medical Exam paper ... the stuff you sit on at the doctor's office. It is almost exactly the same as the tissue paper patterns are printed on, only just stiffer enough to make writing on it pretty easy. I use it when I am reworking or altering a pattern for myself because it is super easy to work with, folds down small for storage and is really cheap, especially if you buy a box of 12 rolls.

$9 for one roll ...
Be sure to get the smooth kind.

$41 for a dozen ... go in with some friends and save money.

I started using it because of the patterning classes I've been teaching lately. This picture shows a sheet of medical paper laid over a print out of a 50% size patterns I use in my classes. Great stuff.

Now I know there are other things people use to make patterns ... Swedish Tracing paper and other sewable materials. But I don't use them, so don't feel I should comment. Please let me know if you use any of these things and what you think of them.

Having rolls of various kinds of paper around can be useful for other things, too.

I use Oak Tag to cover my cutting table. (See picture at the top of my blog page) The kind I get is manilla on one side and pale green on the other. This picture was taken on a day when I was flipping it over for a clean surface.  The costume shops I worked in used Heavy Kraft paper to cover their cutting table. This kind of stuff lasts a long time, but is cheap enough to toss out and replace every so often.

And that Medical Exam paper is good for SO much stuff! I crumple it up for packing material and cut nice even sheets to use inside gift boxes. No one will ever know.