Category Archives: Guides

Tracing wheels do not all make the same mark. Practical sewing advice, useful checks and related tools from Eight Needles.

A useful pattern copy includes more than the outline. Practical sewing advice, useful checks and related tools from Eight Needles.

Draping tape makes reference lines visible on a dress form. Practical sewing advice, useful checks and related tools from Eight Needles.

A tape case is most useful when it helps you identify and retrieve the right tape quickly.

Weights hold a pattern from above; pins fasten layers together. Practical sewing advice, useful checks and related tools from Eight Needles.

A curved seam should be measured along the line that will actually be sewn. Practical sewing advice, useful checks and related tools from Eight Needles.

A shaped ruler offers a family of curves, not a complete pattern solution. Practical sewing advice, useful checks and related tools from Eight Needles.

Ruler materials change what you can see and feel while working. Practical sewing advice, useful checks and related tools from Eight Needles.

Some tape measures leave material before the zero mark; others begin their scale at the end.

The right ruler length depends on the space around your pattern as much as the pattern itself.