[benchracer1]

I recently finished a set of toyaota seats and for the patterns i cut up the old seats and mad the patterns out of the parts. I now am trying to do my chevy blazer seats and want to make the patterns without cutting up the covers. What is a good thing to use for pattern material? I have found newspaper and white sheets easy to mark with some accuracy. Any other thought? What do you guys in the industry use?.......Steve

[gearjammer38]

what patterns are you talking about? i cant really help you from what you've said

[Coodeville]

Wouldn't it be great if thee was a supplier/company out there that made patterns. i'd get one for my Caddy.

[slodat]

I use clear vinyl from. Lay it on and draw the pattern on the vinyl with alignment marks, seams, etc.

[DanTwoLakes]

I make all my cutting patterns from thin cardboard, after I have cut them out of fabric first and fine tuned them to fit correctly. Check out this thread: CLICK HERE It's much easier to trace around the patterns when they can't be stretched or otherwise distorted. A lot of patterns are just different sized rectangles, and only require measurements, not patterns.

[benchracer1]

where I seem to be having some difficulty is trying to make a pattern for something that has a compound curve or anything other than flat. I tried using chipboard, obviously too thick. The clear vynil works and I am planning on using that for my chevy blazer for a few parts. when you say thin cardboard how thin are we talking, maybe constuction paper?

[Coodeville]

Try posterboard

[DanTwoLakes]

Originally Posted by benchracer1

where I seem to be having some difficulty is trying to make a pattern for something that has a compound curve or anything other than flat. I tried using chipboard, obviously too thick. The clear vynil works and I am planning on using that for my chevy blazer for a few parts. when you say thin cardboard how thin are we talking, maybe constuction paper?

The cardboard I am talking about is about .030 thick. It's the thickness of the cardboard on the back of a tablet of paper. All your patterns should be flat, you can't cut a 3 dimensional compound curve out of fabric.

Clear vinyl as a pattern is a waste of clear vinyl, and it's not cheap. It also won't hold it's shape when traced.