I realised that if I want to do proper dressmaking, especially when I’ll probably have to alter patterns, I’d need a board to do it on. I looked at the cardboard ones like this, then realised that for around £15 – £20, a bit of cardboard with some markings wasn’t very good value. I also knew that I’d probably break it pretty quickly.
I had a think, and realised the answer. I visited a hardware shop, and found a nice big (160cm x 120cm) piece of 3mm thick MDF for just under £5. Perfect. I got out my really long ‘joke’ Christmas present (a steel metre rule), my set square, my pencil and my sharpies.
I measured every 5cm along the top and sides of the board with a pencil, then drew on a grid with a black sharpie. I then drew the lines in with a black sharpie, making everything was straight and lined up. I then numbered each line.
I’m currently debating if this is enough, or whether I should also add 1cm lines in a different colour. Then, if I felt like it, I could add various useful angle lines such as 45 degrees. For now I’m going to leave it with the 5cm grid, then I can add things as I find them useful.
It was really easy, if a little time consuming to draw everything on accurately, but it was definitely worth it as I now have a nice, sturdy dressmaking board to use both for tracing/altering patterns, and cutting fabric so I don’t destroy the floor.
Sorry about the picture. It’s really hard to take good pictures of big things when there isn’t a great deal of natural light! Also, it’s my fault it looks slanted. It isn’t really.