How to Print a Sewing Pattern at True Size
A sewing pattern only works if it prints at true size. The pattern maker draws every piece at the finished size you typed, with your seam allowance added, and lays the pieces out in one of two ways: tiled across ordinary printer pages that you tape together, or packed onto large sheets for a print shop.
This page explains both, how to check the scale after printing, and what to do if you would rather not print at all.
Open the pattern maker →Printing at home
- Choose A4, US Letter, or A4 + Letter, a page size that prints whole on either sheet, so one file works wherever it is printed.
- Pieces bigger than a page are split across pages. Each page is labelled by row letter and column number and carries alignment marks, and a page map shows how the pages fit together.
- Print at 100%, also called Actual size, with no scaling and no fit-to-page option.
- Tape the pages together following the page map, matching the alignment marks, then cut out the pieces.
Printing at a print shop
Choose A0, A1, A2, 24 × 36″ or a 36″ roll, and the pieces are packed onto as few sheets as they will fit on. Larger patterns, such as blankets and aprons, may need more than one sheet, and if a piece is too big for the sheet you chose the maker says so. The step-by-step instructions come as a separate booklet to print at home, so the big sheets hold only the pattern pieces.
Checking the scale
The cover page carries test squares to measure with a ruler after printing, and the first big print-shop sheet carries one at the top unless you have turned off both the piece labels and the cutting list. If a square is not the size it says, the printer has scaled the page: print again at 100%.
Sizes are typed in centimetres, millimetres or inches, and the print scale is exact: a 10 cm line prints as 10 cm. (For garments, hats and gloves the size is your measurements plus ease, so the pieces are drawn from those.) Printers differ, which is why the test square is there.
What is in the PDF
A cover, the cutting list, the materials list, step-by-step instructions, the page map and the pattern pages. An SVG of the pieces can be downloaded as well.
Marks and seam allowance
Notches, grainline, fold lines, dots and placement marks, piece labels and the stitching line each switch on or off, so a pattern can be as busy or as plain as you like.
Seam allowance is printed by default: cut on the solid line and sew on the dashed line. It can be left off, in which case the pattern shows only the stitching line, and the cutting list gives the size to cut with the allowance added to rectangles and straight-edged pieces; for curved pieces, add the allowance yourself.
Sewing without printing
Plain rectangles and strips are listed in the cutting list with the exact size to cut, seam allowance included, so a ruler and a rotary cutter are enough. Some patterns are made of rectangles and strips only, and for those the cutting list is all you need. Shaped pieces, such as curves, sleeves and darts, are easier to cut from the printed pattern.
Are the patterns tested?
The pieces are worked out from the finished size, your seam allowance and the closures you choose, and the instructions are written for the options you pick. No pattern has been test-sewn yet: they are checked by automated geometry audits instead. Treat each pattern as a starting point, change it to suit what you are making, and sew a test in scrap fabric before you cut your good fabric.
Frequently asked questions
How do I print a sewing pattern at home?
Print the PDF at 100% (Actual size) on A4 or US Letter pages, or on the A4 + Letter size that prints on either. Pieces bigger than a page are split across labelled pages with alignment marks, and a page map shows how to tape them together.
How do I check that it printed at the right size?
Measure the test square on the cover page with a ruler. On a print-shop sheet, measure the one at the top of the first sheet. If it is not the size it says, print again at 100% with no scaling.
Do I have to print the pattern?
Not for plain rectangles and strips: the cutting list gives each size to cut, with seam allowance included. Shaped pieces, such as curves, sleeves and darts, are easier to cut from the printed pattern.
Which print-shop sizes can I choose?
A0, A1, A2, 24 × 36″ or a 36″ roll. The pieces are packed onto as few sheets as they will fit on (a piece too big for the sheet is flagged), and the instructions come as a separate booklet to print at home.