How to Use Swedish Tracing Paper for Pattern Matching - Dressmaking Tutorial

Pattern matching can feel a little intimidating when you first start sewing garments, especially when working with bold prints, stripes or embroidered fabrics. But taking a little extra time when cutting out can make such a difference to the finished look of a handmade garment and help give it a much more professional finish.

In this tutorial, I’m sharing how I use Patterntrace Swedish Tracing Paper to help with pattern matching when cutting out dressmaking projects. The semi-transparent nature of the tracing paper makes it much easier to see the fabric design underneath, helping you line up motifs, stripes and embroidered details more accurately before cutting into your fabric.

For this example, I’m using the Closet Core Azure Top with a fold over button band hack at the front, sewn in a beautiful Fabric Godmother embroidered fabric. Both the pattern and fabric are available from the Guthrie & Ghani website, and I’ll also link to the separate tutorial showing how I created the button band hack used in this project.

In the step-by-step photos below, I’ll show you exactly how I position the pattern pieces, use the tracing paper to visualise the design placement and work out how to match the fabric across key areas of the garment.

Start with the centre front neckline

When pattern matching a print, stripe or embroidered design on a dressmaking project, I recommend starting with the most visible part of the garment first.

In many cases, this will be the centre front neckline, as it tends to be one of the first areas people notice when looking at a garment. When planning your design placement, remember to take the neckline seam allowance into account, as the visible edge of the garment will sit slightly inside the cut edge of the fabric.

In this example, the garment has a centre front button band, so the centre front line becomes the starting point for pattern matching. On the finished garment, this line sits directly in the middle of the visible button band, making it an important area to consider when deciding where you would like the fabric design to sit.

Cut out on the single layer

One of the great benefits of tracing your pattern onto Patterntrace Swedish Tracing Paper is that you can easily see through it when positioning your pattern pieces and preparing to cut out your fabric. This makes it much easier to select exactly which part of the design you would like to feature on your finished garment.

In this example, I chose to position the large palm tree motif centrally below the neckline. This means that once the neckline binding has been applied and the garment is finished, the full palm tree will still be visible and become a focal point of the design.

Using the centre front line as my guide, I pinned the front bodice pattern piece in place, making sure it followed the same part of the fabric repeat all the way down the garment.

To help with matching the design when cutting the second side of the bodice, I also traced part of the palm leaf motif directly onto the pattern piece. This provides a useful reference point when positioning the pattern later and helps ensure the design aligns accurately across the centre front button band.

Flip the pattern piece over to cut the other bodice

To cut the second side of the front bodice, flip the pattern piece over and once again use the centre front line as your main reference point. Position the pattern so that the same part of the fabric repeat runs along the centre front line, mirroring the placement of the first bodice piece.

In this example, I also used the outlines of the palm leaves that I had traced onto the pattern piece to help check that everything was aligned correctly. This made it much easier to position the pattern accurately and ensure the design would match across the button band once sewn.

When pattern matching in this way, you will often end up with a mirror image of the design and it can result in a little more fabric wastage. However, taking the time to be precise during the cutting out stage means that when you come to sew and construct the garment, the design should naturally fall into place and match up with minimal adjustment.

Pattern matching across the side seams

The next area I like to consider is the side seam where the front and back bodices join. Depending on the design and repeat of your fabric, it may not always be possible to achieve a perfect match, but it’s worth taking a look. If your fabric has motifs, stripes or embroidered elements that run horizontally across the fabric, matching these across the side seam can help create a more cohesive finished garment.

In this example, I have drawn the outline of the palm tree motif that sits next to the side seam onto my pattern piece. This gives me a useful reference point when positioning the back bodice pattern piece and helps me line up the design as accurately as possible before cutting.

Just as with the centre front, taking a little extra time at the cutting out stage can make a big difference to the finished garment and helps the design flow more naturally across the seams once everything is sewn together.

Cutting out the back bodice

To help the fabric design flow smoothly from the front bodice into the back, I used the front bodice pattern piece as a reference when positioning the back bodice.

I lined up the outline of the palm tree that I had previously drawn onto the front bodice pattern piece, ensuring it matched the corresponding motif on the fabric. I then used a ruler along the hemline to help position the back bodice pattern piece and check that the same part of the design repeat would continue across the side seam.

This extra step helps create a more cohesive look and gives the impression that the fabric design flows naturally around the garment rather than stopping abruptly at the seams.

Consider the centre back line

The final thing I like to check is what part of the fabric repeat will sit along the centre back line. In most cases, I find it works best to centre the design here so that the pattern feels balanced across the back of the garment.

Doing this may mean that the design doesn't match perfectly at the side seams, but the repeat should still flow nicely from front to back, which is often more important than achieving an exact match.

Just as with the front bodice, I recommend cutting the back on a single layer of fabric. Once you have cut the first half, flip the pattern piece over and use the centre back line as your reference point to cut the second half. This helps create a symmetrical layout and keeps the design balanced across the centre back seam.

Continue with construction

Once you have all your pieces cut out, simply continue with the construction of your garment as normal. If you've taken the time to position everything carefully during the cutting out stage, you should find that the pattern naturally matches up in those key areas as the garment comes together.

If needed, you can make small adjustments during construction, such as slightly tweaking seam allowances or pressing lines, to help refine the pattern matching even further. Sometimes just a millimetre or two can make all the difference to achieving a really polished finish.

Your cart

Your cart is empty