Saturday, November 2, 2013

Cool New Measuring Tools


Two years ago, in November 2011, I blogged about two great new seam allowance rulers I had purchased. One is for adding a 3/8" seam allowance and the other for adding a 5/8" seam allowance to your patterns.

Well, the inventor, Claire Tharp, continues to improve upon her tools for us sewists and to invent new ones.

She has developed new versions of her seam allowance rulers. These new rulers, which come in both 5/8" and 3/8" versions, have a wide variety of curves that you can match up to any curve on your pattern. The following video slide show, from her website, shows how to use one of her rulers:

One of her new tools has me very excited – a measuring wheel!!

This wheel, which comes in both metric and imperial versions, can be used to quickly and accurately measure curved seams. No more turning a tape measure on one edge to measure an armhole, or a sleeve cap. (And then repeating the process a few times because the tape measure slipped.)

If you want to copy RTW garments, it is so easy to whisk this wheel along a curved seam to determine its length.

I have a RTW coat that I want to copy, and this is going to be SO useful!

The following video slide show (from her website) shows how the wheel works. This demo shows the metric version.

This next video shows how to measure an armhole using the imperial version of the measuring wheel (after marking the seam line using her curved ruler):

I also see that she has posted a 20% off coupon on her website. You can purchase these tools via her Etsy store, SA Curve.

I've never met Claire in person, but I feel like I know her through Pattern Review. It's nice to support a fellow sewist!