10 January 2011

Plaid matching ... sorta

I'm a bit slow to get moving this morning.  Maybe I need more coffee, or maybe it's because I sound like a bowl of Rice Crispies trying to move around.  My son celebrated his snow day off school by sleeping in ... and since he's finally up and moving I guess I should make an attempt at moving around myself.

I had to wait my turn for the dryer yesterday, and while I did get the wool run through the dryer with a hot wet towel ... I didn't layout the pattern pieces are do any cutting.  However I have started that this morning:
Maybe I'm just not feeling too adventurous this morning.  Or maybe my cheap gene is telling me the $1/yd cotton print plaid would be better to do full plaid-matching than this lovely $8/yd wool ... but I am only matching horizontally, using a very convenient shorten/lengthen line on the pattern that is consistent on all pieces just 1 inch above the waistline (which is only marked on the front piece anyway).  I've lined all the pieces up so that one white yarn is centered between the s/l lines on the pattern ... which also required a bit of gentle tugging on the fabric to get it as straight as I am going to accomplish this morning.  I even drew a blue arrow at the top of the pic to point out the lines and white yarn, but the tip of the arrow is a bit off.

I've read that plaid matching is best accomplished by cutting out single thickness, but my Thursday evening deadline is roaring up on me fast.  I have plenty of cheaper plaids to work out the details ... if I'm honest about it, I simply have plenty of plaids.  I do love plaids, so at some point in the near future I will get a better handle on matching these plaids both ways.

Caffeine, nicotine, and sugar are my usual methods of motivation in the morning ... and today breakfast was a piece of my birthday cake from last night, so it's definitely "one of those mornings".  If you have useful tips on plaid matching, feel free to leave them here ... and I'll refer back to them when I am in a more cheerful mood.

Another tip from my "Thank you, Sgt Obvious" file: spellcheck function catches typos.  Who'd've thunk it?

5 comments:

glorm said...

Good idea for using the line on the pattern pieces to line up the horizontal plaid.

There are several "rules" for matching plaids which you can learn as you progress. There is one I would suggest that you use now. There is a vertical plaid near the center front of your vest. Try to get a vertical plaid in the same area of the other center front. (A little easier to do when cutting in a single layer.) Otherwise, it will look wonky to the eye.

dfr2010 said...

Uhhh ... I just finished cutting it all out. LOL I am pretty sure this is an even plaid, as everything lines up top and bottom both ways, so (in theory) I should have a "mirror" effect in front. Unless the button overlap messes that up ... I'll find out after I turn it.

Anonymous said...

It's not an even plaid, there's about a 1.5" difference between the vertical and horizontal repeats. ("even" does refer to the plaid being the same vertically and horizontally, right?)
Looks great!

dfr2010 said...

It isn't even? That much diff? Uhhh ... guess we're both headed to google, because I forgot to bookmark the article I found a few months back on plaids and plaid matching.

If it's actually uneven, then I guess I just got lucky. Eh, I'll take it! LOL

dfr2010 said...

After a bit of Googling ... this will require its own page! Stay tuned ...