Hey sweetie!
It's great to have you here!
Nice to meet.
First of all, I want to say that the assembly of my pattern sheets is a little different from other sellers.
I have been trying for a long time to find the easiest way to print and bind the sheets. Read the instructions on how to put them together for a good experience and sewing patterns.
If you are completely new to PDF pattern printing, I highly recommend you read everything below.
If it's not the first time, the most important thing is that when connecting my patterns, you don't need to cut anything or put the leaves on top of each other, you just need to lay the edges of the sheets next to each other and stick them with tape.
Example.
So if you are new then read everything below, there are good tips and tricks to use PDF sewing patterns
How to Open Your PDF Pattern
FIND & OPEN ZIP FILE
All our PDF patterns come in a ZIP file. This is a type of file that bundles other files together, like a little digital package. Using a ZIP file means you can download all of the files with one click, rather than having to download files separately.
To open the ZIP file, find where it downloaded on your computer. Usually, our files download into Downloads folder, or on Desktop.
CAN'T FIND?
If you can’t find the ZIP file in either of those places, try searching for it in your file browser. Write your pattern name. (ex.: LEKA17 )
UNZIP
Double click to unzip the ZIP file—you’ll see a folder pop up with several files inside it. Keep in mind that tablets and phones are not able to open ZIP files, so you must do this on a computer or laptop!
Saving Your PDF Pattern
STORE YOUR PATTERNS
First things first—let’s get this baby into a more permanent location, so that we don’t forget about it and delete it later by accident. I recommend making a folder on your computer where you will store all of your digital sewing patterns—you can name them “Sewing Patterns”.
Drag or move the folder of the pattern you just downloaded out of the downloads folder or desktop and into your special sewing folder.
We also encourage you to back up your sewing pattern files by storing them on a cloud-based storage service like Google Drive or Dropbox—that way, if anything happens to your computer at any point, you won’t lose your patterns.
What’s Inside the PDF Pattern Folder?
Let’s take a look at what’s inside folder that we just downloaded and moved into our sewing folder.
Booklet: Everything that you will need, all relevant information about your garment.
A4 and U.S. letter size patterns: You’ll notice that there are A4 size and U.S letter size print at home - These files contain the pattern pieces, divided out into smaller pieces of paper that your home printer can handle. You must select the paper size you are using.
Also A0 size - These files contain the pattern pieces as well, but they’re laid out on large documents designed for large-format printers! You’ll notice that the copy shop and A0 files are also separated out by cup size.
Printing a Test Page
CHOOSE YOUR PAPER SIZE
So, now you have to found your paper size and open it.
PRINT FIRST PAGE
PDF patterns usually include a test square so that you can check that you’re printing at the right scale before printing off your entire pattern. On LEKA patterns, this test square appears on the first page of the pattern.
Let’s look at the printer settings we want to use. The most important thing to look for is scaling. Printers often try to “help” by resizing a document to fill the entirety of a page, but this causes distortion and we definitely don’t want that! We want to make sure all of the pieces are printing exactly to size, so that we don’t end up with extra big or extra small pieces.
The easiest way to make sure your printer is maintaining the proper scale is to select the “no scaling” or “custom scale=100%” option.
Finally, set your page range to “1” so that only the first page prints for now.
And let’s hit print to get that first page printed.
CHECK TEST SQUARE
We want to check with a ruler that our test square is indeed 1.9” by 1.9” (5 cm by 5 cm). If it’s bigger or smaller than 1.9”, something went wrong in the scaling, so go back and check the printing settings.
Printing the PDF Pattern
If our test square printed to scale, we can use the same settings to print out the rest of the pattern. The only thing we’ll do differently this time is to set our page range to start at 2 through the last page in the document, or just choose all pages.
And now we wait for the rest to print out!
Assembling the PDF Pattern
Once all of the pages are printed out, we’ll need to tape the pages together. We’re essentially assembling the equivalent of a printed tissue page. Look for the connecting photo in the your patterns size folder for how to do this.
CONNECTING
For all LEKA patterns, we use a system where each column of pages has a number (1, 2, 3…) and each row of pages has a letter (A, B, C…). Even if you don’t have the print layout in front of you, the page labels will clue you in as to how the pages should be laid out.
TAPE IT
Now we need to tape the pieces together.
IMPORTANT !
You don't need nothing to cut or put on top of each other.
YOUR SIZE
Check your size - size chart, and then find out your size line in the test square.
CUT OUT YOUR PATTERNS
And there is two ways get your pattern:
First - just cut your size out.
2. Second - I recommend - to cut the largest size, and......
... surround your size line using greenhouse film, baking paper or other transparent material.
and cut your details.
And there you have it! Your pattern pieces are ready to go, and you’re ready to start your project.
TIP
You can simply organize your patterns by using the first page of the booklet and sticking it to A4 envelope. Fold the pattern pieces nicely and store them in the envelopes.
Got questions?
We hope this answered most of the questions you have about printing PDF patterns at home, but if not, write to us info.lekapatterns@gmail.com