Matching Prints or Plaids

I have had 3 requests, one on my fav sewing site, Stitcher's Guild, and two via email about the method I used to match the print in the jacket that I just finished. Instead of writing it out so many times, or copying/pasting, I decided to put the method here. I will use my jacket (Christine Jonson #519 Swing Jacket) as an example. It has the following:

• front pattern piece with cut on facings and collar
• back pattern piece, cut on the center back
• sleeve pattern piece
• pocket piece (not discussed here)

Here's the method I use to match plaids or prints

1. Trace every single pattern piece--never cut the fabric double, hoping that everything will be all right.
   
2. Place the fabric in a single layer, right side up.
   
3. Place the right front jacket tissue piece on the fabric, right side up, finding the optimal position.
   Optimal position means
   a. Nothing eye-catching over the bust area
   b. Lightest color at shoulder or face level
   c. Strongest element at center front
   
4. Using a soft pencil, trace the print (plaid) pattern onto the right front pattern piece. Be as detailed as necessary. You want to use a marker that doesn't bleed through the tracing paper, hence the pencil.
   
5. Flip the right front tissue pattern piece over and place it over an area of the fabric that is an exact match. Mark that area on the fabric with pins, placing a couple of pins to mark at least two corners of the pattern piece so that you can easily find it. I try not to use a chalk marker since I am working on the right side of the fashion fabric and I never trust chalk to completely come out of the fabric.
   
6. Place the left front tissue pattern piece over the newly located area of matching design and trace the print (plaid) onto it.
   
7. Remove the left front piece and place it over the right front pattern piece, right sides together. Check to ensure that the traced areas are exact mirror images--that they lie on top of one another. Since you cannot do this with the fabric, making sure that the tissue pattern pieces mirror each other is the closest you can get to matching the actual fabric.
   
8. Next take the right sleeve and place it on the fabric so that it shows a continuation of the print/plaid on the right front pattern piece. Trace the print (plaid) onto that pattern piece.
   
9. Repeat steps 6 and 7 with the left sleeve piece.
   
10. Next move to the back piece(s). If there is a center back seam, you can repeat steps 8 and 9 with the back piece, being sure to match at the center back, and trying to match at the shoulder and the side seams as well. If there is no center back seam, you will most likely have to make do with matching the print (plaid) horizontally but perhaps not vertically at the shoulder or at the side seams. If the side seams are angled, it can be particularly difficult to get a match, but it is possible if the repeat is not too large.
    
11. The collar, if there is one, must be matched as well, making certain that the right and left front edges of the collar mirror each other.
    
12. The facings should also be matched using the same method
    

The object of the exercise is that one starts at the center front and works around to the center back, matching as one goes. It is possible to take a shortcut by cutting out the right front piece on the actual fabric, flipping it over, and using it for a pattern for the left front piece, and repeating all the way around to the center back, but that can get tricky with some prints or plaids. For me this easier method works best with regularly spaced plaids with small horizontal and vertical repeats.

For a particularly tricky fabric, like a strong uneven plaid, it is good to trace the lines onto a muslin and sew the muslin together, just to be sure that everything matches well. Prints are a bit more forgiving in this aspect, but lines of a strong plaid, especially if it is uneven, can be demanding.

I think this is a pretty commonly used approach for matching prints or plaids. I can't remember whether I was taught the method, or tumbled to it intuitively. I assume it must be described in many basic sewing manuals, but I am too lazy to research them right now. (smile) However it is, the works pretty well for me.