Tracing Wheels
Tracing wheels come in several shapes. Each has a slightly different purpose. Tracing wheels are used in conjunction with dressmaker's tracing paper to transfer marks from patterns onto fabric. (See this how-to for instructions!)
1. Serrated Tracing Wheel: This one came out of my mom's sewing box. It will make dotted marks on your fabric. This is nice because usually the dotted marks are easier to remove. They can also be used to distinguish cutting lines from sewing lines (see Smooth Edge Tracing Wheel below).
(Some of the newer tracing wheels' teeth aren't as pronounced/sharp, and therefore, don't make as good of a mark, in my opinion, but maybe with the help of my how-to, they'll work fine!)
2. Smooth Edge Tracing Wheel: Another version of a tracing wheel, but when used with dressmaker's tracing paper, this one will create solid lines on your fabric. At first, I thought this tool was useless, until I learned my current method of using tracing wheels. Because it forms a solid line and the serrated tracing wheel forms a dotted line, you can use the different marks to mean different things on your project. For instance, the solid line can be for cutting and the dotted line can be for sewing.
3. Double Tracing Wheel: This wheel with two serrated heads can be used to mark a cutting line and sewing/seam line simultaneously! This little tool can also come in handy when marking decorative stitching. The neatest part is that you can adjust how far apart you'd like the tracing wheels (picture 4) for lots of marking options.
1. Serrated Tracing Wheel: This one came out of my mom's sewing box. It will make dotted marks on your fabric. This is nice because usually the dotted marks are easier to remove. They can also be used to distinguish cutting lines from sewing lines (see Smooth Edge Tracing Wheel below).
(Some of the newer tracing wheels' teeth aren't as pronounced/sharp, and therefore, don't make as good of a mark, in my opinion, but maybe with the help of my how-to, they'll work fine!)
2. Smooth Edge Tracing Wheel: Another version of a tracing wheel, but when used with dressmaker's tracing paper, this one will create solid lines on your fabric. At first, I thought this tool was useless, until I learned my current method of using tracing wheels. Because it forms a solid line and the serrated tracing wheel forms a dotted line, you can use the different marks to mean different things on your project. For instance, the solid line can be for cutting and the dotted line can be for sewing.
3. Double Tracing Wheel: This wheel with two serrated heads can be used to mark a cutting line and sewing/seam line simultaneously! This little tool can also come in handy when marking decorative stitching. The neatest part is that you can adjust how far apart you'd like the tracing wheels (picture 4) for lots of marking options.
Here are what the marks look like on fabric. I used red chalk paper on white fabric, though you probably wouldn't do this in real life, unless you didn't mind potential red stains on your fabric!! The left-most is the double tracing wheel, the middle is the smooth edge tracing wheel, and the right-most is the serrated tracing wheel.
See my how-to on when and how to use these tracing wheels!
See my how-to on when and how to use these tracing wheels!