Make a master pattern list to organize your sewing

A pattern for this banner takes many pieces and many different fabrics. Time spent now makes sure you won’t be slowed down later by mistakes. One wallhanging I made a while back for a design competition had pattern pieces numbering into the triple digits.  Don’t worry. This design is not as complex.

A master pattern list helped then and I swear by them. It's time well spent to make this list.  

Write down all the pattern pieces. As you audition and make decisions about fabrics you can keep a swatch glued here. You will take this list with you when you go shopping.

Begin to look at your design three-dimensionally.

Which elements are in the background and which are in the foreground?

How many pieces are in each design element?

Organize the list according to design elements. In this design the long wisps of smoke coming from the embers of a dying fire lay on top of the fabrics representing the courtyard and hills beyond. Each smoke wisp has three or four pattern pieces. Number each one, Smoke A1, A2, A3, . . . I then go on to the other smoke elements, the hills, the courtyard arch, etc. Each is numbered on the main pattern, the small sketch, and the list. As each pattern piece is cut I check it off and stow it in a baggie. Each design group has its own baggie.

It’s at this time I begin to get a sense of the colors and textures for the fabrics I will use.

Which pattern pieces use the same fabric? Indicate this on the list. Try to avoid too many different fabrics in the design. Repetition ties elements together. Fewer fabrics can strengthen a design. Use fabrics intentionally.

Now take some quick measurements. Mark the longest measurement for each pattern piece on the list. This measurement and the number of pieces that use each fabric help approximate the yardage you will need to buy.

Keep this list near as you proceed to the next step, Making the Pattern. Mark any changes on your list before you head off to the store.