The Impatient Sewist

While developing the skirt pattern for my wedding dress, I had a lot of very big pattern pieces to cut. I’m already not a big fan of cutting pieces, but now each version first required printing 40 pages of paper, sticking them together, cutting the paper and then cutting the fabric!

So I embarked on a journey of project sewing. I bought the AKIYO O1 Portable Projector, a little cheap projector recommended on projectorsewing.com. I had to somewhat procariously mount it on a whiteboard to extend the project over the floor where I wanted to cut. In an ideal situation, the project would cast from the edge of the shelf but I soon reached the limitations of the device.

I also noticed that the edges of the projection were not as sharp as the middle, so I tried to cut in the middle wherever I could.

The projector has to be calibrated every time you set it up in a different position. I drew a 50 x 50 cm square on my laptop which I cast onto the floor, and then measured it. The calibration is then simple: your new zoom % is:

Casting zoom = Current zoom * Casted square size / 50cm

What I learned…

My first day of projector sewing happened to be during a 6-film stars wars marathon, so I had PLENTY of time to cut out pieces. I cut 4 bodice sets for each of my bridesmaids’ dress toiles using the projector, and this is what I learned:

1. Make sure your projector and laptop are SECURE before starting to cut. It’s easy to trip over a wire and mess up your whole calibrated setup…
2. The closer your projector is to the piece, the better the resolution. Therefore for small pieces, set the project up closer to your cutting area.
3. A darker room is (obviously) ideal
4. It’s easier to cut one layer at a time, because once things start sliding it’s difficult to get it back. Trust me, I had cutting pieces and would much rather cut two layers, but in the end it was more hassle than it was worth. Also, I used plenty of weights on my pattern pieces but in the future I want to use magnets to hold down my fabric!