Before embarking upon any dressmaking project it is important to ensure that your finished garment will be the right size and shape to fit you comfortably - the best way to achieve this is to work with a pattern. You can either work with a commercial pattern bought from a fabric store or your own handmade pattern - whichever you choose it is important to ensure that you have to hand the correct Haberdashery items for pattern work: Dressmaking Pins - a handy item of Haberdashery for ensuring that your pattern stays in place when you are cutting your fabric. We carry a wide range of dressmaking pins in a variety of sizes suitable for use with many different kinds of dressmaking fabric. Some dressmakers like to use a smaller metal headed pin such as our prym dressmakers pins whilst others prefer a coloured pin with a larger head circumference so they can be easily identified when tacked onto your fabric. We also carry a range of speciality dressmaking pins for specific tasks such as quilting pins and bridal and lace pins. Tailors Chalk - one of the best selling items in our Haberdashery collection, tailors chalk is an inexpensive tool but is priceless for ensuring accurate marking out prior to cutting fabric. Our Haberdashery department stock tailors chalk in a variety of colours as well as in pencil form. Dressmaking Rulers - the first rule of dressmaking is "measure twice, cut once" nobody wants to waste their beautiful fabrics and ruin their project before it has begun. Precise measuring leads to precise cutting which is why it is particularly important to ensure that you are using the correct tool to accurately measure your fabric prior to taking your scissors to it. For this task, our Haberdashery department recommend our selection of dressmaking rulers which make it easy to mark recurring spacers to measure hem allowances, button holes and pleats. We carry a fantastic range of dressmaking rulers suitable for left and right handed dressmakers.