digitizemypattern
Sign in Upload a photo
A worn tissue pattern on a home sewing table

Home / Who it's for / Home sewing and quilting

For home sewing and quilting

Save the pattern
before it tears.

The tissue you borrowed. The block your grandmother cut. The favourite you have traced so many times the edges have gone soft. One photo, and it prints at exactly the right size this year and in ten years.

Save a pattern See how it comes out
Prints at true size Works on your phone Cricut and Silhouette
PRINTS AT TRUE SIZE·NO ACCOUNT NEEDED·WORKS ON A PHONE·CRICUT & SILHOUETTE·KEEP IT FOREVER· PRINTS AT TRUE SIZE·NO ACCOUNT NEEDED·WORKS ON A PHONE·CRICUT & SILHOUETTE·KEEP IT FOREVER·

What this actually solves

Three ordinary problems with paper patterns, and what happens to each of them.

BORROWED

You have to give it back

A pattern lent by a friend or a guild goes home again. Photograph the pieces and you keep a copy that prints at the right size, without tracing the whole thing onto tissue first.

WORN OUT

The paper is falling apart

Tissue tears, tape yellows, folds turn into holes. Once the shape is a file, the fragile original can go back in the envelope for good.

MACHINES

Your cutter needs a file

A Cricut or Silhouette will happily cut the piece, but only from a file. This gives you one without drawing it in design software.

Before and after

Real photo · real trace · nothing retouched

BEFOREA pattern piece on a dark cloth with a sheet of paper beside it
Lay the piece on something darker than the paper and put one sheet of printer paper next to it.
AFTERThe same piece with the traced outline
The outline comes back at true size, notches marked, ready to print or cut.

What you get back

Three files every time. Most people at home only ever open the first one.

.PDF

Print it at home

The piece split across ordinary Letter sheets, ready to print, tape and cut on the floor.

  • Test square so you can check the size
  • Overlap and join marks on every edge
  • Assembly map on page one
  • No scaling settings to get wrong
.PLT

Send it to a cutter

For plotters and cutting tables, with the DXF covering desktop machines.

  • Cricut and Silhouette via DXF
  • Graphtec, Roland, Mutoh
  • Cut fabric or template plastic
  • Repeat the same piece exactly
.DXF

Keep it for later

The professional format, in case you ever hand the pattern to a shop or a grader.

  • Opens in sewing CAD software
  • Notches and grain kept separate
  • Nothing locked to us
  • Yours to store anywhere

Four easy steps

You need a phone, a table and one sheet of printer paper.

STEP 01

Lay it out

Pattern flat on a surface of a different colour, one sheet of paper beside it. That sheet tells us the real size.

STEP 02

Take one photo

Hold the phone straight above and take a single picture. Nothing to measure, nothing to set up.

STEP 03

We draw the outline

About a minute later the edge is traced and the notches are marked. This part is free.

STEP 04

Check and download

Move anything that is not quite right, then take the files. Print one page first to check the square.

Questions from home sewists

Do I need to be good with computers?+

No. It works in the browser on your phone, there is no account to create and nothing to install. If the outline needs a nudge you drag it with your finger.

Will it print at the right size?+

Yes, as long as you print at 100 per cent with no fitting or scaling. The first page carries a test square you can measure with a ruler before cutting anything.

What about tissue patterns that are see-through?+

Put something opaque and darker underneath, like a cutting mat or a dark towel, so the edge reads clearly. Flatten the folds first, they show up as bumps in the outline.

Can I do a whole multi-piece pattern?+

Yes, one photo per piece. Each piece is priced separately, so you can start with the one you need most and add the rest later.

Other benches

Pattern designersHand-drafted pieces into clean tiled PDFs you can sell. Small sewing factoriesPaper blocks into AAMA DXF for grading and markers. Upholstery and coversTemplates off the job, straight to a CNC table.

Start with the pattern you would hate to lose.

Free until you download. If the outline is not right, you fix it and pay nothing.

Upload a photo See pricing