how does tracing paper work?

Question

I am trying to trace a pattern onto a piece of leather and I did not ask how to do this. Can someone give me a hint?

Answer 1

you dont say if it's the outline of a pattern or a 3 dimensial pattern - I mark leather with an inkpen -
You could mark on the wrong side - just make sure to flip the pattern too.

Answer 2

There are several types of paper that can be referred to as "tracing" paper.

One is a translucent sheet of paper (these used to be used long ago for making "carbon copies" and now are mostly used by artists and others to see through so one can copy some image that's placed underneath it... they come mostly in pads).

There's also the types that are sold in fabric stores and art supply stores, which have some kind of transferrable coating on one both sides .... in that case, the tracing paper is placed between the image or shape-template, and the item to be transferred to ... the pressure of a pencil or stylus on the upper pattern will make the colored coating adhere to the paper, fabric, leather, etc. below it.
(the fabric type usually come in colors, where the artists ones come in black, gray, white, etc.... these are usually larger sheets of "paper" folded into a package)
...you can also make something like this type yourself by coloring in one side of a piece of paper with pencil (or chalk, etc.), placing that side of the paper down onto your leather, etc., then drawing or tracing the desired shape from the other side of the coated paper... the graphite will transfer to the material below, but may not show up well on some)

Also, you can use a drawn or other image or you can use a template (cut-out, silhouette) for your pattern.
For the first, you'll be pressing-drawing your stylus over the lines of an image... for the second, you'll be pressing-drawing your stylus around the perimeter of the template image.

Hope that helps some... wasn't exactly sure what materials you already had.


Diane B.