Tracing Doll Sewing Patterns

When I sew doll clothes, I find that occasionally I have to trace something, usually markings for darts. Holding the pattern and material up to the window technically works, but my hands usually slip at some point, so the markings don't end up perfectly accurate.

Being a girl on a budget, for the longest time I used this toy Barbie light box to do tracing.

The light it gave off wasn't as bright as I might have liked, but considering that I bought it second hand off of eBay, the price was much better than a more professional style. However, this Barbie light box finally stopped working correctly. I needed a new light box, but I'm still on a budget. I decided to poke around Amazon just to see what kind of prices I was looking at, and quickly managed to find a light box that is inexpensive, and meets my needs. Funnily enough, it's made by Darice, which is a company I just discussed in my last post. Its specialty is inexpensive crafting items, and my new light "box" fits that description! It's a sculpted piece of plastic, with a light bulb underneath, and an electrical cord to power it. It does get hot; the instructions recommend you only leave it on for two hours at a time at most. The instructions also say that you should use the light box on a heat-resistant surface. I'm using an old wooden cutting board that Mr. BTEG and the Dancer have already used for painting role playing miniatures.

For less than $9 (we have Amazon Prime), it's a great solution, considering I'm not doing artist quality tracing here, and don't need a $40 or more light box. Crayola also currently has a tracing light box for children's art projects, but it didn't suit my simple needs enough to make it worth slightly over twice the price.

So have I been sewing? Actually, yes! I think I'll have an outfit to share with you soon. I also have a backlog of things I would like to post, but now that I'm over the worst of the nasty cold that I had, I'm hoping I can get back to my 4 posts a month goal. For those in the Northern Hemisphere, are you planning crafting projects for the colder weather to come?