Tracing with thread

I started to cut the Marfy 2440 dress pieces. I quickly realized this is not the fabric that can be marked really well, due to the polka dot plus the stitched flower motives.
The skirt had front pleats and I decided to use 'old fashioned' basting thread to trace the lines.

I practically grew up with using basting thread, that's what I saw my grandma using all the time. Basting thread looks a bit fluffy, it breaks very easily. This means it is no problem if you sew upon the basting lines because you can remove the pieces of thread very easily. As I mentioned somewhere on the blog I grew up with European sewing patterns which traditionally don't include seam allowances (think of Burda magazine patterns). My seam allowances were always cut approximately 1.5-2 cm in past so I had to baste the seams together with basting thread before sewing in order to match up the sewing lines. I like the American way of pin and stitch so much better now!
It came handy that I always have basting thread at home ('just in case') it worked perfectly for marking the fabric.

1. What I've done is making a few long stitches through the pattern paper and the fabric and then cut the thread in the middle of the stitches:


2. I pulled off the paper layer carefully (this is the wrong side of the fabric):


3. I turned the fabric right side up and had the marking in place for my lines to make the pleats: