My Lack Of Patternmaking Tools - I Can Cut It

Working on those patternblocks,  aiming to having everything (at least my slopers) complete by the end of December.  

I'm taking stock of which tools and rulers I use most often and I have to say that my curve square and L ruler are in biggest demand when I'm drafting my patterns.   If I had that flexicurve ruler though I think that may change depending on how well it keeps its shape.   For now I'm just stuck using my trusty old tape measure.   I'm going to get that curve square replaced though as the one I have has a few serious cracks in it.   If you don't know the tool I'm talking about here it is:

I consider this delicate thing indespensible and the only place I can find it online is at this UK store,  here's the link:
http://www.sewessential.co.uk/Category.asp?CategoryID=776&NumPerPage=5&Page=1
You'll find it at the bottom of the page and it's not called a "Sew Easy Curve Square".

The other thing I wish I had was that thing called an awl,  a little hole poking device for marking dart points and 'walking' sleeve blocks into armholes.   Instead I use a soap smoothed point on a safety pin to facilitate dart transfer like this (I usually have two fingers supporting the raised paper underneath while I'm making the hole):

I manage to 'walk' my sleeves by taking what ever bodice/torso block and 'walking' the sleeve onto it tiny pinch by tiny pinch.   This can be a distance of about a 1 cm to 1 inch depending on the curve area.  I'm making due alright.

Was doing a little 'window' shopping online for what I've got in store when I want to make patterns for my own collections.   As I'm not going to use non-eco fabrics for my designs (or their development)  it leaves me with a number of pricier options.   I'll probably get most of my fabric from Near Sea Naturals,  they've got dyed and plain organic cotton wovens for around $10 and up and organic cotton knits starting from $12 and up.   Not great,  but not too bad either.   If I want to get cruelty free wool,  they've also got that (not at all an easy thing to come by trust me) it'll be quite a bit more costly  with their most affordable options being their black and fawn solid color wool wovens for $55 per yard.   Now if I want to get some satin,  I'll have to go to GreenFibres and get their undyed cotton product for around $26 a yard (13 GBP that is).  

Well I've got an idea of the price range at least.  It'll be a while till I can get started to be sure,  but it will happen.   Just got to some patternmaking work and experience with clients.

By the way,  when I 'shop' for fabric,  I just go straight to my Eco Friendly Fashion Designer Resource Page.   One of the reasons I made it,  when I need materials to get started with my collections I'll have everything there in one place and in a great way that everyone else can use it too with it's selection of eco fabric sources,  dying informatios,  eco-friendly fabric paint,  notions and more.  Here's the link if you're also interested:
The Eco-Friendly Fashion Designer's Resource Page

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