tracing paper supplies in Sydney

Someone asked me in comments ages ago what I use to trace out the Burda magazine patterns - so if that was you this post is especially for you! I used to use a roll of brown paper I bought from Officeworks because that was super cheap and the paper was a suitable thickness (although not see through), and when that ran out a few weeks ago I tried the roll of white paper from the kids section in Ikea. Well that was way too thick to be useful, so I finally caved in and paid the money for proper tracing paper.

Now some clever people suggested getting hold of the roll of paper that doctors use on their examination tables (it's called barrier bench rolls), and while that was cheaper all the websites I found only served wholesale customers or charged exorbitant handling fees to retail customers.

I found a few on-line suppliers that had good prices (eg http://www.jovian.com.au/) but with postage there was no savings there. I also checked out the student supplies store on campus out at the University of NSW but unless you're a student there was no significant price discount. So, after all that research I found the best price at Eckersley's art supply store in the city: $36 for 46m roll at 46cm wide or $47 for a 46m roll at 61cm. They also sell big sheets of 'butter paper' for only 45c each that would also be suitable for pattern tracing. Plus if you sign up for their newsletter you get 10% off your next purchase.

Sorry this post is so unhelpful to non-Sydneysiders, but hopefully it will be of use to whoever asked me!

And in other sorry news, my black dress wasn't selected to be a finalist in the Tessuti Awards. No surprise really, because the eight that were selected were very impressive and in fact alot of the entries were really fantastic. This entry by Jane Gelder is my favourite:


Whilst I still love my dress, I think it was a bit simple and plain (which reflects my personal style) compared to the others especially those done by the fashion college students. Anyway I still came out a winner because I finally conquered that pattern and have now got a usable pattern for myself to make another dress in the near future.

Thanks for all your lovely comments on the jacket - I love it too so I'm glad it struck a chord with you all. In fact I like it so much I'm in the process of making another one in lightweight white wool, hopefully I can get it done as quick as the other even without a motivating deadline!

P.S favourite 'punny' blog title for today: All Toile and No Reward -that's how I feel about making fitting toiles......