Dear Constant Reader,
It’s Friday again! Before I present your tip, a few announcements.
The Great Burlesque Expo was supposed to start today, but it’s been postponed until September. Tomorrow (Saturday the 18th) Expo staff, participants, and fans will be having an on-line get-together and you are welcome! Go to the Facebook event for more information.
I’m teaching a short burlesque lesson every Wednesday at 3pm on Instagram Live at @studyburlesque. If you miss it live, I’ll be posting the video to IGTV and YouTube.
And now for your tip!
Marking pens are a great addition to your costuming tools.
Just to be clear, these aren’t markers. They are special pens for marking fabric and the marks will disappear. They don’t brush away like chalk, so I use them on all but the darkest fabrics. Besides outlining your pattern pieces and making any sewing notations you need on the fabric, you can also use them to draw embroidery designs and mark locations of embellishments. The marks are just temporary — if you don’t like what you came up with, remove and try again!
There are two types of pens. Blue pens need to have their marks removed with water. I keep a little spritz bottle of water in my sewing room for just that purpose. Or just toss your garment n the wash. Purple pens are temporary — they’ll disappear on their own after about 25 hours. Less if it’s humid out. These marks can be helped along with water like their blue brethren. If marks don’t come out right away, just wet the again. you can also get fine point pens for delicate work.
A couple of caveats. Don’t iron directly on the marks — the ink can scorch and set, leaving a brown line on your fabric. I had a bad result rhinestoning on top of a purple marker line — the glue dried over the mark and it won’t wash out, protected by the glue.
These writings and other creative projects are supported by my Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.
Oh, The Glamourous Life! 
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