Today I have a tip for improving your tracework using a tool straight out of an over-the-top nail art salon!

When I began stitching, I couldn’t get my head around transferring a pattern onto fabric. It cost me a lot of trial and error before I’ve figured out something that worked for me. Where I live, iron-on patterns are unavailable or hopelessly dated (ducks in bonnets, yarn-covered kittens…). I’ve also had bad experiences with iron-on pencils turning out to be barely visible on the fabric. Drawing on the fabric directly seemed a daunting task for a perfectionist like me. The only method that sort-of worked was transferring a pattern using carbon (dressmaker’s) paper.

The problem was that it cost a lot of effort finding balance between the right amount of pressure from a blunt pencil and the visibility of the line underneath. Press too light and you can’t see a thing (and while you’re peeking, the paper shifts from it’s original position…), press too hard and it tears. There had to be a solution…

The stylus that Jenny sells on her website looked perfect – rounded ball-like tip for even pressure distribution and little force required. I’ve never seen anything like it, so I’ve assumed that it was a specialty tool which was most likely unavailable in Europe. Paying 20 dollars worth of shipping costs for a tiny object was way beyond my budget.

But ‘lo and behold, the nail section at my local drugstore held something that has since proved indispensable in my stitching kit: the nail art dotting pen!

It is exactly the stylus tool that Jenny recommended – thick and thin end included! Priced under 3 euro and with a pretty pink color to boot, I was elated. Looking on ebay or amazon.com under Nail Art Dotting Tool you can find kits of all kinds of thickness – from incredibly thin ends for fine tracing to really chunky ones for filling in.

So if, like me, you prefer using carbon paper, can’t afford high shipping costs, and want to make the process a breeze, look for the nail art dotting tool/pen in your local drugstore/beauty supplies and thank me later! ❤