Projecting onto Paper is Changing my Sew Game

I did it.  I bought a projector, installed it on the unfinished ceiling in my basement, calibrated it and it is changing my sewing!

Which Projector did I Choose?

Actually, I bought a total of 3 projectors.  The first wasn’t bright enough, so back it went.  The second would NOT calibrate to project correctly vertically. It was an Apeman LC400.  It went back, too.  THEN I followed the advice of a sewing friend and ordered the same model she has.  An Apeman LC550.   

My Set-up

I was able to install the projector mount myself and the calibration went very smoothly.  There is a GREAT Facebook group dedicated to users of projectors for sewing.  I joined it, and used the information that is so graciously shared there. If you’re on Facebook, type Projectors for Sewing into the search bar.

It all looks pretty primitive, and ideally this would be part of my sewing room.  BUT.  My sewing room has a finished stucco ceiling and I have no idea where the joists are underneath the stucco.  I had visions of me drilling holes in that ceiling and missing joists or worse.  So, I chose the unfinished side of our basement.  A folding table is directly under the projector and it all works very well.  

To use this system, I bring up the PDF of the pattern I want to sew on my laptop.  Most are in layers, so I hide all the sizes except for the one I want to trace. Then I take my laptop downstairs (with the mouse in my pocket) and set it on the washer.  I have an HDMI cable hanging from the projector and plug the other end into my laptop.  Once the projector is on and projecting the image onto my 24″ x 36″ cutting mat I can check that the calibration is still correct.  Then I trace my pieces onto my pattern paper with all the pattern marks, notches, grain-line, dots and dashes.

Some people skip the paper and project right onto fabric.  I don’t think I’ll do that, as I like to work with paper patterns.  There are so many things I can do with paper patterns that I haven’t gotten my head around when it comes to skipping the paper.  Many of my garments need slight fitting alterations, and I prefer to do them with paper.  Also, my cutting table, upstairs in my well-lit sunny sewing room it higher, and at 5 ft 10, my back is happier working at a higher level.

Projecting onto Paper is Changing my Sew Game

This morning I’m working on my lessons for an upcoming class (a Zoom class teaching Jalie’s Martin for Stitch by Stitch Kingston) and wanted a sample that was easy to photograph for my hand-outs.  (I wrote about the class here)  In less than 10 minutes I had the 4 pattern pieces for my sample drawn and ready to pin to the fabric.

I’m certainly no expert with this new technology but so far I’m thrilled with this.  It’s a game changer for me.