Welcome to Greenstyle! We're so happy you've found us! We look forward to getting to know you and sharing our love of sewing!
If you're new to Greenstyle, or PDF Patterns in general, you might have a few questions about how to purchase, download, print, and assemble your pattern- so we've written this blog post to walk you through the process step by step!
Quick Links
- Where to Find our Patterns
- Creating an Account
- Buying a Pattern
- Downloading your Patterns
- Printing your Patterns
- Assembling your Patterns
- Using a Projector
- Social Connection and Additional Resources
Where to Find our Patterns
First off, you'll want to visit our website. This is where you can purchase patterns, watch instructional videos, download cut files, read our blog posts, and login to your account (once you've created one!).
Creating an Account
Once you're on our main website, click on "Login" in the upper right hand corner. Follow the prompts to create an account at the bottom. (This is necessary for purchases and will speed up the checkout process later.)
Buying a Pattern (or three!)
Once you've got your account set up, you can hover your curser over the "Patterns Tab" to see the full selection of patterns we carry. We offer lots of designs for everyone! Curvy Fit, Straight Fit, Youth, and even FREE Patterns!
Once you browse through our selection and decide what pattern you'd like to sew - go ahead and add it to your cart! (If you've found multiple patterns you want to sew, you should check out our multi-pattern discount and save on your purchase!)
From the Curvy Fit selection, I am choosing the Veltori Top. Click add to cart and then click the "Cart" button in the top right hand side of the page.
In addition to a credit or debit card, we offer many options for you to pay, so choose which ever works best for you. Every option does require that you have an account, so if you haven't yet, please follow the prompts to create and verify your account. This will allow for you to easily access your patterns after purchase.
Downloading Your Patterns
Once you've completed the checkout process, you can download the patterns files from your account. To find "My Account" look for the silhouette in the top right corner of the website. Once you are in your account, click "My Files and Videos" This will bring you to all the patterns you have purchased.
This is where it can get confusing for a new PDF user. Patterns come in different formats. Don't worry! We will lay it all out so you can be successful!
Instructions: This will guide you on suggested fabrics, sizing and fit, and show you step by step illustrations on how to assemble your pattern.
Quick Start Guide: This is for the experienced Sewist who only requires a few visual cues on how to assemble the pattern. This will give you numbered illustrations with no text so that you can jump directly into your project.
Letter Paper (US Sewist): This will be used if you are printing your pattern at home and want to assemble it with tape or glue before cutting the pieces out and then cutting into your fabric. Letter Paper designates the size of paper used within the United States.
A4 Paper (International Sewist): This will be used if you are printing your pattern at home and want to assemble it with tape or glue before cutting the pieces out and then cutting into your fabric. A4 designates the size of paper used in most every part of the world outside of the US.
A0 Paper: This file will be used if you are outsourcing the pattern printing to a copy shop to print on one (or sometimes two) large pieces of paper. This is beneficial if you do not want to tape or glue sheets of paper together to create a larger pattern sheet. It does save the labor of assembling the pattern yourself, but you typically have to wait to begin sewing. First sending the pattern to the copy shop, then wait for it to be printed and finally, shipped back to you. There are lots of places to get this done including local to you copy shops, FedEx, Kinkos, Staples, UPS, and Pdfplotting.com. (We have no affiliation with any of these vendors, but they are some that we have used with success.)
Projector: This file type is used with a projector. It's designed to project your pattern directly on to your fabric and takes the whole step of printing and assembling your pattern off your plate. You can start cutting in minutes after you've purchased your pattern! All of our patterns include a projector file! If you don't own a projector but you are interested in learning more, check out the Facebook Group for Projectors for Sewing. They have lots of helpful tips and tricks to get started.
Once you've decided on the best file for you, click the link to download to your computer. We recommend using the free program "Adobe Reader" to view and print your PDF Patterns.
Additionally, you get 10 downloads from each link on our website. For this reason, we recommend you find a safe place to store your downloaded patterns. Lots of websites offer limited free cloud storage to hold all of your patterns. Dropbox or Google Drive are two popular options.
Printing Your Patterns
First we will tackle printing your pattern at home. These directions go for both Letter Paper and A4 Paper.
Once you have downloaded your pattern, you'll need to print it, assuming you are doing so at home. Open the file on your computer, make sure you are choosing the correct file for your paper size, either Letter Paper file or A4 File. Make sure you are using Adobe Reader. This will allow you to view layers and print only the sizes you want to print.
Depending on the version of Adobe you have, the "Layers" button may be on the left or right of your screen. In this example, the layers button is the one the arrow is pointing to and shown on the right. (It looks like 2 cubes stacked on top of each other.) Once you click Layers, it will open this box that shows all sizes you can print from this pattern. You can toggle the visibility of the layer on or off by clicking the "eye" next to the size. (Size B through M)
Now you need to decide what sizes you want to print. You can choose to print only the sizes you need or you can choose to print all the sizes and save a master copy of the pattern from which you can trace the size you need onto tracing paper. If you have many people to sew for of various sizes, printing all sizes at once might be the best option for you.
For this example, I have chosen to print only my size. I have deselected all sizes except E. When I print, only E will be visible. Make sure you keep all three common layers selected! This will help you with pattern assembly and have the text layers needed to identify the pattern options.
You'll also want to make sure that your pattern prints at 100%, with no scaling. Check your printer dialog box to make sure that these items are selected. I tend to print my patterns in grayscale to preserve ink, but you can print in color if you like.
Depending on the size you are printing, some pages may be blank. I look through the pages and see if I need to print all or just some.
Additionally, I choose to only print the pattern file and view the instruction file on my computer to save paper. Some prefer to print instructions, do what works best for you!
Before printing all the pages, however, I highly recommend printing the first page, which will have a scaling box on it.
Measure the scaling box and make sure it measures 100% correctly - being off by even 1/8" will really affect the fit of your garment. If it doesn't match up, make sure you're printing at 100% scaling and try again.
Once you know you've got your pattern scaled correctly, go ahead and print the rest of the pattern pages. All Greenstyle patterns are NO TRIM patterns, which means you don't have to cut the edges off to assemble them, which is a huge timesaver!
Assembling Your Patterns
Overlap the pages and align the edge of one page to the edge of the grey line of the next. Continue tiling the pages together and taping as you go, making sure to line them all up as precisely as possible. I like to go from top to bottom, and left to right. Follow the assembly guide in your instructions.
Once you've got your pattern assembled, you can trace or cut it out, and get started with your project!
Here's a brief video on assembling your patterns for those visual learners out there:
That's it- now you're ready to sew!
Using a Projector
If you are using your projector, go ahead and open the Projector File of your pattern in Adobe Reader. Once it is open, you will see the pattern is all on one single page.
Next you will need to set the zoom that works for your projector. This can be found on the bottom right of the screen. Click either the plus or minus magnifying glass and then click on the numbers to edit to your specific calibration needs. I have set mine to 28% because this is the zoom my projector is calibratedto.
The zoom needs to be checked each time you open a pattern. Sometimes Adobe auto-sets the zoom on a file and this can have a tremendous impact on your final garment. It will likely turn out way to small or large and be unwearable if the zoom is off by even an eighth of an inch.
If this is your first time using your projector, you'll want to do some research on how to calibrate it. (Find the correct zoom and angle so that the pattern matches exact measurements when it is projected.) The zoom you will use will likely be unique to you. It depends on many things including the type of projector you are using, your ceiling height, and the height of the table you are cutting your fabric on. For help with calibrating your projector, check out Projectors for Sewing on Facebook or ProjectorSewing.com (Greenstyle is not affiliated with either recommendation above, these are popular resources to get started.)
Once you have your calibration set, click the layers button (marked with the arrow above) and open the layers box. Here you will choose your calibration layer. You have the choice to measure in Inches or Centimeters. Here, I have chosen Inches. This is an important step as it allows me to check that the zoom percentage I have set is accurate for this pattern! Once I set this layer, I use my ruler on my fabric to check that it meets 1" exactly. Once I confirm this, I can turn the calibration layer off. (By clicking the eye next to this layer) This allows me to see only my pattern lines and it is easier to cut accurately.
This image is taken at an angle to avoid my shadow showing so it doesn't look like it lines up perfectly, but it does! Trust me!
After confirming your zoom is accurate, go ahead and select the size (or sizes if you are blending) that you will be sewing. You do this by opening the Layers tab again and clicking the "eye" next to each size you want to hide. Here I have only 2 layers selected, size E and the Common Layer - Text. 
Now you can close the Layers tab and begin to cut your pattern!
I like to plan out my cuts in advance by moving the pattern and fabric around to find the best placement. It's also a good tip to still use "Pattern Weights" even thought you aren't holding down a piece of paper, it still helps to hold your fabric in place. One more tip: If you press CTRL, ALT, and the Plus or Minus button on your keyboard, it will rotate the pattern left or right! I use this all the time to get the most out of my fabric. See how it works for you!
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We are so happy you've found Greenstyle and have jumped into the wonderful world of Indie Patterns. I hope you will continue to connect with us and share your creativity.
If you are looking for a lively and supportive community to share your love of sewing with, check us out in our private Facebook Community. Here you will find new friends, advice, be updated on special sales, and even contests throughout the year!
If you are looking for video tutorials to accompany our patterns, check out our YouTube where we have MANY sew along videos to make even the most complicated designs a breeze. In addition to sew along videos, you can find tutorials for different sewing techniques and hacks for our patterns!
You can also follow our Pattern Instagram and our Fabric Instagram and Pinterest to stay connected.
Happy Sewing!
