Replies

1. 
   JanF | Oct 09, 2008 09:40pm | #1

   Try 2D -Design?

2. 
   Teaf5 | Oct 10, 2008 02:02am | #2

   Not to sound simplistic, but I've found that colored pencils/pens and graph paper work far easier and better for expandable designs than any software I've ever seen.  You can choose 1/4" or 1" grids, depending on the complexity of your motif, sketch it out until it looks right, and then enlarge it easily to any size that has been divided into the same number of squares.

   Although this sounds time-consuming, it's really very fast; I've designed huge soccer banners, wall hangings and murals in less than an hour this way.  There's no complicated math involved either; you simply label the horizontal lines with letters and the vertical ones with numbers on the original, and then copy square to square to the larger, gridded surface.

   Last year, I used this method to enlarge a 2-inch motif to a 3-foot one for the center of a quilt in about a half hour, while sipping tea and chatting with my sister.  It's a historical technique that has no limitation on printout or paper size.

1. 
   Ceeayche | Oct 10, 2008 03:06am | #3

   I agree with Teal.  Unless your design is very complicated.

   Good luck with your project!

   Edited 10/9/2008 8:07 pm ET by CHL

1. 
   alicealice | Oct 10, 2008 05:45am | #4

   I tried the graph paper and got frustrated wanting to change things and having to redraw...a woman a little patience I guess. Anyway thank you all for your suggestions...I will deal.Alice

1. 
   Teaf5 | Oct 12, 2008 04:23am | #6

   Another option is to use a scanner on your original drawings and set it to 200% or so; you'd have to print out a lot of pages and tape them together, but it would give you an idea.

   On large-scale designs, I often do a rough mockup using blank newsprint from a roll end or lay folded pieces of fabric on a plain bed sheet in roughly the spaces and sizes they will need to be.  Mainly, I am trying to avoid doing a lot of math, but also I find that I have a better sense of scale and color using actual fabrics rather than inks. 

   On a comforter, I'd want to put my mockup onto the bed so that I could get a good idea about light in the room and the contours of the bed.  In this way, I can decide how bright to make the colors and figure out where the focal point should be.

3. 
   Sancin | Oct 10, 2008 10:18am | #5

   I am afraid I can't find it at this time but there is a sheet of paper floating around in cyber space telling the percentage to increase or decrease scale of anything you scan on your computer printer to get what you want. It seems to me it may have been available free from Denver Fabrics, but my memory fails me. I had the paper, which was almost unreadable from use on a bulletin board in my sewing room, but it seems to have hidden itself after I painted the room.