You will need the metal seam roller to give your glued seams a strong connection and as well to get airbubbles out of the seam, which might occure from time to time. After you glued your seams and pressed them slightly with your finger together, you will take the seam roller and roll it with light pressure over the seam. Done!

I prefer the metal seam rollers, because they are heavier and more stabile than the plastic once. I bought mine in a leather crafting shop, but you can as well easily order them online. Plastic rollers are available in almost any home improvement store.

It is more handy to have a “smaller” roller if it comes to the seams, especially the curved seams. My current one which you can see on the image is a little to wide if you ask me, but great if you want to double glue some bigger pieces.

What pencils should I use to draw on the latex sheeting? You can use almost any kind! Just remember to remove everything after you cutted out the latex to avoid stains!

Example:
If I have to draw on black latex or any other dark colored Latex sheeting, I will use either a white or silver paintmarker or a regular ballpoint pen (which will of course make it more difficult for you to see it afterwards).

For light colors would I recommend to stay with the white or silver paintmarker or if you got good eyes to use a regular pencil (but please dont sharpen it to much).

White and transparent latex will stain very easily! Use the paintmarker or pencil and clean it immediately after cutting it out!

Latex sheeting is made from natural rubber latex plus essential processing chemicals and pigments. Natural latex, as found in nature, is the milky sap from the rubber tree (Hevea Brasiliensis), which was found originally in the tropical climates of South America and is now cultivated in Southeast Asia.

Latex sheeting comes in a long range of colors, translucence and thicknesses. Normally delivered on wide rolls (92-100 cm) of up to 10 metres in length or more. Designs and logos can be printed on latex sheeting using silk-screen print technique.

Storage and use:
Store below 26° C. away from damp conditions and away from heaters. Store away from natural light. UV rays can break down the sheet and cause fading. Avoid contact with copper and copper alloys. These cause staining. Avoid contact with oils, solvents and greases which will destroy natural rubber.

Health hazards:
Sheeting is generally considered non-hazardous. However some people have an allergic reaction to the proteins in natural rubber latex. Persons with the allergy should avoid contact with natural rubber latex sheeting.

Fire Hazard:
Natural rubber latex sheeting is flammable. It should be protected from naked flames and non-smoking restrictions in areas where it is being worked on are advisable.

See my list of suppliers of latex sheeting…

Everybody knows what a ruler is, a instrument with a straight edge, used for making precise drawings and measure certain distances.

To help you get your pattern perfect you need three types of rulers:

• Straight long rulers.
• Protractor (For the right angles on the Pattern).
• French curves (French curves are curved rulers in different sizes and shapes, which will help you to shape the pattern right when you connect lines etc. It is also known as Burmester set).

We all know that making patterns is a pretty hard thing to do, if you never did it before! So it might be usefull to start out with some regular patterns you can buy in sewing or tailor shop, just to get an idea about it.

So you go out and buy a pattern size “M”, because this is what you usually wear! Afterwards the surprice, its not the best fit!? Then let me explain to you:

First of all, you will never be able to go out shopping for regular clothing and always fit size “M”, sometimes it will be a size bigger or smaler. The reason for that is that the pattern sizes between the different manufactures are not standardized (different reasons like the marketing aspect are causing that.. well all woman feel better in a smaller size, than having size “L” marked on the back!

If you are going out to buy a pattern, then take your body measurements along. You will need bust-waist-hip, and of course your hight. On the back side you will see a chart where you should have a look at, to estimate where your measurements fit in best. (You should take new measurements at least every half year…even if you wont believe, but your body contourse can change!)

So if you finally found the best pattern size for you, it is all just a matter of adjusting things a little! Like making the skirt, blouse, pants etc. a little longer or shorter in case you might be taler or smaler than the given hight on the pattern. Or even tighter, depending on that what you measured!

WATCH OUT: The seams on regular patterns are made for sewing! So not every seam is implementable the way its shown on the pattern and has to be adjusted as well. Start with simple things like a skirt.

Good luck!

Things you need will be a measure tape and a friend to help you. It is easier and more precisely if somebody else takes your measurements then your self, because you should stand straight and not move around!

Here you can see one of those many measurement charts you can find online:

The most important thing about a measurement chart is that you can read it and it got all measurements, also for your future reference.
(You should always make sure if you want something to be custom made from a latex manufacturer that you are accurate with the measurement drawings they provide to you.)

TIP 1. The to be measured person shouldn’t be wearing more than underwear while taking measurements, to get exact results.

TIP 2. Take a ribbon or something similar, which you can bind around the waist. This is one of the anchor points where you´ll have to refer to the most of the time. (Makes it easier for you to find that point again!)

TIP 3. While taking measurements the measure tape should not hang loose around, but don’t pull to hard, just because latex is stretchable it doesn’t mean that you should tighten the measure tape as much as possible.

Some examples for taking the measurements:

1. Waist
Put the measurement tape around the waist ribbon and take the measurement from there.

2. Chest/Breast
For men it is usually enough to take just the measurements over the widest point of the chest. For women you should take the over bust, bust and under bust to make it precisely.

3. Hips
Measurements for the hip should actually be taken at the point where your hip bones are (you will be able to feel them, two bones to the left and right), but in a lot of the cases you will see on measurement charts that they take the hip measurements a little further down. In that case they actually ask for the widest point. No problem! Just take the measure tape a little further down, so that you also get your bum in there.

4. Neck to waist
Take your head down to your chest and try to feel in the back of you neck that big bone sticking out, this is the point from where to measure.

5. Arms
Your arms should hang loose and relaxed while taking measurements.

6. Head
Head measurements are taken just above the ears.

The measuring tape is a very important tool for you if your new garment should fit you! So you should learn how to use it!

You will take all the needed body measuremts with it. You can get it in various styles and colors. They are usually 150cm long and have a width of 18mm. They are flexible but not stretchable to get the best results in taking measurements, even around curves and corners. You can buy them almost all over the places. I bought mine in a regular tailorstore.

Everybody got a regular scissor at home!

They are great if you want to cut out paper, like for your patterns, but you will hardly be able to make a good cut on your latex sheeting/clothes with your worn down household scissor out of the drawer in the kitchen or your desk!

I recommend you to buy a really sharp tailor scissor for that. You can get them in various sizes in tailor shops, online shops, hobby stores etc. and to use them just for cutting latex, so that you wont ruin them.

It doesn´t have to be a really big one. You wont make any big cut outs with it, its there for small things, applications etc., so it should be sharp, handy, light and have a pointy tip.

You can use the regular scissors, like I said, for cutting out your patterns, linnen or what ever you need for your latex crafting project.

Acrylic glass/plexiglass is used in many different ways and fields. While making latex clothes you will use it as a cutting board on your worktable.

It shouldn´t be to small so that you have enough space to work on and can lay big pieces of latex out on it, mine is approx. 155cm x 115cm. (Don´t forgett a role of latex has at least a width of 90cm!)
The thickness of the acrylic wont be a big issue, since you wont be able to cut it all the way through. So its basicly up to you and that what you can effort.

Plexiglass used in that way, wont last forever! So keep in mind that you will have to buy after quite some time a new one or that the first one you buy is very thick so that you can just polish the cutting scratches off when it becomes to much.

Where to buy? In regular home improvement stores! (HomeDepot, Bauhaus, OBI, Silvan etc.)

Acrylic is pretty hard to work with, because it is so brittle. So measure your workspace exactly before you go out and buy it, so that you can get it cut exactly to your needs. You dont want to cut it yourself.

TIPS: Before you put your latex sheeting on, smoothen the edges of the plexiglass and maybe put some strong tape around the edges, so that the latex sheeting doesn´t get stuck there or rips.

A rotary knive finds its use in home improvement, regular garment tailoring, hobby paper cutting and of course in making latex clothing.

It makes it easy, fast and presicely for you to make bigger cut outs. Another big advantage is that the latex can not slide away, you avoid uneven cuts and save time.

It got a round and very sharp blade, which is usually disposable. You will find it in different shapes and sizes for your projects.

The regular rotary cutter got a straight blade, which you will use for the regular cut outs of your latex clothes. You can buy it at a good price in a regular home improvement stores.
Another kind of rotary cutters got fx. a wavy blade, what can be pretty helpfull for you if you would like to make small applications on your latex clothes. You can buy it in regular hobby crafting shops.