Sherryquilts

The last time I needed to trace a pattern - I used waxed paper, a large Sharpie marker and my patio door. I needed bigger pieces of waxed paper for the tracing, so I ironed two pieces together, taped my pattern to the window, taped the waxed paper over it and traced with the Sharpie. I wrote the pattern numbers, arrows and directions on the pieces. It worked great. I even made modifications to the pattern by folding then ironing the fold. I imagine you could lengthen the pattern by adding a piece.

Rose_P

I used this method a lot when my kids were little. I seem to remember it was the expected way of using some types of patterns, such as the "Stretch and Sew" brand. It's especially useful if you have a basic design that you're likely to make more than once as the child grows, and great for any pattern that you want to alter a bit before you cut. The cheapest non-woven interfacing is stronger than the best pattern tissue, and is a joy to work with in this way. You should not find it any harder to trace the correct lines with a pencil than it would be to follow them if you were cutting directly, and if you miss, it's easy to correct. Be very careful to trace the various marks, such as the grain lines and any others that you will need, and write on each piece what it is, the size and the pattern number.