A tracing wheel, also called a pattern wheel, pounce wheel or dart wheel, is a small hand tool built around a toothed wheel mounted on a handle, the teeth either serrated or smooth. Rolled firmly along the lines of a paper sewing pattern, it transfers those markings onto the fabric beneath, either by pressing a line of dotted perforations directly into the cloth or, more commonly, by running the wheel over a sheet of dressmaker's tracing paper sandwiched between pattern and fabric so its waxy or chalky coating leaves a matching line on the cloth below. Markings transferred this way commonly include pleats, darts, buttonholes, notches and the placement lines for pockets or appliques.
Facts
Open Questions
Introduced When (Circa)Not established by the sources consulted.
The tracing wheel is documented by its construction and use in transferring pattern markings; no source consulted gives a date of introduction. OriginNot established by the sources consulted.
No source consulted gives a place or point of origin for the tracing wheel beyond its alternate names, pattern wheel, pounce wheel and dart wheel. Connections
Sources
Tracing wheel (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead section, first sentenceQuote, Lead section, first sentence
A tracing wheel, also known as a pattern wheel, pounce wheel, and dart wheel, is an instrument with multiple teeth on a wheel attached to a handle.
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