How To Save PDF Patterns to iPad - Tutorial

I hesitated writing this post because I worry that readers will say "duh Ros, can't believe you didn't know this!" But I felt that way before I wrote this post about zippers, and it has become one of my most popular and most pinned posts, so I figure I'll help someone!

Like many of you, the majority of patterns I use for my sewing projects are by independent designers who sell their patterns as downloadable PDF files. Which is great BUT there is a lot of printing and paper wastage.

Until...I was chatting on the phone to my lovely friend Amy and she said "grab your iPad and I'll show you what I mean about that pattern."
Me: "Umm why would I grab my iPad?"
Amy: "Don't you save your patterns as an ebook so you can sit the iPad next to you when you sew?"
Me: "PLEASE SHOW ME THIS STROKE OF GENIUS RIGHT NOW!"

So full credit for this tutorial goes to Amy because she taught me how to do this. It has been a game changer - it is so handy to have the pattern sitting right next to me when I sew without having to mess around with lots of paper.

So basically, you save your PDFs into the iBooks app and you can use them like an ebook. Then the only printing you need to do is your pattern pieces. You can also use this very same tutorial to save your patterns into your iPhone.

First, you need to get your saved PDFs to your iPad. I just attached them to an email and sent them to myself.

Open the email and tap the symbol and your file will begin to download.

Once it's downloaded, tap the PDF symbol and this will open your pattern.

Once your PDF is open, go to the top right hand corner and tap the share arrow.

You will get a few options depending on the various apps you have on your device. I like to keep my patterns all together in the one place, so I choose 'Open in iBooks'.

And that's it! Once you've opened your pattern in iBooks it will automatically save it in there so you can go back to it anytime. Save them all in there, and you will have a lovely bookshelf full of patterns.

 

This will work for any type of PDF file. Using your iPad you can flip easily between pages in the pattern and have it sitting next to you in your sewing space for easy referral.  

Saving the pattern to your phone is also very handy when you go fabric shopping - you can refer to the pattern so you know exactly how much fabric yardage and which notions you need.

Apologies to Android users, this tutorial is for iDevices only but I'm sure there is a way for you to do this on your tablets and phones that is very similar.

 Easy, convenient and uses a lot less paper! Do you save patterns this way too?