I absolutely HATE magic numbers, such as “subtract 1 inch”. I go back in later on and wonder why I did that. An example of this is a pants pattern I’m drafting. The instructions say to subtract 1" from the distance from the waist to the hip “because the horizontal line can get lost in the crotch extension”. I’d love to be able to make a note of this right with the formula, something like the comment feature on an spreadsheet cell. Is there any way to do this? Free-standing labels? I guess I could make a fake measurement (e.g. Hip_Adjustment_Amount, with a note as to who said to do it and why) but that seems kind of a hack and could rapidly clutter up the measurement file.
2 Likes
So basically you want a comment field in the dialog of each tool? While it could be done to allow a way to dynamically edit the tooltip for each formula field, the efgort to do so would outweigh the value of such a feature. Adding a comment field is more reasonable, but still requires a lot of work updating the dialogs, tools, and schema.
That being said, Just a thought - you could create custom measurements that use the “subtract 1 inch”. For example, I use a custom measurement called #chestscale - as that’s what many systems refer to… which is defined as chest_circ / 2… so in the tool formulas I just use #chestscale instead of chest_circ / 2 everytime. You could make a note in SeamlyMe what that custom measurement is.
2 Likes
I do what @Douglas said, but I use the Variables to create an item called “Hip_Adjustment”, add the 1" and there’s plenty of space there to add as many comments as you wish. This way, it stays inside the pattern file, instead of being in the measurement file, which may be used for other patterns, too, and the 1" can be changed (for some or other reason) and it will automatically change the value in the pattern.
Here’s an example:
5 Likes
VARIABLES? I didn’t even know that they existed. That’s perfect. And the description even shows up when I select it in the formula editor. Thanks, Grace, that’s exactly what I needed.
Douglas, I didn’t even think about the amount of work or storage space required. That makes total sense.
4 Likes
It’s not that it’s a storage issue… it’s the time it would take to update the approx 50+ tools.
It’s not something I’m opposed to - that is to add a notation / comment field to tool dialogs. I could do it as I update the various tool dialogs.
2 Likes
You’re very welcome. I absolutely love the Variables. Just don’t try to use objects in your draft there. They are stored before the actual drawing part of the file, so the objects will revert to 0 or an error - can’t remember which. Only use measurements, maths formulas & direct numbers. 
4 Likes
Hey, thanks for sharing your experience with Variables! I’ve found them super handy too, especially for keeping designs consistent. I learned the hard way about using objects in drafts—once tried to include a dynamic graphic that ended up causing chaos in the layout. Since then, I stick to straightforward measurements and formulas. By the way, for jotting down these kinds of tips and tricks, I use notesonline. It’s great for organizing quick notes on what works and what doesn’t in projects like these.
1 Like
Hello & welcome to the forum, @Subcentz, and thanks for sharing how you keep track of the tips & tricks that work for you.