Using Fusible Interfacing to Make Patterns Last Longer
Stacy GrissomThere are some patterns in sewing that we use over and over again. Stacy Grissom shows us an easy to way to make your sewing patterns last longer by using lightweight fusible interfacing. Simply fuse to the back of your pattern with an iron, and your paper patterns will last much longer!
Without fail, if I make myself something, my mom wants one, my sister wants one, sometimes my grandma wants one. Which means my patterns are getting used over and over and over again. So I had to find a way to get my patterns to last longer. At the little shop that I teach at, we have ordered boxes of doctor paper. Basically it's your bottom paper, what you sit your bottom on at the doctor's office.
And as you can see, it's really nice for tracing. So you can trace really easily onto it. But then it's really flimsy. So, we'd like to send people home with patterns, pattern pieces, when they take a class with us. So we send them home with this because it's nice and cheap for us, but it doesn't last very long.
So what I tell my students to do, and what I do with both my bottom paper patterns and my store-bought paper patterns, is I use just your basic lightweight fusible interfacing, your SF101, something like that. I get it from the big box stores when it's either 50% off or they have a 40 or 50% off one item coupon. And that makes it pretty affordable. And all you do is just fuse it to the back with an iron, and then your pattern piece will last for much, much longer.
Why not use a heavier paper stock, a manila file folder, or lightweight card stock instead? How critical is it to be able to see through the pattern paper - at least with plain fabrics?
FYI it's table paper
Your site is messed up if you click on something, it automatically goes to these games and will go back to the arrow to click on play and goes to the game and again.
Even with my sound turned up, I have a hard time hearing the speaker, can it be turned up? I also use a heavier paper for tracing, but will try the iron on interfacing, since my animals like to walk, drool, and scratch, since I Iike to sit on the rug to lay out my patterns.
I get a lot of the basic type patterns with the various sizes so instead of cutting one size and not being able to use it as well for another size, I iron a piece, cut out to the largest size, onto freezer paper. it doesn't stick but it stays on the paper till you take it off - copy the pattern on the paper, trim the piece to the next size I need and do it again. The patterns last forever with the heavy paper and I get a lot of sizes with one pattern. Just make sure you label pattern # and size on the pieces. I store them in large manila envelopes that I recycle from the mail and just cut out the front of the pattern envelope and tape it to the front.
I would like to know where to get the doctor's paper rolls.