This weeks fabulous sewing tip comes straight from my brilliant Gramma!
After digging through a box of inherited craft supplies one day, I came across a particularly well loved pattern. As I began to remove the pieces from the envelope to make sure they were all accounted for I made a rather surprising discovery. . . The tissue paper pieces were all stiff! And not stiff in an “eww gross! Where has this been?” kinda way, but sturdy, flexible, and not falling apart mangled the way many of my other 30+ year old commercial tissue paper patterns are.
Of course after bringing it to my Gramma’s attention she had no memory anymore of who, where, or when the pattern had come from. But she did recall having used fusible interfacing to stiffen special patterns that she planned to work with repeatedly or pass on to friends. I was astounded! Why have I never heard (or thought ) about doing this? What a perfect way to preserve those lovely vintage patterns that we all scour the yard sales and thrift stores for! I really hope I’m not secretly just the last person to figure this out…
Use fusible interfacing to stabilize delicate tissue paper patterns.
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That IS the most brilliant thing I've seen all week! I find I'm scared to use my commercial patterns for fear of not being able to use them again. Which is daft because then I never use them!
Wait, you mean we're actually supposed to use, the stuff in our stash? All this time I thought we were just supposed to hoard it and drool on it sometimes. 😛
o yes, me toooo, always buy two of everything, one to use one to look at, did not realise we were
all the same :-))
Great tip! I have some vintage kids' patterns that deserve this special treatment. (It reminds me, somehow, of the fancying up process the characters go through in the Wizard of Oz.)
Yay for vintage kids patterns! It's been quite awhile since I've seen the Wizard of Oz, but I think I know what you mean.
I never in a million years would have thought of that. What an awesome idea! I don't use patterns often, but I swear I ALWAYS end up tearing the pieces and trying to Frankenstein them back together with tape and staples. It isn't pretty.
O my gosh, Corbin just got a hold of one of my patterns the other day and Frankenstein-ing is the perfect description of what I was doing in my attempt to salvage the leftovers!
Oh, jeez! I have blown through so many patterns I can't begin to count. And all I needed to do was to was this to same them. Thanks for the greatest tip ever.
What a great tip! I've been sewing for many years and now I wonder; "why didn't I think of that?"
You and me both! Why didn't Gramma tell me 20 years ago?
Thank you to your Grandma! What a fabulous idea! I will be doing this for sure, thank you for sharing with us!
This is an awesome tip! Where were you when I was sewing so many dresses for my girls when they were younger?! Thanks for sharing with us this week at Monday Funday!
Take care,
Trish
This is such a great idea! I'm not a big sewer, but I hate working with the flimsy pattern pieces. Thanks for the wonderful tip!
That's a great idea! My trick is to copy them onto regular paper and then I can make new copies every time I want to use them again.
This is brilliant! Why have I never though of this before! I definitely need to do this to my tissue paper patterns! Thanks for the tip and thanks for linking up!
OK. This idea is genius! I have so many patterns that are almost unusable and this is the perfect fix! Thanks for linking up!
-Missy @ So You Think You're Crafty
Fantastic tip. Thank you. Will end up spending the weekend preserving rather than using my patterns!
I'm so happy you've all found this idea so useful! I thought for sure someone was going to say "Well duh. Everyone knows that!" and I'd just be a big loser. 😉
Great tip!
I have one for you. If you want a pattern piece but don't want to cut into your pattern piece (so you can use the other sizes), use florist's wrap! It's clear, is slightly static so it 'hugs' your pattern piece so that you can trace it with a Sharpy. I've been doing this when I borrow my friends patterns. I don't have to cut the smaller size out, and she can reuse the pattern herself. She has started doing this as well. It's great for all those kids patterns, that you want to keep the larger size for when they grow.
Thanks Ruthie. That sounds brilliant! I do tend to trace my patterns rather than cutting them out, but tracing on something clear would make the process sooo much easier!
This is my favorite way to preserve my patterns! I just stumbled upon your blog and I can see that I love it already! I have a non-sewing question for you: How did you get the cute little arrows with the writing inside on your photos? I love that and I'd love to learn how! Anyhow, fabulous blog! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Trish! Those particular arrows I added using PicMonkey, but I've also done similar versions with Photoshop. In PicMonkey you just add the arrow you like from their selection, enlarge it, fade it a little, and slap some text on top. Just make sure you note the color and sizes from the first pic so you can repeat it on all the rest. Thanks so much for visiting!
Thank you! I've been avoiding learning photoshop for a good long time, and will likely continue my efforts. I've been happy with Picasa for years and years, but I love these overlays I've been seeing! Thanks for sharing with me! 🙂
Okay, that's it; I'm subbing. Thanks for all you share Ms. Toni.
Great to have you on board Miss Lyric! I'm sure you're really gonna enjoy the Tip of the Week series!
This is a greatnever pass through my head keep up the good Toni