Basic Techniques
Paper Piecing And Using Patterns
How do I use all those patterns available? Here’s a primer on tracing and transferring patterns:
- Lay a piece of tracing paper over the pattern and use a pencil to draw over the outline.
- Transfer your pattern to paper using transfer paper. Place the tracing on the patterned paper; slip transfer paper underneath and draw over the lines with a pencil. If you’re unsure of transferring the pattern directly onto a patterned paper, turn the tracing paper over an place it on the backside of the patterned paper. (Important tip: remember the design will be reversed when using this method.) Slip transfer paper underneath the tracing paper and go over the lines with a pencil.
To create a paper-pieced embellishment:
- Follow Step 1 and 2 from above.
- Cut out the pattern pieces. You might want to cut some pieces with patterned scissors—a teddy bear cut with deckle scissors has a fuzzy look, for example.
- To make the embellishment stand out, simply mat it. You can mat some or all of the pieces separately onto solid mats, or you can assemble all the pieces onto one solid paper and trim around it.
- Assemble the pieces to make sure everything fits, then adhere with repositionable glue.
- Add penwork, faces, buttons, seams and other details to your assembled embellishment. Acid-free chalks, like those from Craf-T, are great for blushing cheeks, shading and highlighting. You might also want to use a fine-tip permanent pen to outline each piece after it’s been assembled.
- Add paper pieced embellishment to your page. For a fun dimensional look, use foam mounting tape to attach some of the pattern pieces.
About transfer paper: Transfer paper is a thin paper which has color (usually black or white) on one side. It’s widely available at craft stores such as Michaels. It may also be called Graphite Paper.
