Sneak Peek, and Freezer Paper Pattern Making

Hi! Hope everyone had a great Saturday!

I sewed my tushie off, working most of the day, and went to sleep around 12:30am.  Me and my little dog curled up under the electric blanket and went to sleep.  I got up, feeling oh so relaxed, and realized it was in fact 10:30am.  I am in shock that I slept so long - I can't even tell you the last time I did that.  Wow.  My husband is amazing for giving me this weekend to work. I'll have to trade him a weekend soon.

I do want to share with you tip, if you are going to be sewing with patterns.  I normally use Swedish tracing paper to copy patterns, and I don't cut into the pattern tissue if I can help it anymore.  I ran out of it yesterday, and I still needed to draft a pair of pants. Then I remembered a trick I had seen somewhere online months ago.

Now you may have seen people do freezer paper stenciling, like this one at Stay at Home Artist:

Harry Potter inspired freezer paper stencil tee

I'm just not that detail oriented!  I've always been impressed with that.

But here's my tip:

Trace your patterns onto freezer paper!

Why you ask?  Because you get perfect lines, your pattern doesn't shift, and it's reusable!

(PS - what is freezer paper ACTUALLY for? I have no clue, I've never used it for anything but this!)

• Lay the glossy side of the paper facing the pattern, and keep the paper side up.  
• I use a permanent marker to trace the pattern through the translucent paper.  Make sure you get all the markings and words. Then, cut it out around the outside boundary line of the largest size line.  Now here comes the magic.
• Lay your fabric on the ironing board, and preheat your iron to a mid range heat.  
• Place the freezer paper pattern where you want it on the fabric, glossy side down again.  

• Run the iron over the paper, but don't linger too long.  
• If you do, it will brown the paper (and maybe burn through).  You should see the paper puckering a little, and getting a little more clear. 
•  Make sure you get any points and edges pressed down well.  It shouldn't take you more than a few seconds to iron the whole thing to your fabric.
• Then cut out (or trace) your pattern piece, leaving the paper attached. 

Do this with each pattern piece.  If you've done it well, the freezer paper adheres to the fabric, allowing you to cut or trace the pattern out of the fabric without it slipping around.  You should get a few uses out of it before it loses the ability to stick to the fabric.

I love this method, and I wish I could remember all the places I got the idea from.  It's something I wish someone had told me when I first started sewing, because it really does help. Plus anything that involves melting stuff is more amusing.

Here's my sneak peak on the PRP entry:

I got a lot accomplished yesterday.  I finished the boy's top and  made a pair of pants to test the pattern size on my son, so I could make a matching pair for the top later today.  Have you seen this book by Meg at Sew Liberated?

I'm using the basic pocket pants pattern, with the contrast cuffs.  I'm very happy with the pattern, and it would all go very smoothly if you read the directions...cough cough...I may have not been paying attention when I was tired.  I've fixed it all and the pants are almost done, and very cute.

I made a pattern, muslin, and practice dress for the girl's outfit.  I'm just waiting for my model to arrive back in town so I can try it on her. I'm praying she'll be cooperative.  I have to try this dress on her so I can make it out of the real fabric:

What do you think?  Hope you have a great Sunday!