My sister and I just started paper piecing and we are looking for the cheapest paper we can get that still works, any ideas? We're having a hard time paying for 100 sheets of it for over $10.00. They said you could use a cheap 18lb. typing paper but we can't find it.
Any other ideas????
Thank You
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I just use regular copy paper. No problems so far.

I just use cheap copy machine paper. The cheapest I can find, I stocked up this last summer at Target, they had reams of copy paper for $2.50.

I'm off to Target thank you so much..........................

I also use normal copy paper (and I definitely didn't use the copier at work to make the copies....:shock: ). I've used vellum for a few projects, which I found on paper.com or something like that for a lot cheaper then quilt websites.

Just remember to make your stitch length a little shorter when you sew on the paper. That way the paper gets nicely perforated and it is easier to remove later.

I buy Roselle Hands On Scribble Pad. It's looks off white so I guess it's a some kind of newsprint but it prints fine in my inkjet printer and tears away great from the fabric. I buy it at Staples and comes three pads to a package, 100 pages to pad for about $6. It has to say Scribble not Drawing on it. There are two different pads. It's in the kids section. The other drawing paper doesn't tear as easily. All I have to do is cut 1/2" off the width for the paper to fit my printer. It's long so I can get more patterns per page.

Here are the links to two different techniques that use freezer paper instead of copy paper.

http://www.twiddletails.com/store/in...age=page&id=21

http://dquilts.blogspot.com/2007/04/...per-piece.html

I use it when I don't have ink on my printer.

Maria

In both of those Freezer paper ones, they don't sew through the paper. They are sewing next to the paper. I've never done PP, but I always thought you sewed through the paper. I would like to try it though.

3 hole notebook paper. it is lighter than copy paper and much cheaper 150 sheets for a buck at most dollar stores. tears off like a dream. i buy 10 packs at a time. use 1.8 on your stitch guide.

I just use the regular photocopy paper also and it works like a charm for me - but I agree, smaller stitches may it must easier...

I use regular copy paper, the cheaper, the better!

I've used this method suggested by Maride and it's great! The best part is NO tearing out bits of paper when you finish. I highly recommend giving it a try.

I've been sewing all day and I just checked the board and I'm shocked to see how many different responses I got and I loved them all, I will check them all out and Im so happy to see that you can use different and much less expensive paper.

Thank You to all that answered.

I never thought of that! I'm going to try that next time

I loved that idea too about the 3 hole paper, going to try that too from the Dollar Store......................More shopping for me.

I use examination table paper. You can get a roll-which lasts forever-at any medical supply store or online. It's thicker than tissue paper but easy to see through. It comes off very easily. I got the kind that has a crepe (?) paper finish so it doesn't slide around. Very easy to trace patterns on but you can't put it through your printer or copier so making lots and lots of copies would be a problem. I'm terrible at pp so only make 4 or 5 blocks at a time and then get frustrated. Good luck!

I use regular three hole paper too, its not given me a problem and I am a beginner. But word of warning, always make sure of size. I got the smaller size and it wouldn't go thru my printer right, thank goodness I didn't buy a bunch of it. Make sure its 8 1/2x11. Unless of course it doesn't bother your printer. Mine must be a little sensitive. It would be ok one page at a time but wouldn't print a bunch of them.

Hope this helps some of you, I wait till I can get it on sale and get a lot of it.

Rita

I usually use regular printer paper because that's all I can find at the time. If it's really stubborn to remove, I dampen the seamline with a little water on a cotton swab - it weakens the paper just enough to remove without leaving the bitty bits in the seam.


EllenB

I use the same paper I use in my printer, and it works great.

I use sandwich wrap for multiples of a design......I put the original design on top of a stack of sandwich wrap...........take the thread out of the machine and then stitch over all the lines of the design. Then you can pull off a sheet a time from the bottom of the stack. If necessary mark the numbers on the sheet to help with the order of stitching............

I have read that you can even use newspaper, altho I haven't done it.
I have just used computer paper, typing paper; most anything, and it worked well.
Martha Tompkins
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I have often used pages from an old telephone book. they are nice and thin and easy to tear away. You can print in a colour other than black for the pattern lines.

paper piecing is almost impossible for me(have rhumatoid arthritis) as I have only the use of my fore-finger & thumb on left hand....so I use used dryer sheets that I have ironed onto the shiny side of freezer paper that has been cut to run thru my printer...put the pattern in the printer & scan...you don't have to remove your printed pattern & that makes a good foundation for the blk.

I am well into a Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt and I used freezer paper for all of it. I have a metal hexagon template, trace the center part onto the freezer paper and then cut out. I use the miniature iron to iron the fabric edges over the freezer paper. (Fabric has been cut using the outside edges of the template which makes it 1/4-in larger.) This eliminates any basting. After joining the hexagons, the freezer paper pulls out very easily after you have joined your pieces.

I am doing some rosettes for the Aussy GFG quilt and did order the paper pieces from a store in Illinois. This is my first for using those types of paper pieces. They work well, especially since the flowers are getting mailed to Australia.

Be sure to leave the paper piecing in the fabric until you have joined the various rows. You sure have received a lot of good ideas. This Board is a blessing.

I have used regular copy paper too but I also have a sister that works for a Doctor and the paper they roll out for you to sit on is great for paper or foundation piecing. i have her get me a roll of it. So if you have any connections....

I have an industrial sized box from Costco..or place like it..it is the kind they use in deli's to wrap sandwiches or put in a basket..Not tissue paper, not waxed..but very see through and great to work with. They pull out of the box like tissue paper..so there is one fold in the middle of the sheet.

I use computer copy paper and a smaller stitch as well. The other thing I do before tearing the paper off, is to spritz the paper with water and it tears more easily.

I go to the kids section of office supplies in KMart. The off-white cheap tablets have very good paper for paper piecing. I try to get the 81/2 by 11" tablets because they fit in the copier. They tear away much easier than notebook paper of copy paper and are even cheaper. Be careful when you iron each peice because the ink can transfer onto your ironing board cover.

I use long serger tweasers to pull of the paper in hard to get at places. It is also good to "snap" the piece by quickly giving it a little stretch. this seems to get the paper to pop off!

I paid $6 at a medical supply store for a roll. I had to ask, it wasn't out on the shelf. I did not use it for paper piecing (yet), but to make a scalloped border pattern and for FMQ patterns. It will last me a long time!

I use regular copy paper and set my stitch length to 1.0. The paper will tear off easily without pulling stitches. Just be aware that at that stitch length it's harder to rip out mistakes! :? :shock:

I learned this from Brenda Henning, who has written several books on paper piecing mariner's compass'.

I use translucent vellum from the craft store. (Of course I use a coupon.) Sometimes I sew through several layers of paper paterns with my machine and no thread to perforate it. After paper piecing, it tears off beautifully.

I generally buy the sandwich wrap in boxes of 1000 in 12"sq or 14"sq sizes at Smart & Final in California..........not sure if those stores are in other states.
I love using it...........so easy to remove and CHEAP!!!!!

Hi Peggy:
The BEST paper I've used is the thin paper that we get in the mail from our stocks and bonds company...we don't read the BOOKS but I save them and use the paper. It's thin as onionskin and works so well for paperpiecing. Use extra small stitches and it tears right off when you are ready to remove the paper. Works great and it doesn't cost a thing. If you don't get these books in the mail you might just go to one of the financial folks in your town (stock broker) and ask if they have one you can have for quilting. They'll probably be really glad to get rid of them or at least save them for you.

I bought C. Doak's paper at our LQS. I'm a beginner at PP and like the paper, but it's just newprint. Next time, I'll look for doodle pads at the dollar store.
Mary Ellen

If you are wanting newsprint for paper piecing, go to your local newspaper office and buy end rolls of newsprint paper. They sell for $5-6 here and have a lot of paper on them.
When my children were in school, I got it for them to color on, etc. We had friends over one evening, and the other kids started to tear the paper in hand size piece. Of course my children followed suit. Soon they had a pile of paper (not making a dent in the amount of the roll) and were tossing it up and playing in it like they would have played in leaves. A lot cleaner than the leaves and they had a lot of fun. They also picked it up when finished. Wvwey fall when I see the leaves turing color and getting ready to fall, I am reminded of their 'inside leaves'. :)

Don't iron your paper and fabric as you go (just thumb nail press) until you are ready to trim it down to the correct size. Paper shrinks when heated. Some papers will shrink more than others. Use a dry iron and be quick on the pressing. A shrinkage of 1/16 of an inch can add up quickly if you are trying to be accurate.

I use to get the roll ends from our newspaper office, too but they went to some other kind of paper so now they don't have the roll ends anymore. :cry: :cry: I used that paper for everything from making a pattern to helping create fun art projects. Our neices and nephews would come over and we'd do BODY pictures where the kids would lay on the paper and we'd outline their bodies then they'd "dress" the picture with color crayons. For a couple years their parents got these Body Pictures as Christmas gifts from each of their children. The kids loved doing it and my sister and brother enjoyed having life sized "refrigerator" art of their child's likeness. Fun times.

If you are hand drawing your pattern, instead of sending it thru your printer, I've found tracing paper works better. It tears away very easily. I don't know if you can buy it in a size that would fit in your printer without trimming it.