I have lately been using a different sort of paper for paper piecing. It came on a roll, which I cut to fit into my printer. The consistency is like a lightweight newsprint and it's brownish in color.
I print the design on the paper, although with a light table, the paper is thin enough you could trace on it too. It tears easily and isn't as stiff as regular copy paper or vellum.
It came from Home Depot, in the paint department. It was intended to be used for masking off areas to be painted.