EmiliasNana, I also got the plastic templates years ago but just never tried them. I watched as many of the videos I could find on YouTube to get me started especially which way to press the seams and I guess it really doesn't matter but I did press mine to the outside piece whether it was light or dark. I found instead of using pins, I used Elmer's glue on the ends to search them from moving. But for the end you start with you only needed to glue maybe a 1/4" where you start to stitch and not the entire side. On the other side, I did glue it all down as the glue comes out easily when washed. I glued and pressed with the iron to set it. I also pressed a pleat on every piece in the center but I marked the bottom, or outer piece with iron away pen so I knew it was coming as I stitched away. Just tipes that helped me as I worked on these bad boys.