Different Way to Copy Paper Piece Patterns
 

Heard an interesting way to copy a paper-piece template to individual papers. Stack blank sheets underneath a printed one and sew on all the lines, perforating and marking all the pages. I havenot tried this but do have some questions for those that have tried this method. 1) How do you hold the stack of pages together to keep from slipping? 2) Do you make longer stitches than what you sew the fabric on when piecing so will adhere? Thank you.

I've seen this done and it seems like a lot of time and work that a simple copy machine would do much faster.

This is the way I've been doing it for years. The first thing you do is to staple the stack together all over the area, but take care to not staple where you will be "stitching." I use newsprint & can do 16 layers with my Janome 6600. I prefer to use the newsprint that is rough to the touch. I buy the Scribble Pads at the Dollar Tree. I also have a big pad of it - about 18" x 24". Don't forget to take the thread & bobbin out of the machine! I also use my 1/4" foot to add the seam allowance on all the outside edges. This is such a wonderfully quick way to get lots of units made. Have fun!

Oops, forgot - I set my stitch length to about 1.8 & use a size 14 needle, I save my dull ones for this...new ones are so pricey.

i have not tried this yet. however, i have heard that the perforations make the removal of the paper easier.

Sounds like a plan! I'd use short stitches. You want them to tear away, easily.

I'd pin the pieces.

One reason this would be more beneficial is that copies are not always 100% of what is copied.

Yep, I've been doing it this way for years. I saw Judy Niemeyer demonstrate this technique on Simply Quilts. Except she and I use freezer paper for paper piecing so only the top sheet that has the pattern lines is copy paper. Like Kathy said above, I staple the layers together to make the number of "copies" I want.

Because I want to preserve the paint on the antique treadle machine that I use for this process, I put a quilted sandwich under the paper stack so that the staples have no chance of marring my beautiful machine's surface. Since there is no thread it simply causes lots of holes in that quilt sandwich after hundreds of uses! A side benefit of using the quilt sandwich on the bottom is that I have more control and stay on the lines better than without it. I think the cloth is grabbed/moved by the feed dogs better than the freezer paper.

Finally, I use my rotary cutter and a ruler to cut on the borders of my pattern. I love this method since I don't want to put freezer paper through my copier.

Thank you for the detailed instructions! My copier only does 8.5" and also does not feed thin paper through well. This made so much sense to me -- and first time through I would have probably forgot to take the threads out, so thanks for the reminder!

Ooh, did not think of this; another benefit. :)

Instead of staples, you can iron freezer paper sheets together around the outer edges. This is what I do when I want to make multiple freezer paper templates for applique. A few dots of glue stick would adhere the copy paper to the freezer paper stack.