Just depends on the size of the project in my neck of the woods.

The mom and pop hardware store here had no idea what painter's tape was. Never heard of it. When I asked about the Frog Shape Tape they acted like I was crazy. I had to pull it up on my phone to show them (no internet in the store ?) Urrg. Give me the big box store anytime.

I have used the Frog decorative edge tape to mark lines. It comes in chevron, wave, and scallop. I use the scallop tape a lot. http://www.frogtape.com/products/sha...scallop-282548

the good thing about painter's tape is that it doesn't have a super stick. Try using a quilter's skinny tape (looks like the pinstriping tape used to mark surfboards or car detailing).

The hardware store might have just known it is the blue tape. At least I hope that is the excuse, I can't imagine them not knowing what it is. Frog Tape would work because it has the 'extra' stuff to it that regular painter's tape doesn't.

Try this product; even though it's for embroidery for holding fabric to the back of the hoop when doing "in the hoop" projects; it works great and it sticks well for embroidery to hold fabric onto the stabilizer so I would think it'd work great for this. And I have used my pieces more than once.

~http://www.qualitysewing.com/embroidery-perfection-tape-frac34-x-20-yard-roll.html

I use the blue painters tape, but found you have to use the 3M or a good brand name. That seems to stick until you need it to come off. The cheaper, less expensive no name brand didn't work for me.

Try the Tiger Tape. It is marked with lines for even hand quilting stitches and is designed to stick to fabric with no residue. I use it several times before I must replace it.

You'd think. LOL I went to Walmart bought the Blue Painter's tape and a roll of the Frog tape. I took it to the owners of the mom and pop to show them I wasn't crazy. The man just shook his head and said people will buy anything. And he wonders why his store is losing business. :D

I've used more than my fair share of various kinds of tape, and from experience, the tackiness of the tape varies *greatly* across brands. When I was a student, I used all kinds of low-tack, removable tape (artist's tape, masking tape, painter's tape). I'd often try to save a few dollars and bought the cheaper brands. But, I found that only the tape that costs more had enough stickiness and could be removed one one piece without rips.

If one kind of painter's tape is giving you trouble, it could be a variation in quality from different brands, not necessarily the category of painter's tape in general.

There's not really a solution to not enough stickiness, but if you do find something that's got too much stickiness (hard to remove), an easily solution to decrease the stickiness easily is to gently stick it on your clothing before you use it. It'll pick up a few fibers to lower the tackiness.

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[TD][h=1]I use the following works better than painters tape
3M Transpore Clear Plastic Surgical Tape[/h]
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