Our good friend, Fiona, famous for her work with the Sewing Directory, has created a new product for Foundation piecing – Printable Foundation Paper – and it’s made here in Britain!
The team at the Quilter’s Den have a love/hate relationship with Foundation Paper piecing – some of us love it and others hate it.
As a self-proclaimed FPP “hater” I will actively seek out patterns that get the effect I want without resorting to FPP (Elizabeth Hartman patterns spring to mind) So I’m the perfect person to test out a new FPP product!
I loaded the paper into my home inkjet printer and printed the pattern straight from the website – success first time.
The paper is thin, strong and semi-transparent so you can easily see through it to place your fabrics.
It was easy to use and see the pattern – all good so far. It didn’t distort when I needed to turn up the heat to press the pieces to fit (I think that’s called “easing”!)
Now for the critical bit – did it tear out without needing fingernails and tweezers?? YES!
This is the reason for my “hate” relationship with FPP – I’ve always found that paper works better than a fabric foundation such as muslin or calico but I detest picking the bits off the back where the paper hasn’t torn off properly. None of those problems here – I used a shorter stitch length (1.8 on my Bernina) and the paper just peeled off at the seam like a dream.
So for tweezer-free FPP, I can definitely recommend Patterntrace Foundation Paper (and I might even have fallen back in love with FPP!)
https://www.quiltersden.co.uk/product/foundation-paper-100-a4-sheets-printable-by-patterntrace/