Attaching Your patterns - Part Two - Carbon Paper & Graphite Paper

If you haven't already read part one, please go back and check it out, if you don't want to use adhesives, read on. Many patters that you choose may be to large to be practical to glue on to your work, this may not be an economical method either. Two of your alternatives are, carbon paper and graphite paper. Carbon paper is OK for smaller projects, you simply place the carbon paper on you work piece, put your pattern on top of that, tape in a couple of spots and then carefully trace over your pattern. I like to use a red pencil so that I don't miss any of the pattern. For slightly larger patterns I've taped together four pieces of carbon paper to make one large piece, the only problem with this is that carbon paper can get messy and leave black smudges.

Many people prefer graphite paper. I like graphite paper as its cleaner and doesn't smudge as easily. Graphite paper also comes in very large sheets so that you don't have to tape pieces together for a larger project. You might find the need to press a little harder when using graphite paper in order to get a good transfer . You can find it at office supply stores, craft stores or at your local home center, usually by the patterns.

Another method is to print out your pattern and turn the printed side down onto the work surface, and the apply heat with your iron, the kind you do your shirts works well, try the cotton setting and adjust the heat as needed.I also use a wood burning tool with an attachment made specifically for doing this. You can find wood burning tools at any craft shop and most hardware stores back by the soldering irons.

One thing to remember if your choose the heat transfer method above is that the image will be mirrored or reversed. When you're going to make your print, first flip the image and then make your print, this way after you transfer the image it will be the way that you intended it to be, not backward. One last thing to mention here, copies made with thermal printing probably work best, using heat was how they were made in the first place, some people say ink jet works best, other swear by laser prints. I have an ink jet printer and the copies that it make work sufficiently for my use, your results may be a little different so try all three to see what works best for you.