I'm thrifty when it comes to craft supplies. My fabric scraps are hardly ever usable because I cut things as carefully as I can to avoid waste. I often have strings and strands of floss around that I might need for the next project. So when it comes to a product that costs nearly a dollar a sheet, I get careful.
As I type that out, I laugh at myself. A dollar isn't a whole lot, but given how often I use Sulky Sticky Fabri-Solvy, it would add up. (by the way, Sulky doesn't sponsor me in any way, but I do use affiliate links from time to time.)
One of the handiest things about this material is that you can print on it. But if you just print one pattern in the middle of the page, you've pretty much used the entire page. Instead, I place my patterns at the top of the page and print.
Then I draw a line across and cut off the printed area. Now I've got a slightly smaller sheet of Fabri-Solvy that will still feed through the printer!
This only works a few times, because a really small piece is likely to cause you printing grief, but prevents a lot of waste while still having the convenience of printing. For the rest of my pieces, especially the oddly shaped variety, I trace by hand with a pen or pencil. Not quite as easy, but it still does the trick!
Does anyone need advice for grouping a bunch of patterns on one sheet? Let me know and I can set up a post on an easy way to do that with free software!
Update: Find my post on printing multiple patterns here!
And in case you've missed it, we're in a month of free hexagon tinies patterns. Each of these patterns is designed to be stitched small...and fit in a 1-inch hexagon! Enjoy a cheeseburger today!
too cute!! I would be interested in knowing how to group patterns to be printed.
ReplyDeleteI found Sulky sheets through you and let me just say...I AM IN LOVE! I am like you and group several patterns together to try and save as much as I can! Thank you for today's pattern! It's adorable!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the pattern today and past ones:) I use Photoshop on my iMac to group patterns but I don't have it on my laptop. A post about ways to do it without Photoshop would be wonderful:)
ReplyDeleteYes, how do you group the patterns together to print? Thanks!! :)
ReplyDeleteI'd love to know how to group patterns although I'm not sure that will help me with what I need. I um, I haven't started my 50 States stitchalong yet... I like the idea of printing them on this sticky solvy, but with one pattern on a page, that would be a huge waste of material. Hmmm, maybe I can print each on normal paper, cut them out and attach them to one sheet and then copy onto the solvy? I'll have to play around with that and see what works :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for another cute tinie! :-) I too do the same with the Sticky Fabri Solvy. For grouping patterns using my Mac laptop, I just discovered the following: after opening a new docx on Microsoft Word, I grab the picture straight from your post and drop it on the docx, then right click on each picture, choose Format Picture from the drop down menu and format size to 2". Very easy and quick.
ReplyDeleteI do everything I can to get the most out of my Sticky Fabri Solvy, too. I have tried a little different approach (http://thimblenest.com/sulky-sticky-fabri-solvy/) but I 'm going to give your method a try, too. I would love a tutorial on how you group patterns onto one sheet.
ReplyDeleteAlso, loving the hexagon tinies for this month--especially love today's cheeseburger!
I'd read about your use of this product in an earlier post and I was rapt! Such a great idea...I love stitching and patchwork but have a pathological hatred of tracing and cutting. You've solved that first problem for me though! Lol
ReplyDeleteTo print multiple images on one sheet......I believe you could do this using Acrobat's snap shot tool. Start a new document in Word....go to your desired image that is a PDF, use snap shot tool and paste into Word doc.......repeat. I haven't tried this but I think it would work. You could also resize the snap shot image too.
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