Many of us shy away from using dark background fabrics because it is difficult or messy to mark the background using the traditional applique methods. With back basting and Glad Press'n Seal® we can eliminate the mess and make dark backgrounds fun and easy to use.

It may also be that your background fabric is very light or thin and you don't want to run the risk of the pencil line showing through the background fabric to the front. Using Glad Press'n Seal® will result in a finished product that will not have a pencil or pen mark on either the front or the back.

(Dark fabrics did not photograph well for this pictorial, so I have used a medium background fabric which shows up well in the photos.)

Materials:

• Pattern (reversed if necessary)
• Fine-line Sharpie®, an inexpensive Bic® pen, Pigma Pen® or pen of your choice
• Background square (cut oversize for applique)
• Glad Press'n Seal®

Step 1:Tear a piece of Glad Press'n Seal® large enough to cover the pattern. For very large patterns you may need to overlap 2 or more strips of Glad Press'n Seal® so that the pattern is entirely covered. Smooth the Glad Press'n Seal® over the paper pattern.

Tip: The manufactured edges of the Glad Press'n Seal® will have a tendency to pull up just like the selvage on fabric. Cut off about 1/2 inch along each edge to eliminate the problem.

Step 2: Trace the pattern onto the Glad Press'n Seal® using an inexpensive Bic ® pen . You may want to test several different types of pens until you find one that you like. Testing is easy. Just tear a small piece of Glad Press'n Seal®. Spread it across a piece of typing paper. Doodle on the Glad Press'n Seal® with a variety of pens until you find one that works best for you. For me, the Bics® smears the least.

The ink will smear (as in photo to the right) while wet so start tracing in the center and work out or on one side and work to the other side so that your hand doesn't get into the wet ink.

Allow the ink to dry thoroughly after the tracing is complete.

Tip: Allow to dry for an hour, then take a tissue and wipe any excess ink from the Glad Press'n Seal® .