There are two options for basting: thread basting & glue basting.
Thread Basting
Nuh uh. Not today, Satan! You take forever and I hate you!
In all seriousness, that was serious. Really though, I refuse to talk about it. If you want to explore this avenue (don’t say I didn’t warn you) you can find a video by someone else here.
Hatred disclaimer: thread basting is generally less harsh on your paper pieces and I find it easier to hand sew pieces together, than pieces that were glue basted. So it seems better in the long run, but at what cost I ask you, what cost???
Glue Basting
There are multiple glue options for basting. I use cheap purple Elmer’s glue sticks and they work great. Find more information about supplies in this blog post.
Honestly, glue basting is really simple. You put glue on a side, fold the fabric over. Then just repeat that process until you are done. See images at the end of the blog post for a visual example.
The main thing that is super important to remember when you start out is that you do eventually have to remove these paper pieces… so don’t over glue! However much you think you should glue, you should probably glue less than that. If you glue too much, it is going to be really hard getting those papers out when you are done. REALLY HARD AND ANNOYING. I lived that life, don’t do it!
If you are now so scared of over gluing, that you are worried you will under glue, don’t be. If your fabric sticks down, you probably have enough glue. If it pops back up later, you can always glue it back down. Better too little glue, than too much. How much glue to use is a delicate balance that comes with practice. Eventually you don’t even think about it.
All done! Happy Sewing! 🙂
