Freezer paper is an incredibly useful item to have in the sewing room. Here are some of the ways it can be used in sewing, patchwork, and more.

Cutting out shapes for appliqué in fabric can be difficult. Try drawing the shape onto the dull side of freezer paper. Cut out the paper shape and iron it onto your chosen fabric with the shiny side facing the fabric. Use a hot iron with no steam. Cut carefully around the shape. If desired leave a seam allowance all around for turning under. Peel off the freezer paper and use the fabric shape as an appliqué piece, either with the edges turned under and stitched, or with machine stitched finish. The freezer paper shape can be reused many times.

Freezer paper makes great stencils for applying paint decoration. Draw a selected design onto freezer paper. Cut out the design keeping the outline as the stencil. Place the stencil onto a piece of fabric or even a T-shirt and use a hot iron without steam to fix it in place. Use a sponge or stencil brush to apply fabric paint. Allow the paint to dry before removing the paper stencil.

In the English Paper Piecing patchwork technique freezer paper can be used as a template. Cut the shapes for the design out of freezer paper, iron the shapes onto the fabric, cut around each shape leaving seam allowance for turning under. Pres the seam allowance towards the back or the piece. Hand sew the pieces together according to the overall design. Peel away the freezer paper.

Use freezer paper to stabilize fabric so that it can be put through a printer. Cut freezer paper to A4 size. Iron the A4 paper onto the wrong side of the chosen fabric with shiny side facing the fabric. Use a hot iron with no steam. Make sure the edges are well pressed. Use a sharp rotary cutter and a ruler to slice about 2mm off the edge which will be pulled through the printer first. This removes any loose threads. Press this edge one more tie if needed to make sure the paper and fabric are well fixed together. Put through a printer using a setting for thicker paper. Leave to dry well before peeling off the freezer paper.