Found Items for Notions: Templates from laminating sheets

I love finding a useful every day item that can serve a double purpose or something that would normally be thrown away that can be put to use as a sewing or knitting notion.

At work, we use a lot of the self-adhesive laminating sheets to make cheat sheets and manage a lot of information we use every day. I found that the backing of the sheets is a strong but pliable paper and it would normally just be thrown away at the office. Some of the brands, I discovered, have perfect 1" grids on the back helpful in making templates for quilting squares and appliques. Working with the sheets can be tricky and even being careful we sometimes mess one up that has bubbles or sticks to it self. I will bring those home as well for see-thru templates to help see how the fabric pattern will lie in the cut piece or to make a really durable template. I will punch two small holes close together in the durable template to use pins repeatedly without damaging the template.