Marking a sewing line for hand piecing

i have recently started hand piecing again but have found a little snag.  i like to have a line to sew along and have been using a mechanical pencil for this. 

 

i read somewhere about marking just the dots at intersections etc instead and thought i would try that.  its working fine but the pencil isnt.  the mechanical pencil is realy bad at marking dots that can be seen.

 

i have tried a permanent pen and a pigma marker but both bleed though to the front.  the only thing so far that seems to work is a biro pen, it doesnt bleed, is easy to mark and can be seen.  but im not sure if this is a good idea.

 

it wont matter if the marks dont come out as they are on the back and will be sewn on top of anyways.  also i will be doing this project for quite a while so need the marks to stay.

 

any thoughts?  should i try a  biro? or is there anything else i could use?

 

thanks 

I think I'd try washing a sample using the biro first Julie, just in case the ink bleeds when wet.

 

Did you see Angela's problem with a washable marker recently on a white wholecloth? It went yellow when washed!

 

Hope you find something.

 

Fiona.

i just tried a sample, marking lines this time instead of dots as i discovered that marking dots puts more ink in one spot and increases the chance of bleeding to the front whereas line marling doesnt.

 

i used a pigma pen to mark a line, this time it didnt bleed to the front and was easy and sharp to look at.  i also used a colouring pencil, this would need to be constantly sharpened but worked fine, and lots of colours so will be great on different fabrics.  finaly i tried a biro to mark line.  i did find that the biro line if made too thick will show to the front on lighter fabrics.

 

i chucked the sample in the wash on 40 degree with normal stuff.  only the biro remained, the pigma and the pencils washed out.

 

i think i will stick to the pgma pen, as long as i mark a line and not a dot it doesnt bleed through, and t it washed out.

 

this is only on medium to darker fabrics of course as i can still use my mechanical pencil for lighter fabrics.

 

am curious though as i thought the pigma pens were permanent

I press with a hot iron when I've used a pigma pen to "set" the ink the place.

 

Will need to experiment now! (Well, at some point this week.... )