PSA: My old way of draping fabric on a mannequin was a total mess

For years I just pinned fabric straight onto my dress form, you know, the basic way. It always looked okay until I tried to transfer the pattern to paper. The lines were never right, especially on bias cuts. Then I saw a video from a designer in Montreal who uses a layer of cheap muslin first, pinned flat and marked with a grid. I tried it on my last project, a bias cut slip dress. The muslin method took an extra 30 minutes upfront, but the final paper pattern came out perfectly on the first try. The grid lines kept everything square and the bias grain was so much easier to see and follow. I didn't have to guess or re-draw a single seam line. Has anyone else found a simple trick like this that saved a ton of time later in the process?