Pattern Weights

I like to sew clothing and other items with a pattern but I really hate pinning the pattern pieces to the fabric when I cut it out.  Once I discovered the rotary cutter I pretty much gave up pinning and just free-wheeled it!  When I do need to be more precise I've been using some pattern weights (similar to these) I bought eons ago with thumbtacks in them.  I only have six of them and sometimes that's not enough.

Hmmmmm????  What to do?  MacGuyver it of course!  I headed over to my local family-run hardware store, Frentz & Sons, and bought several shapes and sizes of these metal plating pieces.  I considered a few other options -- no doubt perplexing the shop boys, before settling on these.  There's just enough heft to them and they had plenty of shapes to do the trick.  Total cost -- about $20.

I also bought a heavy duty magnet so I can pick the pieces up easily without disturbing the tender tissue paper patterns.  But I wasn't done.  A few of the pieces had rough edges, which I attributed to their Made In China stickers, if you know what I mean.

Stanley...you're letting me down guys.

 Next, I found some faux suede fabric in my stash (thanks Diane) and made covers for each of the straight braces -- voila:

There was definitely nothing complicated about this task and it will make my next garment construction project go so much better.  I love patronizing my local store -- they're always helpful and appreciative of my business.  

Time to choose a new project!