{walker whimsy}: Pattern Weights

Friday, July 27, 2012

Pattern Weights

Aloha,

Who wants to guess what these are?

Oh. Right. I kinda gave that away with the title of the post. Pattern weights!

Let's just say they are to seamstresses what throwing stars are to ninjas.

Essentially.

All you do is plop them down on a pattern to hold it in place while you cut and voila! You've eliminated the need for pins! They are especially great if you tend to stab your fingers and/or drop pins on the floor and then find them later ... with your feet. Yowza.

Pattern weights on Amazon cost about $15 for four. I made 8 (only six are pictured because the first two came out fugly) for $6.36. That includes tax, peeps. Boo to the ya.

If you would also like to stop walking on pins and needles (har har), here's what you'll need:

>24 two inch Fender washers (3 per weight)

>Yarn (about 10 feet to wrap each weight; it's a great time to stash bust as you can always tie shorter lengths together!)

>Super glue (optional ... and the only reason it's optional is BECAUSE SOMEONE TOOK MINE)

>Scissors (unless you want to go all Man Vs. Wild and use your teeth)

>An embroidery needle

Now, take three washers and the yarn,

stack the washers,

Tie the yarn tightly around the stack and trim the end. If you have super glue you can glue down the end. I just wrapped over the top of it to keep it secure.

Start wrappin'! It's not a terribly scientific process. Just wrap and wrap and wrap until it's all covered. If you're using a bunch of shorter pieces, tie them together and then wrap right over the ends to keep them secure (again, you can super glue the ends down if you'd like).

wrap it. wrap it good.

Now, thread the yarn through a needle and pull it back under the layers.

Cut off the excess and adjust everything so the end magically disappears. If you are lucky enough to live in a home without a super glue bandit, you can add a little dollop to keep it in place.

Voila!