DIY fabric weights: Heavy never looked so good!

Making your own fabric weights: pinning patterns in place? So time-consuming! With my sewing weights made from beautifully painted stones, it goes much faster! ;)

It’s that easy: DIY sewing weights!

I read somewhere recently that this is what separates a pro from a hobbyist: The hobbyist laboriously pins patterns to the fabric and cuts them out with scissors. Here's what the pro does: They weigh down the pattern with sewing weights and cut the fabric with electric scissors^* (which my husband is regularly a bit jealous of...). Okay, I’m not a pro, but I write a sewing blog. On the other hand: you’re allowed to pick up a trick or two from the pros, right? ;) Here's how it works: Choose sewing weights to match the pattern piece and place them so they don't get in the way while cutting. I have large anchoring weights for large pattern pieces and smaller ones for pieces like collars, pockets, etc. I've been cutting with electric scissors for a long time. Especially for clothing patterns made of jersey, boiled wool, or softshell, I always reach for the electric ones because it's much faster and neater than with scissors or a rotary cutter. Especially when the fabric has a bit more volume, I now find anything else just nerve-wracking. Here you can see how I cut my Mirabell T-shirt, which only consists of two fabric pieces, using the pro method. Because the pattern is super quick to implement and cutting is really fast, I don’t even need half an hour for the T-shirt. The advantage of anchoring weights is therefore obvious. For a long time, I made do with my doorstop as a weight. But I wasn't really happy with that anymore. So I decided to make my own fabric weights from now on. And because my sweet daughter has now also been struck by the sewing bug (and several sewing friends would also be happy about a brightly painted little gift), I went straight into mass production.

A word about the purpose of the anchoring weights

Since I often and enjoy sewing clothes for myself, I keep noticing that large pieces of fabric tend to wander over the edge of the cutting table. Then it can happen that the fabric is under tension, which can cause the entire pattern piece to shift. So I don’t just place the fabric weights on the pattern to fix it to the fabric: it is also helpful to weight down the entire piece of fabric to prevent tension. Because these beautifully painted stones are not just useful as weights for fabrics: They also look great as table decorations for coffee time, as a little eye-catcher in the garden and on the patio, as a lucky charm on a dear colleague's desk, or lined up as decoration on the windowsill. I have to admit: I’ve become truly addicted to painting stones and I love giving them away. No need for anyone to know that the hand-painted "I love you" stone owes its existence to my sewing addiction... ;) First, we drove to the Baltic Sea and looked for beautiful, large, round stones on the beaches and riverbanks. They are wonderful to paint and weight down the fabric optimally. In my tutorial, I reveal how I made my own fabric weights. Important: Before collecting stones, you should check whether it is actually allowed in the target area. Especially in nature reserves, it is often forbidden to remove plants and stones, for good reason of course! By the way: If you don’t live in a place where you can find such beautiful stones^*, you can simply order them online in various sizes.

What you need to make your own fabric weights from stones

• beautiful smooth stones^*
• Metallic acrylic paints^*
• Brushes^*
• Acrylic markers^*
• Clear coat spray^*
• Cardboard for protection
• for "unstable" stones: felt pads^*

My tip: If your stones are a bit wobbly, you can "steady" them with 1–2 felt pads. Then they are true anchoring weights and no longer wobbly candidates. ;)