Pattern weights

Hi there. Been busy doing lots of different things (work, family, friends and sewing) so no time for blogging. I've finished my #4 dress from the 2015 OAL (don't worry a blog post is brewing). I made the lining from bemburg rayon and it became very clear to me that pinning and cutting straight off the pattern was not an option. As time was of the essence (it was the OAL after all) I used pantry items as pattern weights. But it got me thinking. There are so many DIY options (check out this great post summarising 11 different ways from sew-so-easy).

I was at my local hardware shop a little while ago and found a pack of washers of about 1" diameter. My plan was to group 4 or 5 of them together wrap them in fabric scraps but I had yet to get around to getting any fabric organised. And then I saw the stacked pennies crocheted together. Why not do the same with the washers? I had a bit of 8ply cotton yarn lying around. I used the same approach as the Zen of Making's pocket change to pattern weights - magic circle to start, crochet two increases so the crochet matches the washer diameter, two rounds with no increases to make the sides and then decrease over the top. That bit was a little challenging. Holding the washers together whilst decreasing required some concentration. But the end result is pretty good. I'm looking forward to trying them out.

Do you use pattern weights? Are they DIY?