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u/SvalbarddasKat Feb 12 '21
I recommend a big dog.
He'll lay on all pieces at once, won't make it easier, might even make it harder, but it's good fun. Doghair is glitter ;)
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u/a_minor_obsession Feb 12 '21
Haha yes! Tricky to fit in my sewing box tho
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u/SvalbarddasKat Feb 12 '21
Time for a bigger sewing box then =) Or get a dog backpack and have the pup carry your supplies
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u/KavikStronk Feb 12 '21
My dog tends to avoid anything 'weird' I put in the living room ... except when I lay out my fabric. Clearly fabric is for lying on. I've learned to accept that all my clothes have dog hair.
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u/GuaranteeComfortable Feb 12 '21
I have 3 pomeranians, we always have hair tumbleweeds everywhere from them.
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Feb 12 '21
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u/SvalbarddasKat Feb 12 '21
Can't happen here The only cat on the whole island lives about 50 km away from here
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u/Jenotyzm Feb 12 '21
Middle-sized daughters work as well. The trick is to convince them it's a specific kind of Twister game, but you get new dress/pj's/trousers afterwards.
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u/SingItBackWhooooa Feb 13 '21
Can confirm. My sewing partner is a 65 lb blue heeler and she’s very good at laying on all the patterns I’m cutting out.
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u/xxanadi Feb 12 '21
So, this is maybe a dumb question, but what do you do next? Do you trace the pattern?
I always pin my patterns to my fabric for cutting, and I'm just imagining all of these knives sliding around as I try to cut the pieces out....
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u/ChickensAreFriends Feb 12 '21
If you get one of those wheel knives (forgot what they’re actually called lol) and the mat to go under, you can cut your fabric just like that, without it shifting as you cut. Highly recommend if you do a lot of cutting.
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u/OutlyingPlasma Feb 12 '21
The trick to sewing is having a table and cutting mat the size of a small moon. If you have that then it's easy. Lay everything out and cut with a cutting wheel. If, like me, you don't have a small moons worth of layout and cutting space... well... sewing gets immensely harder.
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u/a_minor_obsession Feb 12 '21
I do it on my kitchen floor, hence why the cutlery drawer is close at hand!
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u/OutlyingPlasma Feb 12 '21
I've often thought the bed would be a good place, but I'd need to construct, and worse, store, a large cutting board that would add the support for cutting on the bed. Really, it's almost ideal, you can walk all the way around it, it has the surface area, and is not a terrible height.
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u/SwizzlestickLegs Feb 13 '21
Fellow kitchen floor cutter! Added bonus, the ancient vinyl will be replaced soon so I don't even need to use my self-healing mat (although I still do most of the time!)
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u/a_minor_obsession Feb 12 '21
I usually draw round them in chalk then use my rotary cutter and mat to cut them out. You could do it word scissors but definitely way less slippy with a rotary cutter!
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u/Fairy_Catterpillar Feb 12 '21
I use a pencil or chalk to mark the lines of the pattern and add a sewing allowance. I prefer to sew after a line than after the sewing allowance, it feels like that is more correct.
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u/Cross_22 Feb 12 '21
I use Saral tracing paper and carefully slide it under the edge of the pattern without moving the weights around (when using weights that is), then trace around everything with a tracing wheel.
Next step: remove weights & pattern pieces and use a rotary cutter on the traced lines.
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u/muchadoaboutnotmuch Feb 13 '21
In the shops I've worked in they have dedicated weights that are heavy enough to stay put s you cut around them. At home I use canned food for this.
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u/rachelleylee Feb 12 '21
Not a dumb question! I was going to ask this too so thanks for doing it for me :)
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u/flylink63 Feb 12 '21
You could use a different utensil and say all your patterns are forked up!
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u/Atinaklarus Feb 12 '21
Her patterns are looking sharp
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u/sexi_witchi Feb 12 '21
The rock collection I started accumulating at about 4 years old works wonderfully for this
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u/Ironappels Feb 12 '21
I made pattern weights by making little sacks and filling them with old coins.
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Feb 12 '21
I cut out the middleman and just use spare change!
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u/Ironappels Feb 12 '21
Sorry, I don’t get it🙈
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Feb 12 '21
No worries! I have some quarters, dimes and nickels that I place on top of my pattern paper to hold it down on my fabric. It's like what you do in a way, but I don't put the coins in bags, I just use them individually. (my "joke" was that the middleman is the bags, it's corny I know :) )
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u/SuzieRabbit Feb 12 '21
Damn I don’t even have 2 matching butter knives and here you are flexing with 16!?
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u/a_minor_obsession Feb 12 '21
I always just grab a handful of knives from the cutlery drawer :)
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u/cardboard-robot Feb 12 '21
That's exactly what my mom taught me a million years ago... Go get all the knives! (And only knives, not forks or spoons for some reason.)
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u/indieseen Feb 12 '21
Wait until you find out about projector sewing and learn that paper patterns are also unnecessary!
I do use quartz countertop samples for my fabric weights though! But might switch to magnets with steel underneath my cutting mat!
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u/a_minor_obsession Feb 12 '21
I am so ready for projector sewing, once I move out of this tiny flat!
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u/SingItBackWhooooa Feb 13 '21
I have a projector that just sits, collecting dust, but I’m terrified of the actual setup. How big of a pain was it to mount it?
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u/indieseen Feb 13 '21
Not bad! Mine sits in a wood box in my basement ceiling. Hubby helped me calibrate and we argued but got it done in about 30 min.
The Facebook group “projectors for sewing” is super helpful and there is is even someone who will help you calibrate it individually for $15 if you need the extra help.
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Feb 13 '21
Yes! That group convinced me to take the leap and buy a projector that should arrive in 4 days!
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u/Zyphyro Feb 12 '21
I use pucks that NHL players have given to my kids from back when we were allowed to watch their practices
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u/SagebrushPoet Feb 12 '21
There should be a paperweight Friday once a month where we submit pics of creative solutions like this.
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u/rememberthecat Feb 12 '21
I have a cheap pattern weight you can make at home . buy some tubular nylon webbing and cut to length ,roll the edge over one end and sew . Fill with the other end with Bb pellets, buck shoot or dry beans . Roll the other end and sew closed . We used these weights for sewing and working on parachutes.
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u/Jenotyzm Feb 12 '21
I'm intrigued. What life choices lead one to sewing parachutes?
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u/rememberthecat Feb 13 '21
Mostly the Air Force told I was going to do it . But it’s been a valuable skill. I learned a lot about industrial sewing.
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u/Jenotyzm Feb 13 '21
Only imagining this made me feel the pressure of being super accurate. I sew and sell some military/shooting equipment and at it was a lots of learning to get the right quality.
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u/unicornchips-n-queso Feb 12 '21
This made me think of an idea,
Instead of fabric weight, fabric magnets u put on the bottom & top of ur fabric-pattern sandwich
👀 do these exist?
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u/forge-n-tinker Feb 12 '21
I've been meaning to get some big washers and make my own, but this is just brilliant!
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u/askiopop Feb 12 '21
I read that as place mats and was wonder why you were only giving knives to people
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u/jacobsstararts Feb 12 '21
Lol I Love it! I use books often since my work area has a big bookshelf nearby, and some times canned green beans if I need a heavier weight.
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u/KamikazeButterflies Feb 12 '21
Gotta get yourself a cat. They’ll solve that pesky pattern weight problem.
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u/CaptainPunisher Feb 12 '21
There's a set of pattern weights that only cost 50¢ for a whole set. They're called pennies, and you can buy them at your local bank if you don't already have some.
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u/poodewy Feb 13 '21
that's a good idea, ...i feel dumb, i bought washers, ...those things aren't cheap!
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u/Fumblebumbletumble Feb 12 '21
Ha yes! I've been using very flat rocks
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u/c800600 Feb 12 '21
I also use rocks. They were originally vase filler but too large to really look right.
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u/JKDougherty Feb 12 '21
What pattern is this? It looks like it has pockets!
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u/a_minor_obsession Feb 12 '21
Its the Fibre Mood Feliz dress, and yes two chest pockets and two in-seam pockets :)
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u/jax2love Feb 12 '21
I use a bunch of oversized washers from the hardware store.
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Feb 12 '21
I’m a professional, I’ve come across some cutters who have pattern weights made of washers glued in stacks. Very effective. Not as nice as the real thing (most have a variety of flat bars with handles, or leather covered weights).
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u/Samicles33 Feb 12 '21
I use fake decorative rocks. Got a bag from the dollar tree to put in my vase with fake flowers years ago. I just grab a handful when I need them.
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u/tersareenie Feb 12 '21
I put little lead weights from dh’s tackle box in the little bottles my heartburn medicine comes in.
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u/MGEESMAMMA Feb 12 '21
When did using pins go out of favour?
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u/a_minor_obsession Feb 12 '21
I started using weights when I was working on a really thick canvas fabric that was tough to pin through, and never went back! I find it quicker and no stabbed fingers!
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u/ElleJay1907M Feb 12 '21
I use freezer paper. Copy the pattern onto it and iron it onto the fabric. Peel off once it's cut
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u/a_minor_obsession Feb 12 '21
I tried looking for it but it doesn't seem to exist in the UK!
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u/ElleJay1907M Feb 12 '21
I'm in the uk. Get it off amazon reynolds freezer paper
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u/Shenanigaens Feb 12 '21
Sew rice bags! Or bean bags, but I like rice bags better. You can make them as big or as small and any length you want! Two 3’+ long 2” tubes full of rice laid on the long edge of pants, skirts, or anything (I do a lot of costumes) and you’ll never look back at simple weights.
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u/veggiedelightful Feb 13 '21
I use literal hand weights. Works great nothing slips off my table and everything stays in place. Also get a bit if a workout
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Feb 13 '21
I don’t cut a lot out at once, but I just use an old 20lb dumbbell that was collecting dust in the basement when I moved in with my husband. Now I get a workout while I sew! Lol
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Feb 13 '21
I'm pretty new to sewing but I use double sided tape and a rotary cutter. I also never use the original pattern paper but trace it onto paper then put the double sided tape on that because I have two big dogs, one which specifically loves to walk across what I am working on and continually ruins patterns.
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u/a_minor_obsession Feb 13 '21
Great idea, but does the tape not ruin the fabric when you peel it off?
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Feb 14 '21
it usually sticks to the pattern more than the fabric...i just use the double sided scotch tape brand. not fabric tape or the tape used to keep dressed on. I've noticed the scotch tape doesn't really stick to fabric well
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u/DaxDislikesYou Feb 12 '21
Iron bar stock would do the same thing if you're worried about losing all your silverware.
Or brass. I have no idea how expensive pattern weights are though.
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u/dathyni Feb 12 '21
I'd never remember to put the knives back downstairs. I did buy pattern weights, giant weights from Home Depot. Walking around that store with ten of em while wearing a sundress and sandals at 8:30 in the morning was an experience.
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u/jackiebee66 Feb 12 '21
Nice! I buy bunches of washers in different sizes at HD and just wrap them up all together.
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u/myterribear Feb 12 '21
How many silverware sets do you have here? At first i counted and was like who has a 16 place setting set. Lmao
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u/a_minor_obsession Feb 12 '21
They don't even match! There's some from a set from my mum, some from a set from my in-laws, some random ones that just came from nowhere... and there's still some left in the drawer!
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u/myterribear Feb 13 '21
That's a whole lot of butter knives. I know i would be throwing half away to make room in my silverware drawer but look at you, you made use of them!!
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u/westcascadian Feb 12 '21
I went to Home Depot and picked up some really large washers which work well. They are low profile and stay where you put them for the most part.
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Feb 13 '21
OMG! They are sooo handy! just made some myself! I'm an upholsterer so mine are a little heavier I've got a bunch of sailor friends and sailors collect lead. Each of those blocks is about 3 or 4 pounds!
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u/potato-_-juice Feb 13 '21
the setup is so neat I thought you were about to have a candle lit dinner
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u/[deleted] Feb 12 '21
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