The Petite Sewist

Sewing for Women and Children + Tutorials + Pattern Reviews

DIY Fabric Weights – No Sew Tutorial

by 10 Comments

How many of you love to cut out fabric? Mmm….I think most of us can honestly say we’d rather be sewing. Seriously!!  But we’ve got to cut out to sew, so today I’ll show you one of my top secrets for cutting out:

 

The quickest and easiest way to cut out fabric is with a rotary cutter and fabric weights.
 

 

DIY Pattern Weights - tutorial by the Petite Sewist

 

Cutting out with pins can be tedious and time consuming!  I used to use pins and I was always dropping them on the floor for barefooted family members to find later.  Oops, sorry guys!!  I switched to fabric weights (also called pattern weights) a few years ago and never looked back!  Rotary cutters are also easier on your wrists…but that’s a story for another day. 🙂

 

There are many types of fabric weights available for purchase.  (For example, see this Dritz brand or these adorable donut pattern weights.)  But if you have a few washers and a glue gun, you can make a set of washers very inexpensively.  My tutorial is based on this blog post.

 

DIY FABRIC WEIGHTS TUTORIAL

Supplies:
    • Large Flat washers 2 1/2″ diameter (3 washers for every weight you plan to make)
    • Large Nuts 1 1/2″ diameter (Mine are 3/4″ tall – each nut makes one small pattern weight)
    • Glue gun and glue sticks
    • Strips of fabric or ribbon approximately 1″ wide
If you’re making fabric weights to cut out apparel sewing projects, I recommend that you make at least 5 large weights and 2 smaller ones.  The small ones are really helpful for smaller pattern pieces and the shoulder area of t-shirts.

 

To make your large weights, squeeze some hot glue on the metal and place another weight on top of it.

DIY fabric weights tutorial from the Petite Sewist

 

You want the layer of glue to be somewhat even so that when you place the weight on top of it, the stack is relatively level.

 

DIY fabric weights tutorial from the Petite Sewist

 

Repeat so there are 3 large weights stacked with a layer of glue in between each one.

 

DIY fabric weights tutorial from the Petite Sewist

 

Be quick about stacking the washers! The cool metal makes the hot glue dry really fast!

Next, prepare your fabric scraps by cutting (or tearing) 1″ strips the width of the fabric on the crosswise grain.  You can use ribbon, but using fabric is fun and a great way to use old fabric scraps!

 

Secure the edge of the fabric scrap with a bit of glue, and start wrapping around the washer.  You’ll overlap the strips a bit so that the metal is fully covered.  When you are done wrapping, cut your strip and secure the end with glue.

Wrapping the fabric isn’t just for looks! It’s a lot easier to grab a fabric weight than a metal washer.  Because it’s easy to grab, you’re less likely to distort your pattern as you move your weights around.

*No need to stack the 1 1/2″ diameter nuts, you can skip to this step and wrap them with fabric.

And you’re done!  Wasn’t that easy?! These pattern weights been my comrades for the last 5+ years, and they’ve held up amazingly well, don’t cha think? They keep pinning to a minimum so that I am done with cutting and get back to the sewing machine quickly.

 

DIY fabric weights tutorial from the Petite Sewist
I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial! Click here to browse my other sewing tutorials.

This post was originally published in 2012. It has now been completely revamped and updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. My husband has taught me to warm items (with a blow dryer) before hot gluing them. It helps the hot glue work better. Maybe it would work with this project. Love the idea and I will be trying it this weekend!

    Reply

  5. Awesome idea! I always wanted these kind of weights but didn't want to spend money on them. Am definitely going to try these. Can you tell me what is the diameter of the bigger washers?

    Reply

  6. Awesome idea! I always wanted these kind of weights but didn't want to spend money on them. Am definitely going to try these. Can you tell me what is the diameter of the bigger washers?

    Reply

  7. Awesome idea! I always wanted these kind of weights but didn't want to spend money on them. Am definitely going to try these. Can you tell me what is the diameter of the bigger washers?

    Reply

  9. I will actually wrap the bolts in fabric and attach them to a clip. This will be my DIY tablecloth weights. Thank you for this awesome idea. I had no idea how I was going to make the bolts look pretty enough to hang off the table cloths.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Many posts contain affiliate links. This means if you click and choose to purchase, I get a small commission.

This goes right back into my sewing $ to create more content for you. Thanks for your support!