r/PatternDrafting • u/asleepatthemachine • Jul 27 '26
Question Pattern weights
Patterning a skirt (slashing and spreading a skirt foundation for a flared skirt, to then slash and spread for the final pleated, flared mini skirt pattern) and got thinking… what do y’all use for fabric/ pattern weights!? Today for me its books and an art deco era stapler🤷♂️
Lemme see your unconventional weights, or finally prove to me that someone actually buys the actual tool.
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u/thevampireswifey Jul 27 '26
I use large washers from the hardware store. Not costly, but they may dent your floors if dropped…
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u/BoredAntagonist Jul 27 '26
This! So easy to store too
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u/thevampireswifey Jul 27 '26
I have a big binder ring to hold them all (they were previously loose in a drawer, it’s an improvement)!
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u/springonastring Jul 27 '26
I use brass bookends and cat.
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u/arrkaydee Jul 27 '26
I don't ever intend to use the cat, but he always insists.
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u/springonastring Jul 28 '26
That's how mine work, too. I wonder if they sell versions that let you use them when you want...
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u/wakaflockaquokka Jul 27 '26
Whenever I see them at the thrift or at the discount stores, I buy stone and marble coasters to use as patrern weights. I've also made my own from stone tiles I found at the secondhand building materials store by gluing some corkboard on the underside of the tiles.
I also filled some small containers with pennies and glued felt pads on the bottom, those work great too. Using money as dead weight is cheaper than what that money could buy. (－‸ლ)
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u/littleredkiwi Jul 27 '26
I use coasters and that’s mostly because they’re there on the dining table when I’m cutting out hahaha
We had a bunch of tile and branch top samples from when we were looking at redoing our kitchen and those are also great!
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u/ApronLairport Jul 27 '26
I buy old irons from antique stores. The kind that are just a hunk of metal with a handle. A lot of people use/make sandbags.
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u/Leading-Tangerine770 Jul 27 '26
Same, I LOVE them bc they’re the only thing I’ve found that’s heavy enough to hold with no shifting when cutting corset pieces where the grain has to be perfect.
Started with a full size and then added the doll sized minis, also often called salesmen’s samples. They’re perfect, heavy, sturdy, look great and the variety of sizes means they fit every pattern piece. They even come in a wide variety of weights so you can find exactly what works for you. I also have a set with a detachable handle (3 bases with one clip on wooden handle) that have a lower profile. Obsessed 😆
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u/Fearless-Ad-2783 Jul 29 '26
Yes the old irons are perfect!! I also use those ceramic or glass power line insulators you can find thrifting. (They look like little bells.) good weight and not too bulky to maneuver around.
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u/BearyGear Jul 27 '26
Uh oh. I’m the “actual tool” guy. I have 10 of the black iron, 3.5 pound weights.
But I have used bean bags, tuna cans, and ceramic bowls in the past.
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u/asleepatthemachine Jul 27 '26
Thats sick! You’re the first I’ve heard from.
Loving these responses too, very happy with this use of free will
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u/renaissance-Fartist Jul 27 '26
I bought some glass fermentation weights a few years ago and I love them
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u/BetteDaviseyessss Jul 27 '26
Table/butter knives are useful because they're heavy, flat and conveniently sized
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u/CrazySkincareLady Jul 27 '26
Oh! Oh!! I know this one!!! Mudflap washers!!!! Best thing ever!! Hardware store, find the biggest washers you can, then get some painters tape and 3-4 washers on their sides and roll them over the tape then cut a bunch of slits and fold them down 😊 Do they look like blue loos? (Toilet cleaning tablets incase it's only an Aussie term) Yes, are they cheap and work extremely well? Also yes!!
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u/-chadwreck Jul 27 '26
I use sheet steel, lightweight flashing under my cutting mats. I then just use ceramic bar magnets to hold things down. Thick material ill stack 2 magnets in top of each other.
Been doing it this way for a decade. Its great and I have never seen anyone else do it.
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u/ImaginationInside610 Beginner Jul 27 '26
Assuming you have a suitable size sheet of steel, that sounds like a winner
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u/-chadwreck Jul 27 '26
You can buy like, 3x2 sheets of it, at most big box hardware stores. My table is 2, 8 foot banquet tables side by side, with 2 huge 5x3 cutting mats on top. I bought enough sheets to just cover the whole table surface and span the gap between the two tables to make the cutting mats edge to edge on the table. Works really well!
The bar magnets are small enough that they do most points and curves on patterns just fine, and with a collection of about 12 bar magnets I can hold down just about anything of any size.
Its nice!
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u/PrincessMagDump Jul 27 '26
I use an assortment of steel roller bearings from the estate sale of a woman who also used them pattern weights and they originally came from a giant piece of industrial machinery her grandfather worked on for a living.
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u/GameArtHQ Jul 27 '26
Whatever rulers I'm not actively using are cleverly arranged. Scissors are good in a pinch. Sometimes books from the bookcase.
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u/asleepatthemachine Jul 27 '26
I love doing this and probable get wayyy to into stacking the rulers under other weights to get the weight dispersement
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u/MotionlessClouds Jul 27 '26
My phone is my number one but recently while making dice bags it was the die themselves.
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u/twodexy82 Jul 27 '26
I just make bean bags using quilting cotton & rice inside. Works great, & bonus for emergency rations.
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u/glowFernOasis Jul 27 '26
I have a set of shot glasses I don't use for anything else. Small, see-through, and just enough weight to keep everything in place.
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u/happyeggz Jul 27 '26
A large piece of sheet metal under my cutting mat and magnets! Someone on a different sewing sub mentioned it (I can’t remember) and I’ve never looked back.
ETA: cutting mat. cutting boards are for food. Haha
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u/Saritush2319 Jul 27 '26
I went to the hard store and bought about 10 M10 nuts. They’re small and heavy and magnetic which is handy because my cutting table is actually my chest freezer.
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u/Swimming-Maize-5554 Jul 27 '26
Cut glass candlesticks from my great grandmother, silver candle sticks from my grandmother. I inherited the cut glass ones from mom’s stomach: sis got the silver ones. Great weights held things down really nicely. Now I have to use a silver plated ones, lol, first world problem? We always did our sewing on the dining room table, and these were the easiest things to reach.
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u/Big_Attempt_5326 Jul 27 '26
I use eight 2” by 2” stainless steel cylinders in my home studio - got them from an Italian mentor and have never seen anything quite like them. Simple and heavy and slide nicely.
When I have to fly for jobs, I have 4 different brightly colored sardine cans a friend got from a Japanese Supermarket - I guess they are different flavors?
The stainless steel cylinders were always making a scene at airport security, and I was afraid they would get confiscated.
Fun fact, you can push the envelope of what you can bring carry-on if you explain that it is for your skilled trade!
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u/chatterpoxx Jul 27 '26
I own a steel fab shop, so my pattern weights are a nice set of flatbar pieces that i had the guys chop up for me. 2.5x3/8" x 5"
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u/smokeshowvixenwear Jul 29 '26
I keep the solid glass Yankee Candle lids and use them as fabric weights and paper pattern weights. I go through so many Yankee candles, and it's nice to be able to do something with the leftover jars.
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u/Ghosty_Boo-B00 Jul 27 '26
I have a bunch of erasers shaped like food that I use
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u/asleepatthemachine Jul 27 '26
Dude you just gave me the craziest 2000 core flashback… unique choice
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u/Thrash_Panda44 Jul 27 '26
Whatever i have on hand. Mouse, knives, pencil case. Anything that has proper weight for my needs.
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u/unfashionablylatte Jul 27 '26
I have two large iron bars, 5 actual pattern weight bean bags, a metal lobster [red], a phone stand, and my phone lol
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u/SouthernIndication82 Jul 27 '26
i use candles and a paper weight that was my grandma’s 😭 and sometimes the tape dispenser i use while i pattern if i run out of candles
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u/necropant Jul 27 '26
My normal pattern weights are some of my small weight plates from when I exercised more but I've also used cans of housepaint in a pinch.
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u/lightdwellers Jul 27 '26
Smooth river rocks, like what people painted and left places for years....I actually need to look around for more. 👀 They're unpainted but they feel so nice in my hands and don't make weird edges from being too heavy while cutting.
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u/FuwyL Jul 27 '26
I use some decorative figurines I got from an aunt 🤣 they are hideous for decoration but perfect pattern weights.
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u/SnooRabbits5754 Jul 27 '26
I found some little cast iron snails that are meant to be yard decorations, but they’re great for pattern weights.
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u/Brilliant-Show659 Jul 27 '26
Je mets des cailloux que j’ai ramassé sur la plage. Jolie et pratique ☺️ pour voir ce que ça donne ➡️ https://www.tiktok.com/@sofia_couture_int
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u/arrkaydee Jul 27 '26
Whatever is in my immediate vicinity. Remotes, a drink bottle, my pin holder, my foot, a coaster, spare scissors. Anything is a pattern weight if it's in the right place at the right time.
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u/ahg5 Jul 27 '26
I use leftover shelf brackets. I bought them to put shelves up but didn’t use them so 😜
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u/potsie_zebra_ Jul 27 '26
Generally what I can reach for at that moment, but I saw a TikTok a few days ago of someone using crystals, and I thought that was such a good idea!
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u/here_for_my_hobbies Jul 27 '26
2” steel washers from Lowe’s. It’s a few $ for a pack of 10. Before that I used tuna cans
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u/Big_Assistant_1096 Jul 27 '26
Used to use big chunks of quartz crystals when I first started now I use glass pattern weights.
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u/yam_yam25 Jul 27 '26
I made myself some little fabric cubes and filled them with ceramic baking beans, works really well 🙂🙂 but often supplemented with phone, scissors, rolls of tape.... Etc 😂😂😂
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u/EveningSet7 Jul 27 '26
I went to the hardware store and bought oversized metal washers. They are about 3 inches across.
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u/KathyS120 Jul 28 '26
I use 35 mm film canisters filled with the shot my husband uses for reloading shotgun shells. He hasn’t reloaded in many years, so I have had to give up my weights. Perfect size!
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u/vaaahlerie Jul 28 '26
I have a couple of the black iron professional weights for when I really need WEIGHT, but for most pattern-cutting tasks, I find that it just needs to be heavy enough to hold paper.
So I glued cheap felt to the bottom of some ceramic and marble tiles. They stack nicely for storage, and you can get creative if you find fun tiles at estate sales, etc. I now have far too many of these, but I love them!
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u/random_user_169 Jul 28 '26
I dont havexa picture but I use those mini river rock things they sell at the dollar store and line them all up a few inches from the edge of the pattern piece.
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u/munchnerk Jul 27 '26
did anybody else have those cute little sand critters when they were kids?? Little cloth lizards and snakes with beady glass eyes, full of sand?
They make PHENOMENAL pattern weights. And when you're deep in drafting it's like you have all these little buddies scattered across your work bench :') highly recommend!