Homemade Sewing Weights

A dozen homemade sewing weights, ideal for dressmaking so you don't have to break your back with all the pinning etc.

I used a sewing themed fabric.  You can cut any size for your weights that you like as long as it is a rectangle with the long side exactly double the short side.  So ideal sizes are as follows:-

7cm x 14cm - ideal for collar pattern pieces as they are small

8cm x 16cm - ideal for pockets and children's clothing

9cm x 18cm - a good size for most pattern pieces

10cm x 20cm - useful for larger pattern pieces

12cm x 24cm - one of these in the middle of your pattern piece while checking your pattern placement lines

I used dried rice for fillings and Aurifil thread for both machine sewing and handstitching.

Press your fabric pieces, fold them in half right sides together and stitch along one side and bottom on wrong side of fabric leaving one side open. Clip the corners (not too close).  Turn to the right side.  Fold in 1cm on open edge and press.  Fill with the rice, the more you put in the better the weight.  I filled them to the point that you can just pinch the edges together to sew the seam.  When you are ready to close the opening make sure you close the edge opposite to the bottom so that you get the triangle shape.  

Sew the seam together from middle out, then back along to the middle and across again so that it is secure with very small invisible stitches, mine were 1 to 2 mm apart, this reduces the chances of them splitting.

Think about what colours you mostly sew with before making them.  I used light colours as I am working with bridal fabrics and laces.  

Total cost of the project was 1.20 for the bag of rice (budget will do), as I used scraps of fabric I already had and cotton I already had. 

I took about four hours to make the 12 weights, this included pressing time, setting up the sewing machine and the hand stitching.