Finally: Fabric Weights!

Look at that! It makes me feel like such a grown-up seamstress.

To tell you the truth, I never thought fabric cutting weights were really necessary. But like I said, I didn't "think"they were necessary. Because when you just think about it, you believe that you can put any old heavy thing on your fabric when you're cutting.


But when it actually comes down to "doing" it, you reach for something heavy: A book? Too big. Your big glass of water that's standing on the table? Bad idea - you know you will spill it. The plant? It will soil your fabric. What else is within reach? Maybe a camera? You'll step on it and break it (I cut my fabrics on the floor, usually). Anyway, I believe you get my point?

So I went to the flea market on Saturday and saw a huge box full of these little weights. The seller charged me 10 Cents per 100 Grams, so 50 Cents a piece. They were pretty as is, but rusty all over and gave me Henna-red hands.

Definitely not something I'd want to put on my fabrics. So I covered them. It is a really quick, no-sew project, which is pretty much self-explanatory. I'll give you some details anyway... All you need are fabric scraps, rubber bands, scissors (zigzag ones are nice) and some ribbon (though you could even leave them without).

First you wrap the little top part and fix it with a rubber band. You don't actually have to cut the circles out first the way I did. You can just take a piece of fabric that is approximately the right size, wrap the top part and then cut off the excess fabric around it. Then do the exact same for the bottom part: set the weight on the fabric, fold the fabric over it, fix it with a rubber band and then cut off the excess fabric. Tie a ribbon around it and you're done!

I have four now, but I might go back for more next Saturday.


Another thing I found at the flea market is this little booklet:

The title is: "Aphorisms about Dressmaking, from Beda (self-published)"

In the introduction Bela states that "because of the lucky co-production at "The yellow jacket" from Lehár, I believe to have a right for the following statements. The booklet is for free, the re-printing allowed when naming the source, and any way - who could accuse me of anything?". I was so tickled reading that. I work in the music theater business myself, I think maybe he even printed these as little opening night gifts.
I haven't read through the whole thing, but some of my favorite statements I found so far are:

• Your clothes shouldn't be a reflection of your purse, but of your style.
• Clothes can be mistreated - just as living creatures can.
• A great tailor has to have the eye of an architect, the hand of a surgeon, the sense for colors and shapes of a painter  and the patience of a donkey.

On top of that, I also found what I was actually looking for: Leather. A big piece of pretty thick, fairly  bad quality leather, that I can use for soles. Now my first try at making real shoes can continue. Here is a sneak peak:

Oh don't get too excited! It looks quite sweet so far, but this is the part that is most similar to sewing - I decided not to go all crazy on the first pair, because who knows if it will turn out? And to tell you the truth, this one might not. Not only is the most difficult thing to come up with still a big question mark: The heel, but I also think I might have made the opening too small (even though those are functioning snap buttons), and even if I get into the shoe, the whole thing might end up too small. So you see, don't get too excited. A little bit is ok though.

Happy sewing everyone, take care!