(Non) Sewing rewind: Sewing Basket edition #2!

Last week I shared a few goodies that I made for my sewing basket: my pincushion cuff, sewing machine quilt, and the tailor's ham & seam roll.  This week, I wanted to share more items that all sewists need, which I made at home to save a penny or two.

Get ready to meet my ironing board, pattern weights, and dress form!

********************

In this post:

• Pattern Weights
• Ironing board
• Duct Tape Dress form

Pattern weights

There are a million and half tutorials out there for making pattern weights.  Some people don't mind spending $12 for 4 weights at the store, while others use soup cans, etc.  I am neither of those people!  I like to save money, and I prefer something pretty (besides I make my soup from scratch)!

Enter the ribbon-wrapped pattern weight.  Since making these, I would consider using fabric instead, but at the time I didn't have many cute scraps.  Besides, my mom had tons of ribbon she was itching to get rid of at the time.  Maybe one day I will redo them with a different scrap of fabric from each project I've done!

I ended up having to buy washers from Home Depot, but I bought a bulk box that was much cheaper in two different sizes.  The pink weights are smaller for pieces that are narrow, such as straps and belts.

Stacked neatly!

I left little loops on each one as a handle, but you don't really need them.  And for storage, I keep them in a washed takeout container probably from my favorite Thai restaurant.  :)

Overall, they get the job done, and I think cuter than the ones you can buy at the store.  And definitely cheaper!

Ironing Board

The next two projects, you've seen a lot of already actually!  I decided to make myself an ironing board after seeing a girl in class struggling to iron out a large pattern piece.  I hadn't made garments with a commercial pattern yet, so I decided to make this before attacking my first piece of clothing.

I used the tutorial found here, and it was super easy and clear.  Some of these are pictures I took with my phone, so hopefully you can still make it out.  I used a striped fabric that helps me to line up my fabric and pattern pieces and I also made the board bigger than the tutorial called for.

It was super easy to make, and my guy even liked helping me by using the staple gun.


Nothing special to look at here, but...

Voila!

It's sooo easy to iron out my pieces now!

And I can lay my cutting mat on it to cut fabrics.  I just have to be careful not to cut into my ironing board, but it hasn't happened yet.

And in action with my pattern weights!

And it leans against a wall for easy storage, and as an added bonus hides bookshelf clutter because it's so large.

My friend also made one of these, and instead of using the grip liner just made it double-sided.  That would be a great idea too!  One patterned side, and one more subdued perhaps.

Dress Form

*Update* View my tutorial to make your own here.

I wanted a dress form, but $200 was way out of my price range.  Therefore, I went to Pinterest and found this pin.  I decided to make the dress form, and did so with aqua green duct tape.  If I had to do it again, I would make it with a neutral shade, like white and stuff it with even more newspaper!  It is definitely smashed up in places.

I read that lots of people name their dress forms, so say hello to Jade!

 The pole is a hat rack from IKEA, but I definitely did some editing when it came to the hooks.

The nice thing is that I can hang items both above and below, as well as having the support of the hooks below for the form itself.  However, the metal at the bottom is great for stubbing my toe on!

All in all, I am glad I have these fun toys to play around with for now.  Some I will have to upgrade or redo in the future, but they work perfectly for me now.

Anybody have any sewing items they have made or repurposed?