late Christmas gifts

Better late than never, right?  I made a couple of my best bloggy buddies some goodies!  I had the hardest time deciding what to make them.  Once I had made up my mind though I was really excited.

I made them both a little set, a pincushion organizer and a set of pattern weights.

I have one of these pincushions right next to my machine and it's fantastic!  I keep a fabric marking pen, a pencil, a seam ripper and a small pair of scissors in the pockets.  I also love that you can take the thread catcher off and sit it on your cutting table or closer to your machine if you need to.

Pattern weights are something that I really find so useful!  I cut EVERYTHING with my rotary cutter and the weights make it so easy to just whip around my pattern piece with less chance of everything shifting.

I use 2 sizes of weights.  Larger ones for the center of the pattern and larger pattern pieces and then I have some small ones for pattern pieces that have thinner parts (like the tabs on my bib pattern).

They are really simple to make, just 2 squares sewn right sides together.  I leave a small opening and fill them full of rice and then slip stitch the opening closed.  You can also use them for hand warmers in the winter if you decide that you don't like using pattern weights!  :)

Here are the measurements that I used to make the pattern weights:
(use a 1/4" seam allowance)

Large pattern weights:  cut your squares (2) at 3 1/2" so that you end up with finished weights that measure 3" square

Small pattern weights:  cut your squares (2) at 2" so that your finished weights will be 1 1/2" square