improvisation

Metal Bar As Pattern Weight Cheap Butter Knives As Pattern Weights It's hotter than heck out, so definitely time to start using some of that chiffon I posted about earlier to make some nice light blouses to go over tank tops and corsets.

Despite the fact that it's in the 90s and I'm melting, it's only June 1st, and I'm still stubbornly trying to avoid turning on the air conditioning.

Have you ever TRIED laying out chiffon on patterns and cutting it out in a room with multiple fans running?

It didn't take long before I was searching the house for the perfect makeshift pattern weights. I have a couple of washers I've used, but they just weren't enough. Then I found this metal bar in my desk. I think it's actually meant to be the bar that holds up hanging file folders, but it makes an excellent pattern weight--I just needed more.

And then I had an "Ah-ha!" moment. What else is flat and metal and long enough that it can hold down a line rather than just a little spot?

Cheap butter knives! Not good butter knives--you don't want the ones with nice thick handles and shaping so that they feel good in your hands--that nice ergonomic design that looks pretty and makes them comfortable will work against you.
You want the cheap kind that you get in the sets from Walmart that cost less than ten dollars for the entire table setting for eight people. The ones that are barely shaped at all and are not really any more than flat metal bars.

Yes, perfect!