How to Sew Chicken Pattern Weights- 8 Easy Steps!

This post contains affiliate links to items that I purchased at full price and that I love. I only share with you items that I use and recommend. 

One of the wonderful things about PDF patterns is that you print them on regular copy paper which is thick and durable. Because of the excellent paper quality, there’s no more need for pinning pattern pieces to the fabric- which happens to be my least favorite sewing pastime. Rather than pinning, I like to lay out my fabric on my giant cutting mat, place the precut pattern on top, then use my rotary cutter or scissors to cut out the fabric. To make sure that the pattern doesn’t shift as I’m cutting, I use whatever’s nearby as pattern weights- my cell phone, the tape dispenser, extra scissors, etc. Having a bin of these cute chicken weights will add a little kitschy charm to my space while also being very useful!

This is a super simple projects that only requires 5 to 10 minutes of time and a few scraps of fabric.
Materials:
Basic supplies (hand or machine)
2.5″ quilting weight cotton for body
1″ red felt for comb
1″ yellow quilting weight cotton for beak.
iron
rice, beans, sand, or pebbles for filler (the heavier the better)

Sewing terms used:
RS- right side, the pretty side of the fabric, what you want to see on the outside when finished.
WS- wrong side, the opposite of the right side.
RSF- right sides facing, which means right sides together.
Baste- Basting Stitch, a stitch used to temporarily hold two fabrics together which can be taken out later, also used to gather fabric. Use the longest straight stitch length setting on your machine to achieve a basting stitch.
Raw Edge- the edge of a piece of fabric that is not finished; the cut edge of fabric.
SA- Seam allowance
Press- using an appropriately hot iron to remove wrinkles or to crispen seams. When pressing, you should lift the iron to move to the next area to be pressed as to not distort the fabric.

Start by cutting out the following pieces:
2 pieces- 2.5″x2.5″ squares for the body (mine is gray/white plaid)
1 piece- 1″x1″ yellow square for the beak
1 piece- 1″x1.25″ red felt for the comb

Fold the yellow square beak piece once to make a triangle. Fold again to make a smaller triangle. Press this piece and pin together along the long, raw edge, through all 4 layers.
Use small scissors to trim two corners of the red felt comb to round them.

Make two snips into the top of the comb that stop about 1/2″ from the bottom. Then round out all corners of the snips to finish the shape of the comb.

Pin the comb and the beak to the RS of one body piece, as pictured. The top of the beak should be at least 1/4″ from the top edge of the body and the comb should be about 1/2″ from the right edge of the body. Baste together.

Fold the left edge of both body pieces 1/4″ to the wrong side and press. These are memory folds that will make it easier to turn the edge to the WS after the chicken is sewn together.

With RSF, pin the body pieces together, aligning the corners.

Use 1/4″ SA to sew around the body, leaving the end with the memory folds open.

Trim the seam allowance and clip the corners.

Turn the chicken right side out, use a pointy object to gently push out the corners and then press the sewn edges.

Fill the chicken with your desired filler and fold the open edge in on the memory fold. Align the seams at the folded edge so that your chicken forms a pyramid shape and then pin together.

Use a running stitch or whipstitch to close the hole- or if you’re feeling fancy, break out the slipstitch/ ladder stitch.

I polled our facebook chat group to see how many of these pattern weights people think you need. Most people said between 6 and 12 but my favorite answer was, “6 for me and one each for the 3 kids so they don’t steal mine” So tell me, how many do YOU plan to make?

Thanks for reading! And please Sew It and Show It in our Facebook Group.

Happy Sewing!
XO

 

13 thoughts on “How to Sew Chicken Pattern Weights- 8 Easy Steps!

  1. Lily says:

    Hi, and thank you for this delightful tutorial! These chicks will be so much more cheerful than the metal washers I currently use. I’m making my hens with 4.5″ squares so they are bigger and I can get by with fewer weights. Thanks again!

  2. Elaine Laws says:

    Love this. I will probably make a little bigger and use a pincushion since I have weights and I collect pin cushions. 🙂

  3. Karen says:

    Just watched Kelly’s tutorial making these. Haven’t got any pattern weights so looking forward to creating my own little flock.

  4. Janet Pearce says:

    I have been intending to make some pattern weights for ages and your easy tutorial on Rebeccas sewing summit inspired me to make a small flock today. Thank you.

  5. squeeky says:

    Pattern weights have been on my sewing room “to do” list for a very long time. After watching your tut, I was inspired. The next day I went up to my sewing room and made a dozen! Though I didn’t have red felt, I did have serger scraps that I made into combs. They’re wonderful! I adore them so much and am so proud of them!

    After reading the comments here, I think I’ll make a larger one to use as a pin cushion too. It’s so neat to have these little mementos of projects past. Thank you!

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