How to hold fabric together without using pins - great for oilcloth, PUL, laminated cotton

So I like oilcloth, laminated cotton, PUL fabric and oil canvas but let’s face it, they can be a real pain in the ass to sew. Case in point: using pins will leave a permanent teeny hole in whatever you’ve made. You can try to put your pins so they’ll be hidden within the seam allowance. Or you can be a little more resourceful.

I’m using some oil canvas right now to make a Play-Doh mat for my daughter Elise. I really want to buy the Clover Wonder Clips but (1) it’s really snowing out so no trekking to the store for me, (2) I don’t want to wait 2 days for Amazon to arrive, and (3) OK so I’m cheap and want to buy it with a 40% off coupon (check out using code AE2121).

So in the meantime I went into the bathroom, grabbed a handful of those metal barrettes that snap shut and guess what? They worked like a charm! They not only easily held together two layers of fabric plus bias tape but also stayed tight with no marks once removed.