Abby Cox, a sewing YouTube creator, recently had a video about hand sewing, and the tools needed for the job. With this was a whole breakdown of what needles were better and how just buying the pack of basic multi-pack of sewing needles really was not worth your time (and she is right!). So before proceeding further with uploading some summer of 2020 projects I wanted to go over the tools that I use in my sewing projects.
Above are my fabric sheers, which are guarded closely, a rotary cutter and self healing mat. The rotary cutter and self healing mat are relative new additions to my tools, however I highly recommend getting at least the cutting mat if you find yourself doing a lot of craft projects as it has been one of the best purchases this year.
The travel/hand sewing kit was put together from a small makeup clasp case that is reinforced on the bottom with a card to prevent pins from poking through. Inside (above) is a red pin cushion with both good and bad pins… come to think of it I should probably fix that, my favorite sized needles, and an attachment to make it a wrist pin cushion. Also included is a leather thimble, a small pair of snips, a seam ripper and a neutral but often times contrasting thread for hand sewing.
This is the sewing machine that I have been gravitating to most this year, mainly because it has a handle on the top and is easily taken on and off my desk. It is a basic Janome that is new to me and the stitch selector is broken on it. However it does do a pretty decent straight stitch. I also have a fully metal old school Elna which was the machine that I first really got to know, and a table singer that was gifted to me but has some quirky electrical problems.
This is the one thing that I think every maker should have, a good roll of craft paper. I have seen multiple creators state that gift wrapping paper is the ideal go to because you can get a basic grid layout on the back, which yes this sounds nice. However, value for the money I really like the giant roll of craft paper, and it takes ink for other projects very nicely. Pictured beside it is a roll of tracing paper which is nice when tracing patterns from library books or purchased pattern books. I can not stress enough however, to save tissue paper patterns the easiest thing I’ve found is to paste them down with a good glue stick onto craft paper. Then you don’t have to worry about possibly ripping the pattern and you can reuse it almost infinite. Yes it takes more time before you can get to cutting fabric, but it is so very worth it, especially if you fall in love with the pattern and want to make it again.
And of course there is the fabric stash which is ever evolving and rotating out. I’m not going to post a picture of that here, lets just say I may have a little bit of a problem… the good news is I think I have a project in mind for all of it… I think?
This is just for sewing, yarn and knitting tools are a whole different post all together.
Yarn Wall Sneak Peak
