003. The sewing kit (tools for becoming a DIY seamstress)

Today's post is about the sewing kit. As you can see from the photo, some people buy actual kits from online or various sewing/seamstress supply stores. That one's a 150-piece Singer kit. But, you can do it for much cheaper, and only get the things you absolutely need. Then you just add to it as you go.

I went to a crafts store, and just got a big plastic box with sections. Bead boxes work really well. Or, for better durability, you could go to a hardware store and get a fishing tackle box. They come in lots of different sizes, some have adjustable compartments, and they're really sturdy. Decorate it if you want. Fishing tackle boxes aren't very pretty. =P

Things to put in a sewing kit:

Needles - DO NOT get the cheap dollar store needles that come out of a round plastic package. The needles in those kits are dull, and could rip your fabric, not to mention dull needles are harder to push through fabric than good sharp ones. The price difference is nothing. A dollar store sewing kit costs $1.50, and everything is garbage quality. A pack of good needles at a sewing store is $1.50-$2 and you'll get 100 in different sizes. And if you have a machine, make sure you stock a couple packs of replacement needles, and even specialty kinds like double needles, denim, etc.

Pins (and a pincushion) - a box of straight, open end pins are about $1.15 at my sewing store. Once again, don't bother with dollar store pins. They're too short, dull, and the sometimes I find the plastic heads pull off.

Thread - build up a good selection of coloured threads as you go. And always get the biggest spool of black and white that you can afford, cause you'll use lots of it.

Stitch ripper - looks like this. It's used to cut and pick out thread if you make a mistake, or if you need to open hems or seams on a piece of clothing. The space between the two points has a small blade that can cut the thread if you run it along a seam. Alternatively, you could also get a seam ripper, and/or buttonhole cutter. They look the same, but are bigger, and usually have a sharper blade.

Fabric scissors - Large, and usually kind of flat along the outside of one blade, so you can rest it against a table when cutting fabric. And never, ever use your fabric scissors to cut anything else. Using them as household scissors will dull the blade and make it difficult to cut fabric. You can find a variety of sizes, but I use an all-purpose mid-sized pair. I also have more than one pair of scissors, so I don't have to move them from one station in my sewing room, to another. So, I leave a pair on my cutting table, and have a small pair on my machine table for cutting threads and clipping seams etc, and another pair on my ironing board.

Bobbins (if you have a sewing machine) - empty ones, and all the coloured ones! Keep a space for them.

Tissue paper - I get the gift wrapping kind from the dollar store. This is for drawing and cutting out patterns.

Scotch tape - for taping squares of tissue paper together when tracing large pattern pieces.

Measuring tape (self explanatory)

Chalk - tailor's chalk comes in a few colours, and it's either rectangular or triangular. You can also get plastic holders for it. This is for marking out seams on your fabric, or outlining pattern pieces. You usually get 2 or 3 colours in a package, a white for dark fabrics, and some other colour (I have pink and blue) for lights and whites. Tailor's chalk will draw thinner, darker lines on the fabric. However, I survived for a long time on dollar store chalkboard chalk. You just get chalky fingers after a while.

Safety pins - there's no specific use for them, but they are useful. Just don't use them in lieu of straight pins when doing actual sewing, because safety pins slide and catch. I always keep a stash of them in my sewing box just as an all-purpose tool. One of my main uses is when making elastic waist skirts, I use a safety pin to push the elastic through the waistband.

And that's it for a basic sewing kit! As you continue sewing, you'll collect a lot of notions (buttons, zippers, ribbons, lace, etc) that you should organize in sections in your box. I also use a large 3-ring binder with plastic paper covers as pockets for lace, string, etc. My sewing box sits on a corner of my sewing/computer desk so that it's within reach all the time.