An expandable gauge for button placement!
Don't have it myself, but it has been in my wishlist forever...
this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2023
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No idea what this is but after the trauma of working out how to do buttons on my partner's Christmas shirt, it sounds like something I need!
Yeah, seeing others finding buttons placements in seconds and I sit there with my measuring tape and my calculator...
Something I always feel especially glad to have is those tweezers with the bent ends on them. I use them to thread the machine (especially pulling through from behind the needle), pull up bobbin thread, turn edges under close to the needle, grab stuff that fell behind the desk…. I can’t think of all their uses right now.
Now that you mention it, I regularly get the tweezers from the bathroom (with appropriate cleaning betwen uses of course), I should probably get some sewing tweezers.
Now that I think about it: scissor sharpeners!! I have one that I use regularly on my basic scissors ans I feel like it makes a noticeable difference. (I currently use an all purpose Fiskars that is dedicated to fabric and it's neither good nor terrible)
I just got some fancier tools for my birthday and my immediate reaction was to talk about them but honestly, the real answer to this is just my scissors.
I struggled for WAY too long with crappy scissors that hurt my hands to use and didn't even cut all that well in the first place. "Upgrading" to my current pair (in speech marks because they cost like £6 or something ridiculous and they're just random ones from Amazon) was a complete gamechanger and I really can't believe how much I was putting up with before.
Anyway. Preparing a new page in my notebook to list out everything the more experienced sewists mention in this thread and populate my Christmas list. Go go go! 😄
So far it's all blades, sewists are dangerous people it seems !
Tell me about your fancy tools though, I also need a christmas gift list!
Sadly I'm too new to have anything really fancy. But I'd spent enough time climbing around on the floor complaining about having to cut everything with scissors that the husband went out and sourced a) a massive cutting mat b) an actual rotary cutter and replacement blades, and c) a thing of proper pattern weights with cute critters on them so I'll stop using our phones because one day I was definitely going to kneel on one of them and break the screen.
(This is unrelated but writing this out just reminded me I had a nightmare last night where I broke my phone screen, weird)
Anyway I posted pics of the haul on Mastodon and IG and nobody understood banana for scale! Everyone just thought it was a weird pattern weight or something!
Beautiful use of the banana scale, that's a huge mat! I appreciate the thoughtfullnes of the replacement blades, that's a really nice gift.
It really was! I told him not to get me anything so technically he was being naughty but you know, I'll let him off.
A quality iron with a steam function
At what point do you consider it quality? I have seen some high end ones for like 400 € and now I feel poor.
Yeah that's a bit much, especially if you're just starting out.
By quality I meant don't get a $10 job from the wal-mart (or equivalent low-price/worse quality store near you) that's going to sputter water all over whatever you're working on when you try to use the steam, or heat unevenly and scorch it. Maybe with an auto-shut off feature for safety.
The Dritz seam gauge with the different seam allowance widths from 1/8" and above. Not the slide rule-looking one. This is a many-sided shape. It makes marking things so easy. It's metal, so you can iron over it.
It looks both nice and practical, I like it!
I have another one: A mini iron to press seams open!
(...she wrote, sitting in front of her sewing machine, having sewed a seam that really needs to be pressed open before proceeding, and having spent the last five minutes trying to press said seam open with the handle of her shears, because the laziness is strong with this one, and who can be bothered to stand up to set up the ironing board?)
My dream home have a dedicated ironing station that does not need setting up too!! I have extensive plans in mind for that!
Rotary cutter and a cutting mat. Made cutting fabric so much easier, especially since my hands quickly get tired from using scissors.
It looks a bit dangerous to me, I feel like it is easier to cut oneself with it. Maybe it's just because I am used to scissors though... what's your opinion on safety with it?
I think the biggest risk with rotary cutters is forgetting to switch on the safety cover when not in use. Otherwise, I'd say the safety risk is the same as scissors: always be mindful of where your fingers are when cutting.
I have a favorite seam ripper. The blade is one end and the other is a curved point that is ideal for poking out corners, flattening seams, etc. I use it more than I care to admit 😀 but when you need to try again there is nothing else that works as well.