Sewing Back-to-School: Basic Sewing Supplies

This post is part of the Sewing Back-to-School series, 30 days of helpful sewing articles by guest bloggers. Feel free to check out the original Sewing Back-to-School post for schedule and previous posts!

Sarah has a lot of fun projects on her blog, including this Picture Box Quilt Tutorial that is near the top of my to-do list! She is also hosting the Across the Sea Quilt Along which you should definitely consider joining in…a great project for a beginning quilter!

Thanks so much to Sara for the opportunity to post as part of her Sewing Back-to-School series! My name is Sarah and I blog over at FairyFace Designs about my quilting and sewing adventures in Ireland. It’s only 3 years since I first sat behind a sewing machine and I remember well leaving my first evening class with a list of supplies to get, not having a clue where to start or what to look for. I didn’t even know what those things looked like. So I hope that for those of you who are starting out on your journey into learning to sew and quilt, that this proves useful for you. There’s no doubt that building up your supplies can be a costly business – I really recommend buying good quality sewing tools, they are worth the extra cost, but it can be expensive. So be creative – put some of the items on your Christmas or birthday list, see what your mum has put away at the back of the wardrobe, have a look in charity shops. Most of all, have fun!

Starting Out – the Essentials:

These are the items I think you really should have on your sewing shelf.

1. A sewing machine. Obviously!

2. An iron. Can’t live without it!

3. A tape measure – really important if you are measuring yourself/someone else for clothing items. And generally a useful thing to have around.

4. A good pair of fabric scissors. I use Fiskars, they have distinctive orange handles. Keep your fabric scissors for fabric only – don’t be tempted to use it for paper or anything else. A good scissors is pricier than your average pair, but is worth the investment for the sake of sharp, accurate cutting. You will also need a small scissors for clipping threads close to fabric. A nail scissors would work for this – or if you’re planning to do applique, an applique scissors is also good.

5. Machine Needles. You will need to buy replacement needles for your sewing machine. You can get mixed packs which are always good value. I like to use a size 12 for piecing and a size 14 for quilting. Again, buy good needles – otherwise they will snap too easily – believe me, I’ve been there.

6. Hand sewing Needles. Even if you plan to do all your sewing by machine, you will need to do a little hand sewing to finish off seams or binding etc. So get a little pack of hand sewing needles, and make yourself a nice simple needle book to store them in!

7. Thimble – if you’re hand sewing, you will need a thimble. I don’t really like them and wear them as little as possible, but I do need one for certain types of sewing.

8. Pins. A total essential. There are lots of different types out there. Buy ones you like, but be sure that they are “iron-proof”, and be sure, again, they are good quality so that they don’t damage your fabric. A pretty pincushion is an essential and a great beginner project to store them.

9. Safety pins – You don’t need a whole pile of these, but it is useful to have a few, particularly for projects where you need to thread elastic/cord through a tubular piece.

10. Thread. Buy some in a neutral or white, and a dark colour also. Then build up your collection of colours to match the fabric you are working with – always unwind the start of the thread and lay it on your fabric to match, and try a few spool colours before deciding. I use Gutterman thread and have read great things about Aurifil thread but have yet to try it.

11. Seam Ripper. Both of my sewing machines came with seam rippers in the little box of accessories and they were perfect. So check if you have one already. If not, put it on your list. But be sure to buy a small, fine seam ripper and not a big one.

12. Water soluble pen. You could also use tailor’s chalk to mark your fabric, but I much prefer a water soluble pen – easier to use and the marks disappear totally.

13. Bobbins – its always useful to have a few spare bobbins for your machine. I find different bobbins get wound with different colours, so you will definitely need and use them.

14. Knitting needle/chopstick/point turner to get nice sharp points in your corners.

Nice-to-Have Sewing Extras:

There are a few additional items which are useful additions to your sewing supplies, although not essential.

1. A pinking shears is a great tool to have – it leaves a lovely zigzag edging on your fabric which is great for decorative finishing.

2. Assorted embroidery threads/flosses – very useful to have for embroidery, hand-quilting and decorative work.

3. Fabric glue. I LOVE fabric glue. It’s great for simple projects, particularly with felt. I also use Fray Stop which is similar and stops your raw edges from fraying.

4. An embroidery hoop – very useful for embroidery or hand quilting.

5. Buttons. Get yourself a pretty little box and start to save buttons from your clothes and pick up buttons that catch your eye when you are in your local craft shop. You can also make your own with fabric scraps and self cover buttons. Then you always have a selection for decorative work.

Quilting Supplies:

If you are interested in getting started quilting, there is very little you need really – a few essentials and you’ll be off.

1. A self-healing cutting mat – mine is an Olfa one, 18″ x 24″ is a good size to start with.

2. A rotary cutter. Again, mine is an Olfa (45mm blade). I looooove my rotary cutter.

3. A quarter inch foot. This makes sewing accurate seams so much easier.

4. Cutting rulers – I have a few, but the ones I use most are my big ruler (6.5″ x 24″) for cutting pretty much everything and my small cutting square (4.5″ x 4.5″) for very small pieces.

5. Curved safety pins – for basting. You could also use basting spray (although its not widely available here so I don’t have any at the moment!) The curves make pinning through your 3 quilt layers much easier.

6. Marking tool – someone recommended this to me, its a Clover Hera marker. It marks a sharp line/crease in your fabric so is great for marking quilting lines without actually marking the fabric. Ok, not strictly an essential, but I do love mine!

Ok, well that’s my list – hope it was useful for you! Please do pop over and say hi to me at FairyFace Designs sometime soon 🙂 If you’re feeling adventurous, join in my Across the Sea Quiltalong which is just getting started this week!