Sewing Essentials: Beginners Sewing Kit
I often get asked what I would include in a starter kit for a beginner sewist. So I’ve put together this list for you! I have left out the obvious fabric and thread cause there’s a good chance if you’ve started thinking about sewing you already have started a stash of both! (If not, you have the joy of fabric hoarding to come!) So my top 8 things I’d recommend to get started with are:
A good pair of fabric scissors. There is no need to go overboard with these but a good pair will save a lot of swearing and should last you a long time! You want to make sure they are sharp right to the end and most decent brands will serve you well.
A rotary cutter, ruler and board. Ok so this is three for the price of one! But the three working together will save you a lot of bother trying to cut straight edges and measure your fabric accurately.
Iron off fabric pens. If only for the fun of writing rude words on your fabric and seeing them disappear in the heat (but also they are dead useful for making marks that are on a visible part of your project).
A tape measure with inches on one side and cms on the other. You never know which a pattern is going to ask for but it is so useful to have access to both! Remember to always measure and not just go for the size you generally wear - some patterns’ sizing bears no resemblance to modern day sizes!
Pins. My advice is to go high-end on your pins. It’s tempting to buy the cheap ones but you’ll be buying them again in a few months time and then again and repeat. Who knew they could blunt so quickly or the ends would just pull off them. Good quality ones from named brands are more expensive but will last a lot longer!
Sewing clips. These work in a similar way to pins to keep the fabric still as you are sewing and whether you use clips or pins for a project can just be down to which you prefer. However, if you have a small and fiddly project, a project using thick or bulky materials or a fabric which you don’t want to poke holes in (anything waterproof for example!) then these clips are your answer!
Spare bobbins. So you don’t have to continually unwind and waste thread cause it’s not the right flipping colour and you don’t have any bobbins left!
A bag/box to keep all your sewing stuff in. Believe me it’s going to grow and you are going to need somewhere to keep it all!