5 Sewing Tools You Definitely Need To Get

Making your own clothes is a great skill to learn, especially if you are an odd body shape (reality check: we are all odd body shapes!).

Getting the fit of a garment right, whether you've made it yourself or you're just looking to tailor your clothes so they fit better, is critical if you want your clothes to hang properly, and if you're into costuming or cosplay, getting your fit right is even more vital to avoid the inspecting gaze of the authenticity police!

To Sew or Not to Sew

Of course you should learn to sew! If anything, it will give you the confidence to really make your clothes fit better, but even more exciting, you can learn to make clothes or decorations like quilts that are really YOU! Your style, your fabric, your choices.

If you're feeling brave, you can even save a fortune by sewing those all-important outfits, like your wedding dress!

Here are five tools that will help your sewing go from beginner to expert in no time:

A Basting Gun

Basting guns are great for people who dislike using pins and are especially useful if you're into quilting.

A Gold Star Tool, such as the micro stitch basting gun, will allow you to easily keep layers of fabric together with a simple tag that takes seconds to put in.

Once your tag is holding your fabric in place, you'll find it easier to either hand sew or machine sew your fabric together, and taking them out is as easy as snipping (with your non-dressmaking scissors) the tag out.

A Dress Form or Mannequin

If you are planning on sewing clothes for yourself or anyone else, you will need a dress form to ensure your clothes fit, and they are a great help if you are the type of person who prefers to draft patterns rather than rely on paper patterns.

Dress forms are not all created equal, though; some have arms, some are lighter, some are heavy-duty, some are hard, some are squishy.

In general, you should aim for a soft squishy form that is heavy enough to take the garments you're making. No dress form will be your exact size either. Padding up your form is a great way to make it 'yours', or you can go full-on DIY and make your own!

Pinking Shears

Pinking shears are a great way to finish off your edges if you're worried about fraying fabrics that might unravel, such as silk and velvet.

You can also use them to add a decorative touch to a garment, and no, they don't have to be functional! Pinking shears come in really handy when working with stretchy fabrics too.

Tailor's Chalk

If you're looking to build a basic sewing kit, at the very least, you should have a chalky pencil to mark your pattern.

Tailor's chalk is easy to brush off and won't leave a mark on your fabric as pencils or pens will do.

A Small Pair of Scissors

Along with your larger dressmaking scissors, you should invest in a small pair of scissors. These should be sharp enough to cut fabric but small enough to snip stitches.

Many sewing enthusiasts find a small pair of snipping scissors easier to cut the threads when using a sewing machine rather than the blade on a sewing machine.

   

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