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A Sewing Kit for Beginners

If you are thinking about taking up sewing, whether hand sewing or machine sewing, there are some very basic but certain essential tools that you will need to own in your first sewing kit.

Compiling your own sewing kit for the first-time need not be hard to do, or even expensive. With as little as eight basic tools, you could have a simple kit complied in minutes. If it works with you and allows you to start your sewing journey, you can then add to it and improve it over time – as soon as you’ve got that first stitch or project out of the way.

This then leaves you with the more harder decision – that of choosing from the huge variety of boxes, cases and baskets that currently swamp the sewing market today!

Essential Items

I have whittled this down to the bare minimum of items that really are the very basics that you can get away with when you first start sewing:

Needles: Both hand sewing needles and needles for your machine should be plentiful in your kit, with an array of different sizes available.

Pins: These small but essential items hold your fabric in place for you as you work, keeping your precise measurements intact as you sew.

Measuring Tape: To take body measurements, this is a must have item.

Scissors: I always recommend three types of scissors:

1) Fabric scissors to cut materials

2) Pinking Shears to give you a better finish on your fabrics

3) Small embroidery scissors for the more delicate of cuts, including snipping threads.

Seam Picker: Also known as a seam ripper, these are essential when you need to carefully pick out a whole row of stitches!

Tailors Chalk: This is a great marking tool as it is temporary, but allows you to see it clearly on your fabric.

Other Recommended Sewing Kit Items

Though the above items are the very bare minimal of essentials to get your sewing kit started, I would also recommend, if you possibly can, adding a few other items to your kit when you begin:

Range of threads: Perhaps the most used item with your needle and scissors is the thread. Black or white, or a mixture of colours, these can be as small and as basic as you like.

Small pieces of material: A small piece of fabric allows you to check your current thread, or perhaps test a few stitches before committing to a bigger project. You can always use spare material from around the home.

Pin Cushion: When using several pins on a large piece of fabric, a pin cushion can save you time locating them, and prevent you from catching your fingers when trying to pick your pins up!