Favourite tools?

[nou]

I was just marking out some pieces for the next stage of my embroidered trousers earlier, and thought I’d take a few photos to show the usefulness of one of my favourite sewing tools... a mechanical chalk pencil. It makes such precise lines! The fabric in the photos below (click to embiggen) is linen, which is bumpy and not all that easy to draw on, but look how clear the lines are! And it’s plain white chalk, so it just washes out.

The one I have is made by Bohin, and the chalk refills come in different colours, but I’ve only ever used white. I find it useful for both embroidery and clothes-making.

What are some of your favourite sewing-related tools?

Comments

[yhlee]

Oh my goodness, nou, that's incredible. Are these a comparatively recent invention?! I must tell my mom (assuming she doesn't already know) AND get one for myself, that looks amazing. I still remember struggling with the tailor's/dressmaker's chalk (? the stuff that comes in rounded triangle shapes?) when my mom was explaining Sewing For N00bs to me, albeit I was, like, four. :)

I'm very basic. I love my SEAM RIPPER and (although I rarely use it) needle threader. :D

And on a completely different note, my mom gave me a pincushion that I treasure because it's from my mom. Also she picks good tools, but it's that warm feeling I get from sewing because I associate it with my mom's favorite activity. :)



This is store-bought, not hand-made, but it's from S Korea and it has the cute detail of the little maedeup [Wikipedia] (매듭, Korean traditional macrame - Wikipedia informs me we nicked it from China, which is totes in character) in the middle!

[nou]

I think I found out about them a few years ago. I’m not sure if they were new then. I do use the triangular tailor’s chalk as well, because it’s way way cheaper than the refills for this — I only use the chalk pencil when I need precise lines like these, or for fabrics where the tailor’s chalk has trouble making clear enough marks.

I generally use the tailor’s chalk for marking the fabric around the edges of patterns before cutting them out (because you must always cut all the chalk away to get an accurate shape, so it doesn’t matter how wide the outside of your chalk line is because the edge of the pattern creates the precise inside edge you need).

I love my seam ripper too! I make a lot of muslins when I’m trying to improve my patterns, and so being able to take them apart again quickly is important.

Your pincushion is ace. I similarly have and treasure one that my partner’s mum gave me.

[yhlee]

nou - I've added the tag "tools" but am open to changing it if you have a better suggestion. :) I'm in a workshop right now but will try to figure out how to let members tag their own posts later tonight, as I suspect I borked that setting.

[nou]

Thank you! “tools” is perfect.

[via_ostiense]

This is brilliant! I always thought something like this had to exist, but could never find it at fabric or craft stores. I've only found the triangles of tailor's chalk, and the Chaco chalk dust pens, which suck. So I use fountain pens for marking, since most fp ink is water soluble and washes right out. I've only done it on cotton and linen, though.

[nou]

Ooof, thank you for the warning — I had been wondering about trying one of those Chaco pens to see if they work better for jersey than my existing chalks.

I’ve only found the Bohin pencils and refills at a few online shops — a lot of haberdashery places don’t seem to sell them for some reason.

[via_ostiense]

The Chaco pens don't put down a line unless you press hard and go slowly, and the chalk blows/brushes away too easily while you're handling the fabric. I bought one because it kept popping up on sewing tool roundup lists, and it's been underwhelming.

[nou]

That sounds like absolutely the opposite of what I want. How disappointing for you!

[shermarama]

Right, I'm totally looking into getting one of those chalk pencils, though I suspect this will require patience in New Zealand :D

I do use the thin pieces of tailor's chalk now, but actually I just used to buy standard classroom chalk, and it a) marked more easily and b) wasn't that much less precise, one you got your eye in. I find the binding on the tailor's stuff still means you have to press quite hard, and for thin fabrics, that just means it pulls the fabric out of shape and marks somewhere random anyway... Depending on the fabric, if it's just a small construction mark on the wrong side, I'll use some cheap old felt-tip pens someone gave me years ago - they only make faint, pale marks, but I'll remember what they were for use right then, and it doesn't even matter if they don't wash out.

[nou]

If you can’t find anywhere that will ship one to you, drop me an email — I’d be happy to act as your shipping agent :D

When I first started marking-and-cutting instead of just cutting around the edges of the pattern, I was faffing for ages about how to get started, but then I was inspired by Damien on the Great British Sewing Bee, who just used a Sharpie (and got told off for it). So I used some coloured kids’ chalk I had in the house, and yes it did stain the offcuts, but it got me out of my decision paralysis and worked well enough for me to know this was a method I wanted to get the hang of.

[shermarama]

It turns out that given the name, the largest and most comprehensive craft shop in the country sells them. It's in Auckland (about 120km away) so I still haven't been there in person, just ordered online, but I'm still thinking I'll do that sometime...

What's the benefit you see for marking and cutting like that? I admit I'm a bit impatient / inclined to be imprecise when sewing, possibly just because my job requires real precision and care sometimes, and I like to pretend I can just dash things out if it's for leisure :D

[nou]

I used to just cut around the edges of the pattern, but I frequently ended up accidentally cutting off slivers of the pattern itself, which is annoying because I re-use them a lot. Marking before cutting means I no longer have to worry about my patterns getting continually degraded like that.

[fred_mouse]

My absolutely favourite, accidental acquisition, is a bodkin -- useful for threading elastic and ribbon through narrow casings, and also for turning, ...., umm the things where you get a narrow piece of fabric, fold it in half, and sew along one short edge and the long edge... turning them right side out.

[nou]

I know this one, from many watchings of the Great British Sewing Bee! The name for the things is “rouleau loops”.

For less-narrow casings I use a skewer that has a loop at one end (see photo [not mine] of loopy skewer). Baste the elastic to the loop then thread the skewer along the casing, then remove the basting once the end of the elastic has reached the other end.