You always hear people say "you have to have the right tool for the right job" and that is just as true in sewing as in any field. I was lucky- I acquired a lot of cool sewing tools from my mother, who is a quilter. While that was never my calling, a lot of the fun implements are similar, if not exactly the same. I started sewing with a lot of crappy tools- scissors that doubled in the kitchen, cheap pencils, things like that. And honestly, all they did was frustrate me. If you don't have tools that work, there is no point. I FINALLY got a beautiful set of Gingher Scissors for Christmas this year from my mother and I must admit, these have made a HUGE difference! I wasn't quite sure at first about the weird little thread nipper that she included with the set, but this has become my best friend. This little guy does everything! Check out Gingher's website if you get the chance: http://www.gingher.com/ They have some pretty epic tools.
I already introduced you to my little rotor cutter friend. I wouldn't be able to get anything done without it. What the Ginghers cannot handle, this little guy plows through. 4 layers of cotton duck? No problem. Whisper light gauze? No problem. Someday I will probably replace this with a nice Gingher brand one since those are more ergonomic, but in the mean time this serves me well.
These little work horses have saved me more times than I can count. The one on the left is a Sewline pencil. It works just like a regular mechanical pencil, the type that you add the lead into and click to dispense more. This one takes special white 'lead' (for lack of better word) and its purpose is to mark dark fabrics. The little eraser on the end even takes out most marks. Those that are missed by the eraser can be easily fixed with water and a sponge.
The pen on the right is a Water Erasable Fabric Marking Pen. This guy has a tip like a sharpie marker, and it makes a nice, even, light blue line on light fabrics. It is also great for marking multiple fabrics off the same pattern because it will leak through the top layer into the bottom layer so I know everything is lined up perfectly. Sometimes, if you mark darkly, the first round of water 'erasing' doesn't go quite as well as you would like. I had a fun time of that when I was making my husband's War of 1812 British Officer's Uniform- I blotted out the marks and then, low and behold, they came back! Unfortunately, at that point we were already at the ball, so not much was to be done. And I truly doubt that anyone but me could see the marks: they were around the button holes. Either way, I was a bit mortified. So, I mostly use this pen now if I know that I will be putting things through the wash first :) Still a great tool, just its power needs to be wielded carefully!!!
This last guy should look familiar- it is your typical tomato-shaped pin cushion that originally had a little pin sharpener shaped like a strawberry attached to it. I love this little guy, but he is getting a bit...worn. I know how to sew, and really I should just make a new one; it would take me maybe, what, 15 minutes? But I have a tendency to use stuff until it wears out beyond repair. As you can see from the photo, the little strawberry is nowhere to be found. Funny story on that one- my husband and I have 2 cockatiels: Punky and Donnegal. Both are fully flighted (we don't clip their wings, we also have 3 cats!) and Punky has an annoying habit of flying up to the top of a quilt that I have on the wall downstairs. I don't particularly want her up there because my mother made me that quilt and I am very fond of it, and we like to encourage them to return to the cage when the fly. Usually, if she perches there, I can pretend to throw something at her and she returns to the cage. Well, she got wise to that, and then I had to pick something up off the table and make the motion to get her to return. One day, I was downstairs working on some hand sewing and we went through this little charade. I picked up the pin cushion and pretended to throw it at her but I was only holding onto the tomato portion. I guess I have a realistic fake throwing motion because I somehow managed swing the little strawberry part so hard that it flew off of the top of the tomato and landed with a thump right next to her on the wall! She flew back to the cage, looked at me like I was absolutely nuts, and didn't fly back up there for a few days. Poor Punks!!! So, that is the story of the little Strawberry that apparently could.
Lady, you're crazy!!!!
You always hear people say "you have to have the right tool for the right job" and that is just as true in sewing as in any field. I was lucky- I acquired a lot of cool sewing tools from my mother, who is a quilter. While that was never my calling, a lot of the fun implements are similar, if not exactly the same. I started sewing with a lot of crappy tools- scissors that doubled in the kitchen, cheap pencils, things like that. And honestly, all they did was frustrate me. If you don't have tools that work, there is no point. I FINALLY got a beautiful set of Gingher Scissors for Christmas this year from my mother and I must admit, these have made a HUGE difference! I wasn't quite sure at first about the weird little thread nipper that she included with the set, but this has become my best friend. This little guy does everything! Check out Gingher's website if you get the chance: http://www.gingher.com/ They have some pretty epic tools.
This is a really cool blog! Not that I'm into Victorian dressmaking myself, but I appreciate the attention to detail and the quality of your explanations.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you are enjoying it! When I started this, I wasn't thinking it was very relevant to anyone but myself, but people seem to be enjoying my little adventures :) And I am enjoying documenting how I do this, it will probably make an invaluable resource for me later.
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