Stuff you use that you did not find in a fabric store

[sewsanna]

Well, I've decided to hunt up some washers for weights. I'm thinking of stringing some small ones together for weighting  long cuts. I want the magnetic wand  to fish pins out of the carpet  in my sewing room. I need a hammer or mallet for pounding seams. I've already wished for one when I was making a denim apron.

I'll have to check into an electric mustache trimmer. (Who'd have thougth!)

So many good useful ideas. I hope a few more members post theirs. I'm enjoying this immensely.

[Lynerwi]

This was such a find, I had to "de lurk" just to share it. A great alternative to rotary cutting mats, found at the local hardware store, is PlasTek waterproof wall panels. They comes in 4 foot by 8 foot rolls, cost under 20 (US) dollars, and work great!

[sewsanna]

On a trip to Office Depot to buy a binder, I took a look around before checking out. Looked at bookcases and bulletin boards, which I need for my sewing room. What I bought for sewing though was a set of French curves. Very reasonable at $6.99. (US)

Also at Ofc. Depot were some really cute storage rectangles. They come in all sizes, have locking lids and come in colors! I am interested in some of those, for sure. Have to think how I would use them.

Have a good sewing weekend.

[dscheidt]

I use a vernier caliper.  Very handy for measuring hem depths, sizes of buttons, and more.

[Laurie]

Such fun ideas!  My favorite non-sewing tool is a sink pop-up lever (Husband used to be a plumber) that is perfect for turning ties and tubes.  The lint brush I use for my machines came from an old make-up kit, my 'darning egg' is an egg shaped rock I found in my grandmother's sewing box - no idea if it was purchased or found!  I use a dinner plate for the curve at the corners of fleece throws and have used canned food for holding down a pattern.  At school, we have started keeping all of the straight pins and needles in plastic pill bottles - easy to see and get to, less messy and a good way to reuse the bottles!  Laurie

[annenet]

I keep my silk pins is an old Altoides box. I love using stuff I have around! Like the chop sticks from some forgotten chinese food we had a while ago! Also, I'm a systems engineer and some of my tools for computers work also for my sewing machines.

[sewsanna]

At school, we have started keeping all of the straight pins and needles in plastic pill bottles - easy to see and get to, less messy and a good way to reuse the bottles!

I am trying to imagine this. You empty out packs of needles into the small straight sided prescription bottles?

I put used or broken needles into a spice bottle that has a shaker top.

I forgot about Altoides boxes! Great containers for pins. I agree.

[sdBev]

.. I'm a systems engineer and some of my tools for computers work also for my sewing machines.

I share many tools with my DH.  We've both discussed how interesting it is that tools he uses for models and fishing find there way into my knitting and sewing; and vice versa. 

[jamesosews]

I have a toy ironing board - imagine trying to market something like that now - that's the perfect size and height to sit alongside my chair.  Paired with an old travel iron I can press while I sew.  I never have to leave the machine.  The ironing board was a Christmas present for my sister about thirty years ago.  She never played with it.  I don't think she plays with the ironing board she has now either. 

I also have a pristine Hoover Celebrity vacuum from 1972.  This is the one that looks like a flying saucer.  It was in the original box, stored away in the attic at the parent's house.  They didn't know where, how, or why.  It's perfect for my sewing room because is slides under one of the cabinets, out of sight.  It doesn't have a beater bar, so piles of thread, snips from curves, fuzz, whatever...all fair game.  When I'm finished working I reach under the chest, pull this little vac out, and the floor is cleared in about two minutes. 

[stashpanache]

James, when I was a little girl, I had an ironing board and an iron that got HOT!!  Not blistering hot.  But hot enough to melt crayons all over my sister's bedspread.  They sure wouldn't market that now.

I remember that vacuum too although I didn't have one.

[Susan in Miami]

I love beautiful tools, especially handmade wooden tools. I bought a gorgeous handmade wooden box meant for holding mail in an antique store. The box has a large wooden handle attached to a divider running down the middle. It is rather large and will hold most of the tools needed at each sewing session plus it keeps small items for a specific project, like buttons and zippers, etc., from getting lost. Best of all, it is portable.

This is a fun topic, Susan

[Pipsy]

Wow - I use a lot of the items listed, like washers, bb's in a bags for weights, plastic and metal containers of all sorts.

I am lucky to live alone in a 2 bedroom condo so have a separate sewing room, which I lined with book cases from IKEA and cork boards. My sewing table is my daughters old dressers from IKEA with a board over them. I thus have lots of storage drawers. I have used various pieces of 2x4 or 6x6 lumber over the years under the board on top of the dresser to change the height of the table.  I have an angled and carpeted secretary's stool under the desk which holds my SM foot on which I have glued rough sided velcro.  I use plastic suction cup holders on the sides of the dresser to hold my electrical attachment to my machine and little bags I have made for threads and other 'stuff' to go to the garbage.

I am the original 'make do' creative person.  From art/stationary store - draftsmen sheets - this is one of my cutting boards and while doesn't have all the lines on them it does recover and cost $8 compared to $24 at fabric store. Also a flexible ruler used for drafts projects.  I keep the slates from shortening venitian blinds to use to weigh drapes or anything else I want kept straightened.

In my community we have a business called Princess Auto which is a warehouse of discount auto, tools and farm products and whatever else they can find.  It is a shoppers dream.  From there I have
mechanics tools - extendable magnet to pick up pins, extendable flexible mirror, a dental mirror, clip on magnifying glass, a long 'dealy' which when you push on the end prongs come out to pick things up off the floor (and get things that fall down the bathroom drain), several sizes of bright clip on lights ($2) compared to the pricey ones that come from sewing stores, various plastic clamps I use to hold what ever together, an awl, shishcabob (?) sticks  ..... and a whole set of dental picks for ~ $3.

A needle driver - looks like a forcepts but the lines on the end are cross hatched making it easier to grasp needle.  I don't have one but one can also purchase magnitized bowls used by mechanics.   

A hint I picked up.  Tins that hold candy or throat lozenges - line bottom with those free advertising magnets and you have a magnetic pin or needle holder.  I am on a lot of prescription medications so I reuse the bottles to hold safety pins or specialty pins which I put on my magnetic pin holder when I need them.  I have a little Easter egg basket that I wrapped a roll of fabric stuffed with filler and glued around the top. I keep a set of hand sewing notions and carry it to the chair where I am going to hand sew.  I keep note paper and various pens and pencils and a calculator in one of my drawers. I use very fine sand paper if I have a scratch on my machine plate.  I use all the left over school supplies (I was a college educator as well as mother) like ruler, pencils, wax crayons (for dying fabric) and pencil crayons to use when planning a design for something.

But the piece d' resistance is my 50 year old dissection kit from uni biology lab.  I came across these in one of my decluttering frenzies.  The long tweezers can pick up any thing (also out of bathroom drains), the probe is handy and the scalpel blade holder saves my fingers when using scalpels to cut threads - of course all of these are well cleaned and new staple blades purchased from medical surgical supply store.

Reading all this makes me think I need to re clutter again!

[shams]

I had mentioned that I was using a soldering iron to cut fabric and sewsanna asked me for more info.  I finally have posted a top I made with the technique.  Here is a peek of the front and neck facings:


You can read more on my blog here:
http://communingwithfabric.blogspot.com/2010/02/soldering-iron-synthetic-fabric-hot.html

[fzxdoc]

Love that technique, Stash! I asked a bunch of questions about it on your 'blog.

Kathryn

[shams]

Hey, Kathryn, you mean Shams, yes? 

[Laurie]

In my apparel class, we provide most all of the 'tools' and needles never got put back into the little holders or sleeves.  On the occasions they ended up in one of the pincushions, they often 'disappeared' into the cushion.  Pill bottles are the easier way to keep from losing so many needles or pins quickly at least for us!!  Laurie

[SewRusty]

I use the washers as mentioned by others for weights. I have pegboard from the hardware store that I hang thread, scissors, rulers, elastic packages, all sorts of nifty stuff on. I use a drinking glass to hold the screwdrivers for my sewing machines, along with my seam ripper, awl, caliper, and whatever else I like to have near the machine. I have a tackle box that holds all of my bulk buttons (sorted by color). My new sewing machine table is an old student desk* (I haven't gotten it set up just yet though!) and I'll probably put those bed risers under it to make it tall enough. An old dresser holds my fabric (for now), and we're looking to purchase a kitchen wall cabinet for future stash storage where I can leave the doors off and see what's on the shelves. The dresser also has a set of doors in the center with shelves that I use to store my sewing books. Plus, I'll be able to put my under-the-cabinet radio on the underside of the wall mount cabinet for some tunes while I sew. My "cutting table" is an old water damaged ping pong table (came with our new house) (currently trying to figure out how to raise it up a bit more--it's kind of short, even for me!) with a rotary cutting mat on it, it works just fine. A cheapie rolling office chair is what I sit on when I sew. I bought a cheap file cabinet from the Goodwill store that I spray painted black to store my patterns, and I use hanging folders to separate them out into categories so they are easy to find.

Oh! I made a vacuum cleaner attachment for cleaning lint out of my sm/serger with some duct tape, a toilet paper tube, a broken funnel, and a sturdy drinking straw--does that count? I know you can buy those at a store, but I've never been able to find one, so I made my own.

I think that's about all of the stuff that I haven't/couldn't purchase at a sewing store.

*Student desk made to sit two students with storage area in the center--serger on one side, sewing machine on the other. You might be able to find one in an antique store or something, mine was something I've had since I was a kid, but since I just picked it up from the 'rents house, it needs some cleaning before I set it up.

[sewfar2]

I like the challenge of reuse / recycle so if I am at the home improvement store and I spot the forklift guys cutting apart boxes held by the plastic flat  baling "tape",  I ask for it and re use it in place of boning.  Seems most is yellow but it still  works great in bags.  Plus it is free and not clogging up the landfill.  I am keeping my eye out for white !

[karent]

Wow, I just read through this topic and there are some great ideas here!  I use a lot of them, chopsticks for turning corners definitely.  Cat (Jet) for keeping fabric from flying away.  Also, dental pick (stolen, don't ask) in place of my trolley needle when I misplace it.  An old Tupperware bread container standing on end holds knitting needles.  All those multitude of Christmas coffee cups hold pens, pencils, screwdrivers and various tools like that all over the house (even in the medicine chest.)  Disposable razor for shaving off bad buttonholes.  Alligator forceps (also stolen) for pulling small elastic through casing.  IV pole for hanging water for iron.  An old tiny screwdriver one end/magnet other end from a mechanic shop in Duffield, VA I got from the uncle of a guy I dated in college.  A hanging shoe bag on the hanging rack by my ironing board holds hams, spray bottles, clothespins, bottles of starch, pressing cloths...  Cut up plastic straws to stick in the holes in thread spools, to hold the matching bobbins on.  Paint brushes to clean out lint.  I used to use old film containers with a hole nailed in the top to put used sm needles in, then throw away the canister when it was full.  Now I use pill bottles (no needles in trash to poke me.)  Wooden yardsticks from the paint store to stick down the open sides of my Rubbermaid shelves so things don't fall out.  Office Depot filing cabinets for patterns.  Various needleholders and hemostats for all kinds of things, also eye scissors.  Lord knows, probably more.  I didn't realize so much of my sewing stuff isn't really.  K

[sdBev]

.. I used to use old film containers with a hole nailed in the top to put used sm needles in, then throw away the canister when it was full.  Now I use pill bottles (no needles in trash to poke me.)  ..

It occured to me I'm using the jar from my face cream for this very purpose.  Once it was emptied, I ran it though the diswasher and placed it ontop of my sewing tool chests.  The lid hids out in the same area until the jar is full.  Then I screw the lid back on and toss the whole thing in the trash.  I only need one or two a year, so long before one is filled I have another "spare".

[ejvc]

Oh, I just found a really good one.  I was reading a vintage sewing book which was talking about hand-sewing, and as I'm tailor-tacking the seamlines of a particularly thick piece of wool at the moment, I paid more attention than usual.  They recommended, in addition to putting the radio on   using a lap-board for hand sewing.  It just so happens that several years ago (15?) I got a reading lap-desk from Levenger -- it's a light, kidney shaped piece of wood.  Hey presto, balanced on my lap or on my armchair arms, it makes a beautiful hand-sewing surface.

Let's see if they still have them for sale: yep, $48, under the "Lap Desk" section.  Here's a picture:

[sdBev]

Oh, I just found a really good one.  I was reading a vintage sewing book which was talking about hand-sewing, and as I'm tailor-tacking the seamlines of a particularly thick piece of wool at the moment, I paid more attention than usual.  They recommended, in addition to putting the radio on   using a lap-board for hand sewing.  It just so happens that several years ago (15?) I got a reading lap-desk from Levenger -- it's a light, kidney shaped piece of wood.  Hey presto, balanced on my lap or on my armchair arms, it makes a beautiful hand-sewing surface.

Let's see if they still have them for sale: yep, $48, under the "Lap Desk" section.  Here's a picture:

Ah yes, I have something of that nature, not nearly as lovely.  Recently I've been using it to sort buttons !  I can see where hand sewing would be an excellent idea.

[vtmartha]

I have one of those as well but I think DD may have absconded with it.  Perhaps it's time for another.   I never thought about using it for sewing but I like that idea.

[JuneBug]

My grandpa was a master at tying flies.  He kept his hooks in two small wooden chest of drawers that have 8 divided drawers each.  I now have them both and store my buttons in them.  I use a garage organizer chest of drawers to store my patterns in; they fit perfectly in two rows per drawer. 

Tweezers used in bug collecting are perfect for sewing.

[BeeBee]

I have a pair of hemostats that have been in my house since before it was my house.  No clue how they came to be.  But they are MINE NOW!  Pulling out stray threads (will even grab the ones caught in iron on interfacing or in sewn seams), pushing fabric around, replacing needles, pulling out pins from under the presser foot    , holding the scrap for test burn, holding a seam together when I don't want a pin, grabbing chunks of lint  from inside my machine.  Like tweasers that lock and have better reach. 

[vtmartha]

Hemostats are wonderful sewing tools.  I had to purchase mine.     Thanks for some great suggestions for their use.

[DebraMartin]

Wow - so many great ideas!
Two things on my sewing table are
(1.) a toothbrush holder to hold my surgical seam ripper, small dental mirror, small scissors, and marking pens
(2.) a scrabble tile holder that I stole from my daughter's scrabble game which has not been taken off the shelf in years.  The scrabble tile holder holds all the sewing machine feet which I am using for the current project - always straight stitch foot and zipper foot, and usually edge stitch foot and the one with the blade in the middle that I use for stitch in the ditch. 



Binder clips have become my new pins, and I love using the re positionable scotch tape - the one with the blue spool - and architectural tracing paper for pattern alterations.

I also have the laptop desk from Levenger.  I use it often at work to extend my work surface.   I rest one side on the arm of my chair and extend it out to rest on the top of my file drawer.  Then I close the drawer and wedge it in place.  It's great for using my computer mouse at the perfect height.

[Karen Roth]

What a pretty sewing room Debra!  My area (not the room but the surface) is much the same, i.e. the magnetic pin cushion and those small oft used accessories at hand, I've started keeping the feet for a project in the little holders to my right that are part of the cabinet.  I do like those nifty organizer boxes from craft or fishing tackle or matchbox car sections but I find I like that for long term storage, I want them instantly while in the midst of a project.

I don't have any odd/unusual sewing implements bought not in a fabric/sewing store (a sewing friend with a medical background tried unfruitfully to teach me how to use hemostats), but I have many baskets of different shapes and weave.  I love texture, I love wicker and bamboo, and I organize everything in them.  A pencil cup style basket rather toothbrush holder for those implements Debra mentioned, large rectangular ones to stack serger threads, another that's to house patterns to be used soon, and if I can find a very shallow one will probably use that for feet.  One with a flip up lid for CDs.  They're not all over the place, some tucked neatly behind the cabinet openings but I am a sucker for basketry.
Oh yeah, and magnifying glasses.  One pair (or at least their case) always at hand.  And another for when I can't remember where I put the first... 

[sewbarbie]

What a fun thread!  My giant metal washers (fabric weights) from Home Depot, my mini boiler iron, and my incredible Kai 10" scissors that I bought at the County Fair!

Shelly

[gaylee1949]

Debra--where did you get that fabulous sewing-machine table?  I'm currently using hollow-core doors on top of 2-shelf bookcases and file cabinets with various things evening them up and would love to have a table such as yours for my SM and serger!  Your room is just lovely. 

Gail D.

[DebraMartin]

gaylee,
Thank you.  I love sewing in there.  It is never as tidy as the picture.  That was taken when we first got the house and I had just gotten it set up.  My Mom took the picture and emailed it to me.  Don't you just love technology!?
The cabinet is made by Horn of America.  Koala also makes lovely cabinets.

I like the challenge of reuse / recycle so if I am at the home improvement store and I spot the forklift guys cutting apart boxes held by the plastic flat  baling "tape",  I ask for it and re use it in place of boning.  Seems most is yellow but it still  works great in bags.  Plus it is free and not clogging up the landfill.  I am keeping my eye out for white !

What a great idea!

[justgail]

karent mentioned paint brushes for lint removers - that reminded me that I keep old mascara brushes for lint removers.  If you have the old wire-core brushes, they can also be bent to reach around/behind  tight areas.  They grab and hold the lint, unlike the brushes that came with my machines, which seem to just push it around.

[Ambimom]

I use paper towels off the kitchen roll instead of stabilizer.

[Linda Abend]

I use a ~20" length of wood closet rod to press seams open (for when it's really important to not have show-through of the seam allowance). 

Hi,

Can you please explain how this works.... I have never done this.

Thanks,
Linda

-------------------------------------
Linda Abend
Linda.abend@yahoo.com
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[Paceda]

My son was a punter and place kicker in high school and college.  I use his kicking tee to hold my pressing ham in position.  It works really well--holds it very stable.