Cutting Tools
Fabric Scissors: You need sharp scissors to cut fabric. Use fabric scissors and not the regular fabric we have at IMA, they are usually gunked up with glue residue. Do not use fabric scissors if you don’t intend to cut fabric with them.
Seam ripper: They are great to stitches you made by mistake or taking apart clothes for refashioning or repurpose the fabric. Seam rippers are also used for cutting open buttonholes.
Thread trimmer: This is a great tool to cut pieces of thread close to the fabric, so we will be using this for finishing and also to cut little cuts on the fabric when we have angles.
Rotary cutters: Not essential but great to have if you are cutting a lot of fabric.
Cutting Mat: Especially useful if you are cutting with a rotary cutter. The grid printed on them displaying inches or centimeters is also a great help.
Pinning Tools
Pins: The most common are the glass head or ball points pins when sewing woven fabric or felt.
Safety Pins: extremely useful when you are turning tubes inside out slipping elastic through a casing.
Pin Cushion: keep your pins and needles organized in one place. There are some wrist pincushions that are pretty useful too.
Threads
There are many threads for different type of fabric and they come in different colors and thickness. A standard thread is polyester thread, but the quality varies greatly. A cheap thread will break soon, so that means your work won’t last for too long.
If you want to know more about different types of threads, look at this article showing different types of thread as seen under a microscope. Learn how to thread the sewing machine here and how to hand sewing here.
Bobbins: The machines we have in the studio use bobbins that are “Class 15”. Check out how to wind up the bobbin here.
Needles
Hand Sewing Needles: It is always good to have a package of assorted hand needle sizes. Thinner needles are for lightweight fabric and thicker needles are for heavier fabric. The different eye sizes will accommodate various thread thicknesses.
Sewing machine needles: The standard sizes run from 60/08 to 120/19. The first number is the European size while the second number is the one used in the United States. The lower the number, the more narrow is the needle.
For general sewing with medium-weight fabric you’ll want to use a 90/14. 60/08 or 70/09 are good for very lightweight fabrics, such as the chiffon, and don’t make big holes in the fabric. When sewing a heavy-weight fabric, a 100/16 or 110/18 will be wide and strong enough to push through the fabric. Learn how to change the needle in the machine here.
