I can’t believe that “It’s that time of year.” Blech. Duncan starts kindergarten next week and many other schools have started already. Isn’t it supposed to still be spring? Where did the summer go?
On the bright side, school means Back to School sales and I like to snatch up some handy-dandy sewing supplies while they are at rock bottom prices. Here are my Top 5 Sewing Tools to Shop for at Back to School Sales. (As a bonus, I’ve included a video on how I use one of them at the end of the post!)
#5
Chalkboard Chalk
Although not as precise as a tailor’s chalk pencil, it makes nice thick lines for larger scale sewing projects.
#4
Tape
Tape is a sewing basket staple. Use it to adjust your tissue patterns, put together your printed e-Patterns, and mark your cut fabric pieces.
#3
Binder Clips
Binder clips work in place of pins when pins would ruin your material. I love these for holding together my leather pieces when making leather needle books. You can also use them to hold a lot of thick layers together – like when sewing a lining into a bag. There are lots of super pretty, colorful binder clips available right now.
#2
FriXion Pens
When Bari J. mentioned these for drawing out embroidery designs, I just had to try them out. The FriXion pen’s ink turns clear at high temperatures – like under the heat of the iron. ka-Razy. The ink may reappear when exposed to very cold temperatures, but it will disappear again with ironing. As always, test on your fabric before use.
#1
Glue Sticks
I might have gone a little nuts with buying these, but I use a ton of it. For what you ask? Hemming knits. Here I’ll show you.
You don’t need to hem knits, but I like the more polished look of a hemmed garment. You know how I love pinning, but my pins have a tendency to fall out of the knits I work with. So, I use glue instead. It worked really well for my Cozy Cardi, Jalie maternity top, and Nursing Ninja Maxi.
So there you have it. Get shopping!
Do you think I missed anything? What did you buy yourself while shopping for school supplies?
Hey Jodi! What a great idea to make the most of the back to school sales. I like to use glue sticks to baste zippers in place using this Sew Mama Sew tutorial: http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/2007/05/installing-a-zipper-tutorial-by-michelle/. I hadn’t heard of the FriXion pens but they sound awesome! I’ll totally have to try that trick. P.S. It looks like your video is currently set to private.
hmmm…. It looks like it is set to public to me. I’ll have to investigate.
And I never thought of zippers! That is awesome. I’ll have to try it.
OK, I totally love your video, you cute mama you!!! Nice job, Andy (the video and the wife!) 🙂 And I can’t wait to use the frixion pens… so cool!! Great post 🙂
I’m grateful for a husband that can make me look more awesome than I really am. 😉
You are so cute! Thank you for the glue stick trick.. I am going to try that out!
I know it’s fairly obvious, but back to school is a good time to pick up a few pairs of those tiny fiskar scissors. they come in great colors, the handles are comfy and easy to hold, they’re CHEAP right now and everyone needs about a dozen pairs of snips around the house.. well, maybe that’s just me, but I loose them all the time! 🙂
Those are good to grab! I forget to even mention pencils. 🙂
Your video made me laugh out loud! You DO sew fearless. Also, you look lovely in your cozy cardigan as you sew…
~Kara
I’m glad you like. 🙂 And it is cozy. I have plans to make a couple more this winter.
Woah this blog is fantastic i enjoy looking through your content regularly. Maintain the fantastic art! You realize, lots of people are generally shopping around just for this facts, you might assist them to drastically.