July 20, 2018

Favorite Tools

Welcome to Week 2!! This blog hop has been so great. It’s a brilliant idea. 16 designers, and we’re sharing each week based on a common prompt.

July 9 through August 19

Week 1: Studio Clean Up – before and after pics
Week 2: Favorite Tools
Week 3: Organizing Tips
Week 4: Dealing with Scraps and Fabric
Week 5: Dealing with Embellishments/Buttons/Thread
Week 6: Dealing with Tools/Rulers

I have so many favorite tools. I love tools. When I was younger, I worked in a sewing machine shop that also sold garment fabrics and patterns. I learned so much working there. Before that I used to work through things on my own, the best I could. Trial and error, ripping things out. Sometimes, I would just get it done in a strange way–especially when it came to quilting.

The ladies I worked with did not quilt much. We were all about sewing clothes, leotards, and coats. They were the only shop that sold Gotex brand raincoat fabric. And oh yeah, I absolutely did make my boyfriend a purple raincoat. He loved that raincoat! Ask him–he still talks about it. We would have a fashion show every 2 months and we would model the store samples we made. Good times! and a great education for sewing apparel. Not so much for quilting.

Anyway, one thing I’ve learned over the years is that a great tool can do 2 very important things: Speed up the tedious tasks and speed up the learning curve. Both make sewing more enjoyable and/or less frustrating. Many tools are only available through your local quilt shops. I think by far the most important “tool” or resource is your local quilt shop. The women (and men) that work there have a wealth of knowledge–tap into it! When I share a problem I’m facing when quilting with them, they are quick to help or share a technique or tool that can alleviate the issue.

Back on track…I have way too many favorites, so I will try to share some that I think may be less known OR ones that I use most often. Some for quilting and some for sewing clothes… here we go.

Love this for squaring up blocks. No need to move the block, just turn and cut.

This makes cutting apart my chained pieces much faster and easier.

The Cutting Edge & Omni Grid 4″ scissors

The cutting edge has no sticky adhesive. It’s made of vinyl and stays put on my ruler. I place it on the measurement needed when I have a lot of strips or rectangles to cut out. Makes it faster to line up the ruler to the fabric and much easier for me to quickly see the line I’m working with. I was chatting with Marci at the Spring Quilt Market and she told me that the color has changed— so if you’re looking for these at you local shop, they’re no longer orange.

The little scissor are priceless!! Sharpest 4″ scissors I’ve ever bought. I own 2 pairs 🙂 I have one pair at my sewing machine for trimming threads quickly. I have another pair in my sewing basket that I use for many other purposes, such as clipping curves (they work best because they are so sharp) and grading seams. [remember I design and sew clothing most]

Sewing Edge & Dritz Magnetic Sewing Guide

The sewing edge is vinyl and can be placed along the seam guide lines on the throat plate of your sewing machine. This makes chain stitching much faster. The purple is easy to see and it’s thicker than tape, so you get those raw edges snugly next to it without fear of gong over the line. My eyes get tired when sewing a long time (like when sewing 50+ HST, etc). This saves my eyes!!

When Marci and I were catching up in May, I told her how I cut mine in half to make them last longer and she gave me a tip: Cut them into thirds instead. This is the ideal size for a bobbin cover. Brilliant. I hate when the bobbin runs out and I have to reposition it. She said this eliminates that hassle. Sweet!

For my students who don’t purchase this for sewing classes, I provide them with tape first and a magnetic seam guide on top, to help them stay on track. There are so many great ideas floating around– another idea–use a wide rubber band around the free arm. Though I haven’t tried it, I could see it working well.

Love the Zirkel. It’s high power magnet force means I can literally throw my pins at it, and it catches them. I kid you not. Love that trick.

The main reason I bought it was I hate getting stabbed when trying to take a pin from the other kind of pin magnet. Every. Time. I. Get. A. Pin. ugh. I saw it at a trade show when they first came out and I bought it immediately. No more pin pricks. Unfortunately, they now have really pretty colors, including pink.

I want a pretty colored one, but I don’t feel I need two, especially since it can’t be near my computerized machines.

Ultra fine pins are the only ones I use now. The work extremely well for piecing quilt tops and doll clothes–two of the things I do a lot of 🙂 After years of using other kinds, I switched because I like that they don’t snag or damage the fabric. They are high quality and go in easily.

The Creative Color Wheel & Ultimate 3-in-1 Color Tool

Love these for playing with color. Although I admit, I use the color tool most when I need to know the exact color my daughter wants her coat or swimsuit. After she chooses, I take it with me to Portland and pick the exact color she wants for whatever it is I’m making her. Best ever. Before this tool came to live with me, we found out just how many different shades of maroon their are…. what’s in a name. That was a timely and expensive lesson. [sigh]

These may not interest you quilters, but these are always within reach when I design. The first tool with the pencils, allows me to effortlessly add seam allowances to my Ottobre and old Burda patterns. I own a 5/8” and 3/8” tools. I also tape two pencils together for 1/4” seam allowance. Of course, when I need it to be very precise, I don’t use these short cuts.

The medical paper! Makes pattern designing so much cheaper. Drafting patterns directly onto this paper is great– it is very light weight and can be used to cut out fabric. But mainly I use it for drafting new patterns from my slopers. I keep them as masters and trace from them. Again, something quilters would probably never need.

Books are the best tools in my opinion. I have many, many books. In my twenties, I learned the most from this Vogue book and a couple others by Kristin Martensson.

I have others, such as the Singer and Reader’s Digest, but in my opinion they aren’t as good. All you need is the Vogue and Kwik Sew method. (if you sew garments) If you want to learn to quilt, buy Alex Anderson’s book: All About Quilting. It’s thorough and her explanations are the best for quilting.

Well, these are some of my favorite ~~things~~ tools. I hope that the list was helpful. Now back to sewing!

Want to see more favorite tools from the rest of the blog hop team? There are some weekly giveaways on some of the designers’ blogs, too. Don’t miss out on a chance to win some great tools! Here’s our schedule: