I don’t know how useful they are, but these antique thread caddies from KathysSewingRoom are awfully adorable.

 Since I learned to sew from my mom, I had a lot of tools available to me from the get-go, and I could then acquire other things on an as-needed basis. This was good because, in most towns where I’ve lived, the only place to get sewing tools is Jo Ann’s. The store has a quality that my dad would refer to as “Wal-Marty,” and so I’m never very inclined to hang around browsing. If I’d had to go in and build a kit from scratch, I don’t know if I ever would have started sewing. Most likely, I would have gotten muddled and left with three dusty fake flowers, a pair of embroidery scissors, and some puffer paint.

 Instead, my essential toolbox looks something like this. The list is gleaned from personal experience and from sewing book recommendations, particularly Diana Rupp’s Sew Everything Workshop. Pretty much everything on it can be bought at Jo Ann’s CrazyMegaCraftopolis. It’s best to make a beeline for what you want, then get out before you’re hypnotized by the acres of polar fleece.

 (Of course, these tools are also available online, or at an independent fabric store, if you’re lucky enough to have one!)

 Rotary Cutter and Mat. I wouldn’t want to live without my rotary cutter, which allows for much greater precision while cutting. If you plan to continue sewing for a long time, it’s an excellent idea to invest in a Gingher.

•  Looking a little bit ahead of your cutting wheel as you work (rather than right down at it) will help you cut straighter lines.

Scissors and Shears. Use the rotary cutter for the fabric, and a pair of dressmaker’s shears for trimming seams and hems, slashing pleats, and any other cutting you do while sewing. Keep the scissors for cutting paper. A pair of little embroidery scissors is nice for notching seam allowances and trimming excess thread.  

Tracing Wheel, Paper, and Pattern Weights. This is an example of how a small investment in the right tools can make a huge difference, in terms of both process and results. When cutting, I like to keep the pattern and the fabric as straight and flat as possible. These three tools facilitate that, and they’ll also keep you from tearing up your pattern the first time you use it.

• Before you start sewing, and even before you start making a muslin, use the tracing wheel to copy the pattern in the size you need onto lightweight interfacing or butcher paper. Save the original in a large manila envelope.
• You can buy nice, compact, aesthetically pleasing pattern weights, but a can of beans works just fine if you’re not particular.

Ruler. Use for measuring hems and seam allowances, altering length, placing buttonholes, making bias tape… A small investment can get you the 18-inch, clear, bendable kind.

Pencil, fabric pen, or chalk. You’ll spend a lot of time marking your fabric, and finding something that’s comfortable for you and safe for the garment is well worth the effort. I usually draw lightly with a pencil and then flick away the marks with an eraser. However, tailor’s chalk is an even better option, and a nice, smooth fabric pen is wonderfully pleasant.

Pins and pincushions. I like to have a set of very narrow pins for silk, and I’d love to have a Scrooge McDuck-style swimming pool full of standard dressmaker’s pins, if that weren’t a bad idea in so many ways.

• Bonus points if your pincushion is something other than the Dritz tomato.

Seam ripper. For my money, the actual construction of a garment is by far the most fun part of the process. Unfortunately, I tend to enjoy it a little too much; things go well for a while, and so I daydream. The next thing I know I’ve stitched the bodice front to the skirt back. Enter the seam ripper, pure genius distilled into metal and plastic.

Where do you get supplies? What would you add to this list?

Image credits: Lovely toolbox from Sharingneedles.com, snazzy Gingher Seam Ripper.

Carrie’s musings on a creative space yesterday got me thinking about the kind of space that inspires me.

First, I’ll say off the bat that I am not a tidy person by nature. My long suffering and very neat husband can attest to this. I think I’m just impulsive and get excited about moving on to the next thing rather than finishing up and cleaning after myself. Stuff tends to accumulate on my desk, on my dresser, wherever.

However, I’ve also had to face the fact that cramped, messy rooms stress me out. I just feel stifled and overwhelmed by unorganized mountains of stuff, and I hate not being able to find the tools I need when I want them. So these two impulses are constantly duking it out in my brain. I aspire to be neat.

Now that I have this gorgeous new studio to work in, I’ve been dreaming up ways to organize everything. My fabric is shelved, but there are so many little tools and notions to take care of! Most are floating around in drawers at the moment, but I’ve been scouting around on the Craft Rooms and Pretty Organized pools on Flickr for more ideas, and there are some good ones!

I’d say the things that get me ready to work are lots of space to move around, tons of natural light, plenty of work surfaces, and having my materials visible but organized and accessible.

{images above: (1) by ReneeJulia, (2) by *jenny b allsorts, (3) by Three Red Apples, (4) by puddlekins, (5) by Mundo Flo}

When I was a kid, I loved visiting my dad’s office. He’d filled it floor to ceiling with goofiness – stuffed meerkats, vintage Moon Tomato Paste signs, giant plastic chicken masks, and tons of pictures of our dogs. I think all of this kept him going through twenty years of twelve-hour workdays, and I had such a deep love of the silly that I almost wished I could skip summer and spend my waking hours at work.

Too much clutter can get in the way of creativity, but I can’t help dreaming of sitting down to sew in a place like that. My thread rack would hang between a photo of the San Diego Chicken and a shelf of dinosaur figurines. I’d copy pictures of plants and kitchen tools from The Joy of Cooking, and I’d sketch them on the walls. The off-color linoleum floor would be covered by a thick blue area rug. One whole wall would be windows, and another would have a door to the outside.

Underneath the stuff, I would hide cleanliness and practicality. I think it’s important to have designated work stations – a table for laying out and cutting, another for hand-sewing. A large desk for sewing and serging, which I’d try to keep clear of everything except pins, needles, bobbins, and thread. The iron would hang from a place of honor on the back of the door.

But I’m probably getting carried away imagining. In practice, I’ve moved a lot in the past few years, and I’ve never had much disposable income. I have to pare down to mobile essentials, like a card table and a rotary cutting board that folds in threes. For storage, I reuse containers. A cardboard box is excellent for holding small scraps, and its ugliness is easy to combat with a tube of paint or a wrapping of pages from cooking magazines.

What is your dream studio like? How do you deal with real-life barriers, such as a small workspace? What inspires you while you work?

While I was in New York, I had the opportunity to visit the Oliver + S studio in Brooklyn. Liesl was kind enough to contact me a while back and since I mentioned I’d be visiting NY soon, invited me over so we could meet.

If you’re not already familiar with Oliver + S, you ought to be, but especially if you have any wee ones in your life. Liesl designs some outstanding children’s patterns, which you can judge for yourself from the designs. They are completely adorable but still so fresh and modern. And needless to say, people love them. Sew Mama Sew even named them the best pattern company of the decade. How’s that for high marks?

Their studio really reflects the lovely, cheerful style of the patterns. In a bright little loft with tons of natural light, we had tea and talked business while I admired the shelves of carefully organized fabric, wonderful sample garments hanging on the brick walls, and the patterned birds on branches suspended above the desk.

I saw this perfectly organized workspace on design*sponge and was so impressed. I may have to pick up one of those things with the tiny drawers the next time I go to the hardware store.

I’ve been getting my fabric nice and organized. Previously, it was stored in boxes and a cabinet in our basement, which didn’t work well for a variety of reasons that you can imagine. But I just bought some of these Expedit shelves from ikea, and it’s a real breath of fresh air to have all my fabric organized by color and out in the open where I can see it!

My only concern is that my sewing room is basically a sunroom: it’s all windows and extremely well lit with lovely natural light which I LOVE. But I’m hoping this won’t damage the fabrics. Of course, this is Portland, so “sunny” is relative. But it would be interesting to make some little fabric shades for the shelves, don’t you think?

Here are a few shots of my stash:

One thing that really surprised me when I started organizing my fabrics by color was how much blue fabric I have! I think I have more blue than anything else. I do love navy, it’s so versatile, but I definitely wear more black, red, and pink.

At the top of this pile you can see a bit of the gold 4-ply silk charmeuse I used for my wedding dress. It’s a very small scrap, but I’m sentimentally holding onto it. Do you guys do this? I have a few little scraps that I just cannot bear to part with.

You can see that most of my fabrics are silk or vintage rayon, with the occasional cotton or linen thrown in and a few wools. This cotton above with the chrystler building pattern is one I’ve had for years and bought because it’s my favorite building. But what will I ever do with it? It’s so delightfully cheesy, and it’s also a quilting cotton, which I very rarely sew with. Oh well.

I keep a lot of my ribbons and notions in jars. I’m ambivalent about this solution. On the one hand, I like being able to see my materials because I draw inspiration from them. On the other hand, they look very messy and cluttered to me.

I’m really interested to hear from some of you about this: do you prefer to have your materials out and around you? Do you get ideas from seeing them around? Or do you like things more neat and tidy so you can work? I feel the pull on both sides and I’m not sure I’ve found the right balance quite yet, but I’m getting there.

For some time now, I’ve been a massive fan of the work of Jane Foster, a British designer, illustrator and printer. Her work often uses, and is most definately influenced by, vintage textiles, patterns and print from 1950′s to 1970′s (my absolute favourite eras of design!). Whilst obsessively trawling through her blog, I fell head over heels in love with her studio and work space.

The white walls provide a fresh background to the riot of pattern and colour. This combination allows her workspace to be busy and bursting with inspiration, whilst preventing sensory overload and potentially choking up the creative flow.  

What I wouldn’t give to have a rummage through the treasures in this room! Jane Foster’s work can be viewed on her website and purchased from her shop. 

I just stumbled across the blog of the talented and creative Jen Johner, and I fell in love with her sewing space. I adore the restrained colors, the beautiful prints, how simple and well-organized things look. I always struggle with this: my materials inspire me, so I like to have them out, but at the same time it’s hard to work when things look chaotic. Her room is such a nice balance of personality and control.

Check out the rest of the room on her blog, it’s so lovely and full of good ideas.