Tools of the trade

I have a feeling that some of the tools I use might be greeted with amusement by some and complete bewilderment by others.  Honestly some of them are a bit weird and wonderful but they are all tools and tricks I use regularly in stitching. Some are cross overs from my other 'quilting' life and all to often get used.

This post is intended to be part of the &Stitches blog competition about needleworkers and our tools.

I suppose I'd better work my way round my cutting mat,  Bottom left hand corner are cutting and sharp implements.  I use a rotary cutter for cutting fabric as well as the more usual shears.  I use a scalpel for intricate cutting on occasions (it's also good for trimming threads on Hardanger pieces).  The blue thing in the bottom left hand corner is a rotary blade sharpener as the original blades cost so much and blunt so quickly. I have a half a dozen pairs of embroidery scissors and as usual can find only one pair

Behind these are metallic braids which I love and use a ton of in virtually every piece I stitch.  My preferred braid is the Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid because it is so versatile and tough. Its something born out of experience to find something that you work well with. It's taken 5 different brands of metallic to find one I really love.

To its right is my needlebook which was a gift 15 years ago and I still use every day.  It holds my current stock of in-use needles of assorted sizes and types.  Periodically I go though and pull out any rusted or broken needles

Behind that is a little lunch bag I made last year.  Mine never made it as far as lunch as it now keeps together any stray threads that don't fit into project boxes such as the Rainbow Gallery threads.  It also holds spare scissors, beads, needles and my spare glasses at the moment for some reason.

Back to the front. The orangey-red thing at the front is an ort bag.  This is to collect all those little bits of thread we all snip off on a project.  This stops them from getting on your clothes, furniture, dogs etc.  It also has a nice rest for scissors and a built in pincushion on you can store spare or threaded needles.

Just to the left of this and rather hidden is a trolley needle. Excellent for getting misbehaving threads to lie flat and show their sheen.  It can also pull double duty as a stiletto and poke holes in things or enlarging existing holes. Think eyelet stitches on canvas and evenweave when the hole won't open properly. Just remember it is there and don't scratch your eye!

Above that from the left are a cording tool, a small flat headed screwdriver, clothes pegs and a tape measure.  The tape is essential to cut the fabric the right size. Screwdriver for tinkering with machines but it also useful if it is magnetised to find dropped needles quickly.

The clothes pegs are useful for many things.  They can hold pieces together when you can't pin them, they hold cut pieces together during the cutting process and assembling fiddly projects like the necessaire I have half completed.  The ones I use have silicon grips so they don't slip about.

The cording tool wasn't cheap but makes any cord you want from any materials you want to embellish a project.  Hanging loops, bespoke edging, corded detailing for projects, even cords for drawstring bags.  This will do them all.  The rule of thumb for making cords is 3 times the length of the finished cord i.e. for 1m of finished cord, you start with 3 m of material. It's fun and you get something unique.

Behind those are the ubiquitous pin cushion (preferred pins are long fine quilters pins)  I also use them to pin excess fabric out of the way on my huge projects.  I also pin two into the main part of a project and tuck the chart or instructions under the heads to have them close to hand.

Right at the back is a task light.  These have been the best investment ever, cutting down on my eyestrain when working on fine projects.  Also the Ott-Lite bulbs (although hideously expensive) are utterly brilliant for colour matching.  The light produced by them is very close to natural daylight an is fantastic for colour matching after dark.  That point when all the greens and blues look the same?  Not any more with a task light.

Finally on the right are the simple things.  A needleminder from Kelmscott - magnetic and very handy. Mine has a flamingo on it but many other designs are available.

Needles. I'm only showing my tapestry needles here but I have many types.  My preferred ones are John James 28 petites but I'm not to picky!

Thread winder - I store pretty much all my threads on bobbins and this takes the pain out of winding on a pile skeins at one time.

Pens - I use all sorts. Pencils too. Pencils are good for marking fabric as are tailors chalk, coloured pencil and disappearing pens. I'm not going to count Frixion in here as they have a habit of coming back in cold weather. I also on occasion use permanent marker and the double ended Sharpie is great with a thin and thinner ends.  What I use most of are highlighters.  Marking important bits on instructions, clarifying numbers on patterns and marking off completed areas on complex chart.

Last but not least is FlossAway.  This is perfect when the project you are working on has too many threads for one floss box. I have a ton of those too but none of them were big enough to hold all the threads for this project. It has a hinged ring holding all the bags together and you just pick your thread, open the bag, chop a bit off and tuck it bag in its bag.

I also use wooden hoops, Qsnaps and R&R clip frames, large floss storage boxes (currently 18 of them), tablet organiser boxes (for beads on projects) and many many more things.

I hold my hand up - I've been sewing most of my life and I have the tools to show it!