Glass-headed pins are easy to pick up and won’t melt if ironed over!
A flexible measuring tape is indispensable. Mine has inches and centimetres on the same side.
I use a regular pencil for transferring markings and tracing patterns. If working with darker fabrics, a white pencil makes a stronger colour marking, particularly a washable watercolour pencil.
I use Fiskars 21cm (9in) dressmaking scissors exclusively for cutting fabric, and another pair for cutting paper and everything else. I also use a small pair of Ernest Wright fine craft scissors for trimming threads and clipping seams. I highly recommend a scissor sharpener too!
Very handy! Take care not to catch the fabric – as Liberty fabric is fine it is very easy to do.
I very rarely use an iron for clothes, but I do absolutely use an iron to press when sewing. It’s essential for a neat finish and preventing puckering problems at seams.
I use sharps for most types of sewing.
Use for sewing the skirt on Mia doll.
Not essential but very useful, particularly for quilt making (makes cutting squares and strips super easy!). Use a 36 x 24in (90 x 60cm) mat and 241⁄2 x 61⁄2in (62 x 16cm) grid ruler. The ruler also shows a 45-degree angle – handy when marking a diamond grid for quilting.
I use a Stanley knife or Swann Morton scalpel and change the blades regularly.
A basic model is all you need: keep your handbook safe and refer to it for essentials, such as altering the stitch length and how to make your machine do zigzag stitching.