Ilsa’s ten essentials tools, or “how I sew for a living without losing my mind.”
If you’re starting a costuming business, let me warn you: no matter how much you love sewing, it gets boring. Some days I sew the same seam for eight hours in a row. No matter how much you love the craft, that shit is dull. On top of that, all the tiny frustrations of sewing– knocking over your box of pins or losing your scissors beneath a heap of cloth– are magnified when you’re doing production sewing. If you make a couple garments a year, a bad pincushion is just a niggling annoyance. If you’re turning out hundreds a year, a bad pincushion will make you want to kill a man. Since I launched Tailored Tunics in 2011, I’ve been aquiring of tools and tinkering with my setup so I can minimize the boredom and frustration of sewing all day. Most of these tools cost less than ten bucks, but they’re priceless because they save me time, energy, and frustration. If you’re thinking of starting a costuming business, I highly recommend grabbing the following ten things, yourself. There is nothing noble in struggling with bad tools or getting so bored you hate a job you once loved.
Thread snips. I wear these tiny scissors on a thong around my neck, though you can also wear them around your ring finger. When I sew without them, I feel physically unbalanced. I get weird if other people touch them. I’m getting weird about them right now, so I’ll stop by saying this: get thread snips, y’all. They are the best tool you will add to your sewing box. Your life will be far more serene if you never have to hunt for lost scissors at the end of a seam, ever again.
Magnetic pin cushion. Ladi G of Gorg the Blacksmith gave me one of these years ago, and it’s a debt I’ll never be able to repay. As well as pins, I keep my seam ripper stuck to my pin cushion. (Otherwise I can NEVER find my seam rippers, and I own four.) When I’m taking apart my machine to clean it, I stick the screws to the magnet so I won’t lose them.
Clover Chacopel marking pencils. I’ve tried lots of different fabric marking tools, and most of them made my work more frustrating, not less. Either they’re too blunt, they smash if you drop them (thaaanks, tailor’s chalk) or they don’t show up on all fabrics. These pencils come with a sharpener, and for <$6, you get four colors, so one of them will always show up, no matter what fabric you’re working on. I keep one in my pants pocket as I sew, so I don’t have to rummage when I need to mark something.
C-Thru B-95 18″ ruler. Not all transparent rulers are created equally! I own the slightly cheaper Dritz version from JoAnn, but it warped after a year of use, and the numbers and lines wore away. The C-Thru brand ruler is sturdier, and one side comes in metric, which is great for patternmaking. I threw away my stupid fiddly seam gauge when I got this ruler, and I don’t regret it: this ruler is so much easier to use.
Anti-fatigue floor mats. Production sewing is surprisingly hard on the body. I have a standing set-up, because sitting in a chair all day hurts my back, but standing on hard floor gets painful, too. Wear comfortable shoes and put a layer or two of these foam mats down anywhere you do lots of standing (like in front of your ironing station or cutting table). Take it from my crippling sciatica-like back-pain: these are not negotiable. OSHA literally suggests you use them.
A gallon jug of water and a paper cup. This sounds stupidly picky, but stopping to re-fill my steam iron drives me insane. Any unnecessary motion annoys me when I’m working, but constantly walking back and forth to the faucet is particularly infuriating. Instead, I fill up a jug of water at the start of the day, keep it on my work table, and fill my iron from that, using a paper cup with a bent brim as my pour-er. (And yes, you can use tap water in most irons, these days. My Rowenta specifically says to not use distilled.)
A bobbin holder. Untangling threads on your stored bobbins is silly. Losing all your bobbins because the cat likes to knock them off your thread rack is even sillier. These bobbin holders hold threaded bobbins firmly enough that they can’t come unspooled (or be stolen by unhelpful kitties). My only regret is that I don’t own more of these.
A big trash can. Sewing generates a lot of garbage, and if you don’t toss your clippings and scraps as you go, you’ll be buried after two days. I have a trash can attached to the side of my work table, so I only have to move my hand a couple inches to drop stuff in. My goal is always to make every repetitive task– clipping threads, replacing pins, discarding trash, and filling my iron– as easy and efficient as possible. You enjoy your job way more when you’re not wasting motion.
Headphones. They’re expensive, but noise-canceling headphones will allow you to listen to something other than the infinite chatter of your sewing machine. (You’ll have to turn the volume up on earbuds too high to overpower the noise of your machines, which is bad for your hearing. Don’t do it!) I plug mine into my phone, pocket it, and listen to NPR, podcasts, or audiobooks as I work. Might as well learn something while you do repetitive tasks!
Overdrive and Librivox audiobooks. These aren’t sewing tools, but they will make marathon sewing days much more fun! You’ll have to sign up for Overdrive through your local public library, but anyone can download Librivox books for free. I love these readings of The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, The Treasure-Seekers, Anne of Green Gables, Mansfield Park, Wives and Daughters, and Jane Eyre.
Sewing essentials, yo.
For all that I love these tools, though, it’s how they’re arranged that counts. I have my shop set up so I can put out my hand and grab anything I need– scissors from the big magnet strip, pins from the magnetic pincushion, thread from the rack, my neckline pattern from where it’s pinned on my corkboard, thread clips from my neck– without ever moving my feet. My ironing station is right behind my sewing machine, so I just turn around to press my seams. I don’t have to bend to reach my trash can or grab a marking tools. It’s the seamstress’s version of the chef’s mis en place: everything in its place.
If you’re going to be sewing for a living, treat yourself like a skilled employee whose time is best spent sewing, not fighting with bad tools, boredom, or an inefficient set-up. This requires a little more time setting up your workshop, but it’s worth it in the saved time and frustration you’ll reap forever after.
Excellent tips for the home sewer, too! I have learned pretty much all of these tips the hard way--they are the real deal and WILL make your sewing happier.