I love trying new things and hearing about things to make my life easier when it comes to sewing. Thought it would be fun to hear what everyone's favorite, can't live without sewing item is.

Mine: Mechanics magnetic bowl to keep my pins, seam ripper, and scissors.
It sticks to the ironing board. I dont have to fiddle with putting the pins in a cushion. It has a really strong suction so I can just throw the pins at it and they stick.

Another one: Fold over elastic. I LOVE this stuff. I never made t-shirts for myself until I learned about FOE from here a few years ago. Just makes it look so much nicer.

Now it's your turn.

My walking foot! This thing makes my life so much easier, especially when it comes to diaper sewing (all those layers!).

Swedish Tracing Paper! I love this stuff for tracing patterns.

Double eyed needle for burying serger tails.

My huge 5' x 3' cutting mat that covers my whole table. Makes cutting out garment pieces so much easier.

Binders for my coverstitch machine. I love how easy it is to do binding with them.

EZ Winder...this thing allows you to make smaller spools of thread from a big cone. So if you need four spools of the same color for your serger or coverstitch, you only need to buy one cone. The EZ Winder allows you to wind it onto full size spools. Sure you can get the same effect by winding bobbins and using the bobbins in coffee mugs behind the machine, but it's so much nicer to have full sized spools that don't run out of thread so quickly.

Tiny neon orange sticker dots. These are like the dots you buy to put prices on your stuff when you're going to have a garage sale, except they're smaller. I use these to mark notches when transfering markings from pattern pieces instead of clipping into the seam allowance. Much easier to see, and no chance of weakening the seam from clipping into the SA.

Elastic thread. I love shirring with elastic thread in the bobbin. This provides such an easier, more comfortable, kind of shirring than the traditional way.

Seam guide. This handly little measuring tool is a godsend. I didn't use one for years. Then I finally tried it and I couldn't believe what I was missing. They are really essential for marking hems (I used to use a regular ruler before...ugh!).

Clear elastic for stabilizing necklines and shoulder seams.

Surgical seam ripper for removing serging threads.

Extra computer that is just for my sewing room. I love having a computer right next to my machines! It certainly comes in handy.

I could probably come up with more, but that's a good representation of my favorite things! I just love all my sewing stuff. But my absolute favorite sewing thing is my sewing room. Just having a dedicated space for all this stuff, a place that is mine, is like Heaven to me. It's not so pretty, and not even very big. But I can close the door on the mess. I don't have to pack my stuff away at the end of the day. That is priceless to me.

Wow, Anne, I love your list! I want to find some of those orange dots now - and the 5' x 3' cutting mat - where did you get yours? I have two 3' x 2' 's, and butt them together sometimes - they slip nicely under one of our dressers, so I can store them away flat (I don't have a cutting area other than the floor).

My list includes something that Anne told me about that revolutionized my sewing-with-knits experience: stretch needles!

Patternese for tracing/altering patterns

A rotary cutter and some drapery weights - no more pinning patterns!!!

A nice big quilter's ruler (used for straight-edge cutting)

Clover-head pins for those times that you really must pin

SEE, oops I was yelling, you ladies are awesome. I have learned so many things. I just love it.

Double eyed needle for burying serger tails.
I have to know more about this because this sounds like a major revolution for sewing. Orange dots. You are one smart smart cookie. I never worry about cutting into the seam allowance I would normally make a triangle on the outside if needed; the orange dots would save so much time, especially on the placement of things like buttons. Thank you.

sewing-with-knits experience: stretch needles!


Tell me more. Guess I need to branch out in the needle world!

Double eyed needle:

http://www.thesewingplace.com/productimages/notions/c4-105.jpg

Double Eye Needle (http://www.thesewingplace.com/browseproducts/Double-Eye-Needle.html)

stretch needles (picture shown here):

Schmetz Stretch 130705H-S Stretch, Ball Point Home Sewing Machines Needles for knit fabrics - Box of 100 (http://www.allbrands.com/products/abp03493.html)

But I usually buy my stretch needles here instead because they are cheaper and I can buy fewer at a time:

Denim, Quilting, Stretch and Leather Needles (http://www.discountembroiderysupp.com/en-us/dept_105.html)

And I thought of another favorite thing. Margaret's mention of clover head pins reminded me. I love metal binding clips. I use these in place of pins so much of the time. They are faster to use, IMO, and no chance of stabbing yourself. LOL

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-96748182234973_1957_134450959