Tuesday, April 2, 2013

This is my embroidery tool kit

My embroidery kit
I do not have a lot of fancy tools, just a few basic things that I use all the time. When not in use they live in an acrylic box with some other handy bits, but when I'm on the go I use a Ziploc bag. Kinda embarrassing.. I should probably get my act together and make a bag or something.

Anyway - this is my kit:

A pincushion - because apparently leaving pins and needles in the arm rest of the sofa is not an acceptable way of storing them. ;-)

An assortment of hoops in lots of sizes, from 3" to 12". Who knew that you'd need atleast one of pretty much every size? And of some sizes I have multiple, because changing hoops between projects is just too much like hard work...

Regular sewing thread is really handy for temporarily stitching excess sections of fabric around the hoop so the excess isn't in the way of working on the project. Also for holding things in place when doing appliqué.

I use this tracing pen by Hemline for most things. It's just so convenient to use and it rinses out without a trace most of the time. And it's fairly affordabe, which is nice too.

Sometimes I also use Saral paper (not pictured) for transferring patterns, usually on darker fabrics.

That wee blue cube is a great little embroidery 'gadget'. It is a floss conditioner which is a waxy-ish substance that you run your thread through and it helps it stay smooth. I don't use it that often, but if I'm working with satin or specialty floss, which splits easily, this thing is gold!

Also in the gold category are my Fiskars embroidery scissors. I love them so much.

I have a seam ripper in my kit as well because sometimes mistakes can't be saved or ignored and out they must be ripped.

Needles, of course. I started out buying those packs with different sizes in, but I soon realised that I always go for the same size, so now I just buy packs of that. It's handy to have more than one of the same size needle in case it goes missing. In the sofa or whatever. Not that I have ever tried that of course. ;-)

15 comments:

  1. Glad I'm not the only one who uses the arm of my chair for a pin cushion, even though I have two within 6" of where I'm sitting. What size needle do you like the best Carina?

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    1. It's just so convenient, isn't it? ;-)

      I normally use a size 7 embroidery/crewel needle.

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  2. I never use the arms of the furniture as a pin cushion, I have not since we bought the new furniture that does not have fabric on the arms. :-) Though, I have no idea why we bought furniture that does not have soft arms...... (haha)

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  3. Love the tings in your embroidery tool kit ~ especially that heart pin cushion.
    I've been known to use the arm of the couch for a pin cushion. I have to be careful about it tho ~ one of my cats has a 'thing' for pins and will pull them out and then spit them on the floor. Have to put my pin cushions away because of him. Silly cat.

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    1. Be careful, a few years ago my cousins cat (she rarely sews, just mends, and does not craft with needles) swallowed a needle, and the vet bill for surgery to remove the needle from his intestines was atrocious. She thought it was cute that he would spit things out also. That is why when I leave my pincushions for any reason or length of time, I put them inside my embroidery box and close the lid. Just a friendly warning for all cat loving embroiderers.

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    2. Yes I think if I had a cat, or any other pet, I think I'd be a lot better at not using the sofa as a pincushion...

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  4. Ah Ziploc bags are handy but not pretty. I made myself a sewing roll with a piece of fabric and some zippable pvc panels inside. It only took a couple of hours to rustle up and it's great for travelling as I can hang it on the back of the seat in front on trains/planes/coaches - you should get your threads out to make one too

    =]

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    1. Oh that sounds cool! Thank you for the idea. Hopefully one day I'll get round to making something a bit prettier than what I'm using now.. ;-)

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  5. Ziploc bags may not be pretty, but they are very functional. You can see everything, you can plop it down, move it around and as long as it's zipped, things won't fall out. I use them for everything, embroidery tools, drawing tools, etc. I've tried other ways of storing and carrying and this works great for me. I'm more interested in what I'm making being pretty than how pretty my 'tool bag' is, I guess.

    Re: needles and pins....so I guess you're not supposed to weave them in your shirt, either....um, and forget about them being there. ouch.

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    1. Exactly! Ziplocs rule. Atleast in the usefulness department. Not so much in the pretty department.

      I did not know that you're not supposed to weave needles and pins into your shirt and forget about them. Why had no on ever told me this?! ;-)

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    2. Why has no one ever told you? To give you another good blog entry?? :-)

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  6. Don't worry Carina, I'm all about the ziplock bags too. Even though I recently got myself one of those 'fancy' clear plastic boxes to keep my floss in I still have several ziplock bags on the go with carious different projects threads in them. Well, what else are you going to do to keep your palettes separate?

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  7. Cherry, I have a floss box with 6 rows. It has some dividers, but generally, I use one row for each project, and have a couple of rows for nick-knack storage.

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  8. Lol, I've always gone with the school of thought that the sofa arm was a perfectly good place for pin storage :)

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