What Essential Sewing Kit Do I Need to Start Sewing?

When you are new to sewing, it can be difficult to know exactly what essential sewing kit you need. There’s so much stuff out there and some people might tell you that you need it all!

But do you? Do you really need to buy masses of stuff in order to sew? It could end up costing a fortune and fabric’s not cheap (although with some creativity there are ways round that!). And where on earth are you going to store it? Never mind a craft room, you’ll need a craft house!

In my opinion, less is more. There is no point in having masses of stuff that you are not going to use, and you don’t have to spend a fortune to get started.

So here’s a list of all the things that I consider to be essential sewing kit. I’ve divided the list up into essential, nice to have and unnecessary. The items on the list are things that I use frequently (or never in the case of the unnecessary section!)

I’ve included some affiliate links, mostly for stuff I actually use.

Essential Sewing Kit

These are things you definitely need.

1. Sewing machine. I have a Silver Viscount 8000E  and before that I had an elderly Singer from the early 1970s.It’s worth getting something decent here, especially if you are going to be using it a lot. However there is no point in getting one that has lots of functions that you are never going to use!

Features to look out for include: straight and zigzag stitches, a special stitch for sewing with knits, overcasting, ease of threading, ease of accessing the bobbin, button hole capabilities and accessories, such as a zip foot. Hobbycraft have a decent but not overwhelming selection, including several at the budget end of things. Otherwise you could on look Ebay, or there are places that sell them second hand.

2. A decent pair of scissors. I cannot emphasise this enough! A good, sharp pair of fabric scissors make cutting out quicker and easier. It’s also important that the cut edge is neat and accurate as this is the line you follow when sewing it all together. They must never be used to cut paper and if there are people in your house who will not respect this, consider putting a padlock on them or hiding them. I actually did this, but I forgot the combination!

3. Pins. These need to be good and sharp. If not, they will snag the fabric. I prefer pins with a bobble on the end as I find them easier than the kind with a tiny head. The only slight problem with these is that the heads melt if you get too close with the iron! If you like pins to have a bobble, glass headed pins are a better choice.

4. Needles. These are essential for any little bits of hand sewing that need to be done to finish your project. Also, zips are much more likely to end up in the correct place if you tack them first! While on the subject of zips, here’s a tutorial showing how to put them in the easy way!

5. An iron and an ironing board. Pressing seams open or to the side results in a much neater finish. It can be tempting to skip this stage, but it really does make a difference. I only ever iron when I am making something!

6. Decent thread. Poor quality thread can cause problems. If it is not perfectly even and smooth, the thicker bits will get caught up and the where it is thinner, it will snap. This can result in puckered fabric, a damaged sewing machine and lots of frustration. I normally use Gutermann thread, although some of the cheaper ones are fine. Some are really not though, Just check before you buy.

7. A tape measure. Plastic ones are usually better as fabric ones sometimes stretch over time. Also look out for tape measures that have metal protectors at the end. These can extend the life and accuracy of your tape measure.

8. An unpicker. I have several of these!It makes unpicking mistakes so much quicker and you’re less likely to have mishap than if you use a pair of scissors.

Nice to Have

1. Somewhere to leave your sewing machine up. Although I don’t  believe that having a craft room is necessary, having somewhere where your sewing machine can live permanently makes a big difference. If you only have 10 minutes, you don’t want to spend most of those 10 minutes setting it up!

It can be difficult if you don’t have a lot of space, but think creatively. Do you have a piece if furniture it could live on? It doesn’t need to be fancy or enormous. Do you have a little nook in your house where it could live? Places to consider include hall, landing, under the stairs, a corner of the bedroom, even a corner in the kitchen or utility room if you have one.

My sewing machine table is a computer desk we bought from Ikea 15 years ago that had been rendered redundant by the laptops. It was a hideous shade of orange, but a couple of coats of Annie Sloan paint soon covered that up! Some furniture rearrangement resulted in a perfect little corner in the living room.

2. A smaller pair of sharp scissors for trimming threads. Having a good sharp pair is nicer than using the ones your kids use for their crafts! Large fabric scissors are sometimes just a bit too big for this kind of task. I have actually managed to cut holes in things I have been making because it was difficult to cut carefully with such big scissors.

3. A rotary cutter and cutting mat. This is not essential because you could just use scissors! However it does mean that you cut things out faster if it’s something larger and not fiddly, like the pieces for a circle skirt.

4. A dress form. If you want to make clothes without a pattern, it makes things a lot easier! You can just pin things to yourself, but if you don’t have a friend to help you it can be tricky. Adjustable dress forms are best but they are expensive. The fixed ones are cheaper, but if the dress form’s measurements are not the same as yours, you will end up with clothes that don’t fit! It is possible to adjust them however, with a sharp knife and some batting. You can read about how I altered my dress form here.

5. Extra bobbins. I bought some of these a few months ago. I hadn’t before because I thought they’d be expensive! It’s so much better having different coloured thread all wound on different bobbins instead of filling the few bobbins I had with different colours.

6. Pattern paper. Greaseproof paper does the job, but pattern paper is thinner and easy to use. It comes in bigger sheets which is another bonus as sellotape doesn’t really work on greaseproof paper, making it difficult to stick several pieces together for larger pattern pieces.

Unnecessary

1. A whole room devoted to sewing. Some people might disagree with me here, but in my opinion this is not necessary. In the UK especially, our houses tend to be smaller and if you have a family also needing space for stuff, it can be difficult justifying taking up a whole room for your hobby. Being able to keep your sewing machine out does make a difference, but you don’t need a whole room to do that. But if you want a sewing room and you have the space, go for it!

2. An overlocker. If your sewing machine does overcasting, an overlocker isn’t necessary.

3. A sewing machine with lots of functions. Even on mine, I don’t use most of them! When buying a sewing machine consider what your are going to be using it for, what functions would actually be useful and don’t be tempted by the machines that look like they might also be able to tap dance and cook the dinner!

4. Fancy storage. My sewing kit lives in plastic boxes housed in a cardboard box covered in wrapping paper. This way, I have it to hand and I can see what is in the boxes. The lids are different colours which helps! Everybody loves a pretty tin, but these don’t need to be expensive either! A nice biscuit tin will do the job (obviously the biscuits will need eating first!).

Not Included in the List

Fabric and haberdashery. Obviously you are going to need these things! I have a collection of bits and pieces, stored in my plastic boxes. I didn’t start stocking up as soon as I started sewing. Rather this hoard of odds and ends has grown over the years. Bits of left over ribbon, buttons, ends of elastic, zips bought in error, you get the idea!

What sewing kit do you consider essential? Have you bought something then found you didn’t need it? Let me know in the comments below!