The quickest way to improve your sewing skills is to have the right tools! In this post I am sharing the best sewing supplies that aren’t really sewing supplies!
I love sewing supplies as you’d probably guess! You can read about my favorite supplies in this post! This post is a little different – these items are supplies I keep on hand in my sewing room, but aren’t actually sewing supplies!
These sewing tips will show you how to use tools that aren’t made for sewing in your sewing room! Add these 10 favorites to your sewing stash for better sewing, you can probably find a few of them around the house!
How to use a lint roller in your sewing room – Sewing Tricks
A lint roller is a sewing room ESSENTIAL! Use it to get threads off of your fabric, quick and easy! I keep this right above my sewing machine and use it all the time!
Secret sewing hack – Frixion erasable pens
These are awesome if you want to draw on your fabric but don’t want it to last forever! The FriXion ball pen by Pilot is erasable on paper but comes off with HEAT on fabric! So write all you want and then press it when you’re done! Read more here! Be careful though, it can reappear in very cold weather!
Best Sewing Supplies – Use a chopstick for turning points
A chopstick is a perfect point turner! Use it to push out corners and tricky little points.
Icing spatula for ironing help
I wrote about how a cake froster is one of my sewing room staples in this Sewing 101 post! I still love to use this as an ironing aid. It helps me get sharp edges as I iron. I especially love that it heats up too, making ironing a little bit faster. This one is nice and little for smaller projects!
Scotch tape – best sewing supplies
Invisible tape has so many uses in the sewing room!
I use it the most for taping pattern pages together and holding zippers while I sew them into a seam. Check out the video to see how to use tape to insert a zipper into a welt pocket opening.
Washi craft tape sewing hack
Washi tape can really perform any of the functions of invisible tape, but I also love it for marking seam allowances on my sewing machine.
I like to do this when I’m using a seam allowance that I usually don’t use to remind me!
Solid washi tape is also a great tool for labeling fabrics for a project or quilt.
Toe nail separators
Toe nail separators work wonders as bobbin holders! Use these little holders to keep bobbins wound up and then stash them in a drawer or little box! The foam holds the threads so the bobbins don’t unravel.
Use a standard fork to make perfect pleats
A fork is an odd tool for sewing, but it works great as a helper for making pleats! Using a fork to fold the fabric over will space them perfectly. Slide the fork through the fabric to get the pleats right next to each other!
Best Sewing Supplies – MAGNETIC WAND
Another ESSENTIAL! I use a basic magnetic wand to pick up pins from my sewing room floor. Pinless feet are happy feet!
Don’t get magnets too close to anything computerized like your sewing machine or computer so it doesn’t mess up the software!
Tuna cans for pattern weights
You already have a forks, so why not add some food!? Just kidding, these are solely for the weight of the can. Use cans of food to hold pattern paper on top of fabric while you rotary cut around the edges! Pattern weights can help you cut fabric much faster than using pins!
Check out more sewing tips HERE!
Do you have any tools to add to this list?
Originally posted in August 2018, updated May 2024.
Love this! Why didn’t I think of the frosting spreader?!? I must live under a rock because I didn’t know what washi tape is ????????. Thank you!!
That purple thang
6″ ruler for drawing sew lines in half square triangles
Bone folder for making points on dresdens
Never thought of using a spatula! Brilliant! Thanks
A toothbrush for cleaning the sewing machine; a glue stick for help holding fabric together temporarily; a short handled small head screwdriver, tweezers and needle nose pliers in your tool kit; small plastic containers or jars for holding stuff; elastic hair ties for button closures.
Very cool !
THANK YOU ????
I use painters tape for my go to tape…forceps are also great and clear nail polish to keep buttons on permanently…no loose thread.. freezer paper to back patterns…
Dental floss also helps hold fabric in place when you are trying to gather fabric for pleats. Place it where needle sews, in center of sewing foot and adjust it as you sew, then pull it out when you are done with your pleats.
My stepmom taught name this…a zigzag stitch over dental floss is so much easier to pull to form gathers. Been doing it for over 50 years.
Brilliant!!
Fantastic ideas. I knew about chopsticks, but never thought about using toe separators or a fork to help with sewing. Also liked the idea of using tape to hold a zip in place. I will put these to use right away.
Great ideas, I like the weights! Now, head to Dollar Tree and get a plastic kitchen utensil tray to store items in!
I use the lint roller with pre-cuts – right after taking off the plastic wrapper, roll around the linked edges a few times. It really picks up lots of little thread pieces.
I do NOT like that new tool purple thang. It is useless, or redundant
I use tweezers a lot. I have several types as I used to work as a nurse and always had some of my own tools. fine tweezers are great just search medical tweezers or lab tweezers on Amazon
this is a nice pair but there are plenty of others
https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Stainless-Tweezers-Straight-Precision/dp/B01N6892CO/ref=sr_1_4?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1535213786&sr=1-4&keywords=medical+tweezers
The brand I have is from Germany Stainless Miltex. I use them frequently
Round toothpicks to use as a makeshift stiletto, shelving liner (grip type) to put under your sewing foot to keep it from slipping, Thanks for the tip on the offset spatula; I hadn’t thought of that!
Oh good one!
I’ve found the tubular bamboo(?) stick that comes in manicure kits, shaved at an angle at one end and (sometimes) a point at the other, to be essential when guiding tricky fabric through the needle area of my machine.(Having loooooonggg memories of seeing, as a toddler, my mother (twice) with a sewing machine needle through her fingernail, I keep my fingers right out of the way!!!!!).
I used to use a thin metal object, but broke a pin that actually hit my glasses, so I went to something softer…….Works a treat!!
It’s called an Orange Stick, I think. :/
An offset screwdriver to open the cover over the foot/bobbin. Much easier than the manf. supplied screwdriver.
Parchment paper (used to protect baking sheets) for protecting my ironing board and iron when I am putting in fusible interfacing.
great idea!
That suggestion is going to be so helpful!
wonderful tips! I use my heartshaped cake-form (? )baking-form ,to make heartshaped sewing projects. Suzie from Sweden
A+ I use almost all of these except the toe dividers for bobbins! Good Stuff. Gonna tweet it! LOVE.
Dental floss threaders to insert serger tails or yarn through the eye of a needle.
To clean lint out of your machine, q-tips (especially the flexible ones) or pipe cleaners work really well to get that fluff and dust out.
The plastic tablecloths with flannel backs that you can get at dollar store are a great portable design wall.
I use empty prescription bottles to store used and broken needles and pins – no one gets scratched or pricked when throwing out the garbage.
Empty tennis ball containers are great for holding tools when you are going to workshop or retreat.
Advice from the tech at my shop, using Q-tips to clean the dust out of your machine can do harm to it as the cotton can catch on those little screws inside. Use a soft brush to do this similar to the one in the kit you received with your machine. Occasionally you can use the can of air, but do not use this often.
I bend a pipe cleaner into a 1/2 inch loop and then insert the ends of the pipe cleaner into a coffee stirrer/straw to make a small tool to clean dust from my machine.