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Basic Sewing Supplies- Everything You Need to Get Started!

Anyone who has ever been in a fabric store knows that there are aisles and aisles of notions, tools, and supplies. It can be a bit overwhelming to navigate through it all to figure out what is necessary and what isn't. At the beginning of my sewing classes, I give each student a list of basic sewing supplies that they'll need. I love love love doing this because it reminds me of elementary school supply lists and going to pick out new crayons and pencils. Who doesn't enjoy picking out new supplies?

Anyway, the things I recommend for class are just a nice basic set of sewing tools that are really everything you NEED (in addition to a sewing machine!) as a beginning "sew-ist,"so I thought I'd share it with you today. Of course, as you learn more and discover what kind of things you like to sew, you can add to your arsenal of supplies accordingly.

::The Basics::

Sewing Supplies Learn to Sew Sewing 101 Basic Sewing

Fabric Scissors or Dressmaker's Shears- Invest in a good pair of fabric scissors and protect them at all costs! Only use them on fabric, because paper will dull the blades so that they won't cut fabric any more. It's a good idea to buy fabric scissors that are a different color than other scissors in your house. David kindly remembers not to use any scissors with blue handles. If you have kids, you'll probably need a good hiding spot.  

Hand Sewing Needles- Some projects require a bit of hand sewing to finish up. These are also useful to have for sewing on buttons and adding special details to your work.

Basic White Thread-It's always good to have. You'll accumulate different colored threads from projects, but white almost always works in a pinch.

Fabric Marker or Pencil- These special markers have ink that disappears with water. I use one all the time for drafting directly on fabric.

Hem Gauge- This is essentially just a small ruler, but it's used to create even hems. It's really convenient for sewing clothes and I use it on almost every project to make sure my edges are nice and straight. I like mine because you can mark your hem width for easy reference. 

Measuring Tape- A must have for making clothes...It also makes you feel very professional when you hang it around your neck.

Seam Ripper- Oh how you will use the seam ripper. It's the eraser for all of your sewing mistakes. I hate to use it, but I'm so glad I have it. 

Ball Head Pins and Pin Cushion- I like long pins, like these, because they're easy to grab quickly as I'm sewing.

Small Scissors- Having another set of small scissors will make your life easier. Keep these beside your sewing machine to clip all of those dang threads! Often you can buy fabric scissors and these small detail scissors as a set



In addition to those tools, the only other essential is a good iron. If you haven't done much sewing before, you may be surprised to learn that there is A LOT of ironing involved! The iron is used to "glue" fabric together before you sew and to finish seams to make a project look crisp and finished, among other things. Don't worry... it's not like ironing laundry. Promise. 

::Not Necessities, But Really Nice to Have::



If you do a good bit of sewing, I highly recommend investing in a rotary cutter, ruler, and self healing mat. I didn't have one for a very long time and then my mom got me one for Christmas a few years ago. I can never go back! These can be a bit expensive, but they regularly go on sale at JoAnn's or it would be a good use of your 50% off coupon. 

The Purl Bee has a great tutorial for using a rotary cutter HERE.

::Storage::

If you are just starting out sewing and have the basic supplies I've mentioned here (and even a few more) a cute sewing basket may be perfect for you. 



But friends, for serious sewing tool storage, you simply can not beat the fishing tackle box. Trust me. 

The compartments are just the right size, everything is visible- no digging around and getting stabbed with pins, and it closes up tight to be perfectly portable with no spilling. 


My love for tackle box organization runs deep. When I was a little tot I stored all of my art supplies in a tackle box that my dad gave me. Evidently I'm not the only one who knows its merits, because the same company who makes fishing tackle boxes sells the same box (only it's purple) at craft stores for this very purpose! 

What it lacks in looks it makes up for in practicality. 
Like a mini-van.

Hope this list is helpful in your sewing!
mel

Ford's Christmas Quilt

For Christmas this year, David had my wedding rings resized to fit my chubby post-baby-you-ain't-22-anymore fingers. I'm extremely grateful to be an honest woman again after months of walking around without my rings and a baby on my hip.


I gave David a ukulele.
That's right. A ukulele.
He didn't ask for it, but I had the sneaking suspicion that he would like a tiny, quirky guitar. 
And I was right! He loves it. He serenades Ford and me around the house with an eclectic mix of tunes ranging from "You Are My Sunshine" to Sufjan. 



The best gifts I've given David over the years have been, like the ukulele, risky. Probably 10 years ago, I gave him a bow tie...long before they graced the necks of nearly every fellow on southern college campuses. 
The first year we were married, I gave him a pipe. 
And now...the uke. 




Back off ladies. He's all mine!

I mentioned in my last post that we just gave Ford one gift from us for Christmas. I wanted to give him something special that he could keep forever as his first Christmas gift, but I also wanted it to be fun and useful to him (or us) now. 

Soooooo....I decided to attempt my first quilt for my first born. I've wanted to make a quilt for a long time, and this was the perfect reason to take on the project.


I think it turned out pretty well!


A quilt fit the bill for being something that was both a useful gift for a baby boy and a keepsake. I didn't use traditional "baby" colors because I want to able to use the quilt for many years. I chose fabrics that were bright and boy-ish but that also represent things about our family. Some squares have guitars, bicycles, and cameras to represent our hobbies. There are squares with travel scenes, starfish, and even wood grain to represent places we like to go. 

Here's a larger version of the above picture so you can see the fabrics a little better.


I added a stripe of leftover fabric on the back to jazz it up a little.


And I embroidered a little inscription on one of the back squares. I wanted it to look like it was carved into a tree trunk.


quilt, handmade, christmas, hand embroidery, sewing, first quilt, gift, baby

The quilt is about 72 inches square, which is a little shorter than a twin size quilt. I modified THIS PATTERN from Cluck Cluck Sew (a great quilting resource) for a baby quilt to make it a little bigger. I largely based my fabric choices on this quilt from Joy's Hope, another lovely blog.

quilt, handmade, baby gift, first christmas, christmas gift, hand embroidery

This is a great pattern for a beginning quilter because you don't have to line up squares to make corners.  It only took me a couple of days to make this (with plenty of interuptions from an 8 month old and mostly working once everyone had gone to bed!) Once you cut out your pieces, you sew them into rows and then sew your rows together. 

Because I wanted my quilt to last for a long time, I decided to have a long arm quilter put it together for me, rather than doing the actual quilting myself. The result is a wonderful "old quilt" feel- it's just the right weight and delightfully crinkly. 



We are already enjoying cuddling up with Ford's quilt...almost as much as we are enjoying listening to David play his ukulele. I hope that they'll both enjoy their gifts for many years to come!

What was your favorite Christmas gift?

mel

Baby's First Christmas = Parent's First Christmas

Baby's first Christmas is a funny thing.

It's really fun and exciting to have this new little person to celebrate with and give things to, but the truth of the matter is that they are just too little to really "get" what's going on, even in the most basic sense.  Really I think it should be called "Parent's First Christmas" because this is when you, as a parent, get to figure out what your new normal is for the holidays now that baby is in the picture. And as a parent, you are so excited about having baby with you to celebrate and experience all that you love about Christmas.

first christmas, baby, christmas, parenting, christmas gifts

It is still pretty fun to watch their little reaction to all of the decorations and activities. Of course, our family likes to watch Ford do anything-
The world stops when this boy chews on his toes.
We'll pause a movie to watch him play with a toy.
Everyone around the supper table will let their food get cold listening and provoking him to talk.
And if he sneezes?...Please. We die. (In our defense his sneezes are really cute. Like a puppy sneeze times 5 on the cuteness scale.)
So with that being the norm, Christmas was really just another opportunity for more of the same.

Anyway, since he really wasn't able to actively participate much in the yuletide celebration this year, we decided to keep Christmas pretty simple while we can still get away with it! And as Ford grows, it's easy to add to our traditions and festivities but it's quite hard to scale down what you've already started. We're not trying to be grinch-y. We just want to make decisions that make our celebrations more meaningful and less busy.

Here are 3 things that we did for "Parent's First Christmas":

First, we picked a few activities that Ford would enjoy or would be fun memories for our family but left out those things that didn't seem worth the hassle. For example, we took Ford to see Christmas lights and meet Santa but we didn't pay to go to an elaborate light display because to Ford, lights are lights. We didn't bake cookies because it would probably end in me being frustrated and tired rather than full of yuletide cheer.

Second, rather than giving Ford lots of little gifts from us, we decided to give him one special gift that would be a keepsake. This wouldn't go over so well when he's older and understands the concept of Christmas gifts, but this year it's perfect. And he'll always be able to say what he got for his first Christmas present. And don't worry... the grandparents had Ford covered in the present department!

Lastly, I love hosting and going to holiday parties but this year that all seemed a little daunting. It would be really difficult to plan something elaborate at our stage of life right now and going to parties is a little more difficult since Fordycakes crashes around 8 pm. In light of all this, we decided to host a neighborhood 5k! We called it the Hot Cocoa 5k and invited our neighbors, friends, and family to come  run or walk a 5k route that David mapped out and then hang out at our house to drink hot chocolate and eat snacks. We supplied the hot cocoa and planned the race and everyone brought a snack to share.  It was a easy, family friendly, low key get together with a fun twist that made it special. The race was also a really great way to get to know people in our neighborhood that we usually only speak to in passing. We hope to make the Hot Cocoa 5k a yearly tradition. It was a perfect fit for us.

And this is what our Christmas looked like-

We spent Thanksgiving in Florida with David's parents and in the little town where they live there's a huge Christmas season kickoff called "Light Up Mount Dora." They have tons of Christmas lights everywhere throughout the town square park.  This was Ford's first Christmas activity and he LOVED it. He couldn't get enough of the lights.


That same night, Ford also met Santa! Ford was unsure of both Santa and the outfit Mommy picked out for him. You can't say he wasn't festive!


Back at home, we went to pick out a Christmas tree- our first as a family of three! David and I have a tradition of going to get Starbucks and then going on a fairly extensive hunt to find the perfect tree. Our perfect tree used to come from a swanky tree farm...now it comes from Lowe's because we discovered the joys of the bargain tree.

Do you ever ask strangers to take your picture? It almost always turns out like this- drunk eyed dad or some equally non-frameable result. I know I'm imposing on their Lowe's trip, but come on! Look at us! Baby's first Christmas!

Then you inevitably resort to the phone self portrait. Sigh. 


And yes, Ford is wearing shorts whilst picking out our Christmas tree. Welcome to Georgia. 

Fordy liked the Christmas lights in Mount Dora so much that we decided to add a little exterior illumination to our own Christmas decor. The chicken coop got the full Griswold treatment!


We spent the week of Christmas at my parent's house. (Many of you have asked and yes, the farm house is done! I'll have to give you the full tour some time.) It was nice to be home with our whole family. 

Look at Papa and Mema...happier than pigs in mud. 


We went to the Christmas Eve candle light service with our whole family at the church that I grew up in and where David and I were married. It's funny to take Ford there now. 


On Christmas morning we woke up bright and early to open gifts! Here's our little family on our first Christmas morning. This is the present that we gave Ford...more on that later!


Everyone watched Ford open all of his gifts first. Babies are very entertaining. 


Here he is after opening all of his gifts! (See, I told you that the grandparents had him covered!)


That face.


After watching Ford open all of his gifts, we put him in this box while the rest of us opened ours! Just kidding...kind of. 


We spend the rest of the day playing, eating, napping, and hanging out together.


Christmas is sooooo different with a little nugget. I guess that stands to reason because our whole life is so much different. It's better, for sure, but changes are always interesting! We had a very merry Christmas and we hope that you did, too. I can't wait to see how our holiday traditions change and grow with our little family. I'm grateful for a chance to take things slow and easy during a phase of life that is a little hectic most of the time. 

Happy New Year!
mel

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