How to Make Well Stocked Sewing Kits

Make your sewing room perfect by making well stocked sewing kits or boxes. Sewing, quilting and cross stitch patterns should be stored separately in clear plastic containers that can be stacked. If sewing is your hobby, you may have many sewing supplies. Sewing is addictive. Set up your supplies in a series of kits by grouping like items together.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Plastic storage boxes
• Threads
• Needles
• Pins
• Fabrics
• Tape measures
• Iron & Ironing board
• Embellishments
• Scissors
• Rotary cutters
• Sewing Machine

1. Stack several clear plastic boxes together for fabrics. You should also have interfacing and a product called Steam a Seam for applique. A smaller box works well for fabric scraps. Keep most of the smaller pieces of leftover fabric from projects, they will come in handy for quilting and applique.
   
   If you sew on heavy or plush fabrics, include Rinse A Way which is a water soluble tear away paper backing. There are also printable papers for different projects that you print with your computer printer.

2. This box is for pattern supplies and includes a fabric tape measure for people and a metal tape measure for other measurements. Include a seam gauge and three pairs of scissors. One pair is for cutting fabrics, the second pair is for cutting everything else, and the third are pinking scissors.
   
   Other cutting tools are rotary cutters, rulers and a cutting mat for cutting fabric for quilts.
   
   Include pattern weights. Scotch tape or blue painters tape is useful for adjusting patterns.
   
   Straight pins and a magnetic pin cushion to hold pins safely. Also include several fabric markers or chalk.

3. You will need many different colors including several shades of the same color. Add black, white and some neutral grays. Gray and poly filament thread, (it looks similar to a fishing line) work well when you don't have the correct color. Also add some upholstery thread for sewing buttons.

4. It is important to also have a box for hand sewing supplies. In this box you need several sizes of needles, a needle threader, a small assortment of threads, scissors, and a seam ripper.

5. This box is for buttons, hooks and eyes, snaps, beads, charms, elastic, trims and velcro.

6. If you have a sewing machine, items you will need are needles, tweezers, the feet and accessories for your machine, oil, and a small pair of scissors. Include the sewing machine instruction book and any other papers that came with the machine.

7. You also need a good iron, ironing board and pressing cloth, fray check and spray starch.

Tips & Warnings

• Use larger stackable boxes for fabric.
• Use several smaller boxes that can fit inside larger boxes.
• Purchase extra boxes at the same time for future storage. They will match.
• Group similar fabric colors together.
• Label each box clearly with the intended purpose.

[godfather25]

on 7/21/2009 Excellent tips on making well stocked sewing kits.