Tools of the trade

I have a lot of tools and gadgets and I love them all.  The other day on Jenny's blog, she talked about her favorite tool right now  - the tube turner. 

This got me to thinking (which is always dangerous), about my tools and which ones are my favorite.

I really do like them all and I use them all.

OK - some of my more useful tools are:

1. Ruler - no one should be without one, and my favorite is metal with 32nd's on one side and 8ths on the other.
2. Tweezers - 2 kinds - these have rescued me more that I can count, in that they can squeeze into a space with more detail than I could ever do with my hands.
3. magnifying glass with light
4. Awl (and yes, this is how we pronounce "oil" in the south!)  This tools has countless uses.  When I have to remove seams, one at a time or carefully when working with my heirloom stuff, I can easily pick out the thread without any harm to the fabric with this wonderful tool.  Also this is great for finishing the turning on a sharp corner, with reservations here - you can't just stick this in and pull out and the corner is turned (I know another tute on turning a corner).
5. Different chalk markets and colors.  This is how I mark most of my alteration so that I can at least see where the seem should be. 
6. #8 Needles.  I find as I get older, I need a larger size.  I use the embroidery as they have a longer eye and therefore more room to fit the thread through.  I love my hand sewing needles.
7. Exacto Knife.  These things are great for slicing through seams.  You have to be very careful here, but these have a valuable place in my tool space.
8. A corner turner is wonderful and although these can be in plastic, there's just something natural and wonderful for a wood version.  This one has a rounded end which is wonderful for helping to make those curved seams turn out beautifully.
9. This is the business end of one of my turners...this is a basic one, and not one of my supped-up turners (above #2).
10. Duh!  But these are my favs - Ginger has been my shear for almost 20 years.  At a Kenneth King workshop a couple of years ago, he introduced me to these "knife snippers" and I love them.  Here's the close up of the business end of those snippers. As you can see, these have a very sloped side and a regular side.  That sloped side is great for starting a cutting slit in a buttonhole, or just any place.  They are terribly useful
11. These are great. These are my embroidery trimmers, but I also use the for trimming lace on a veil, and any place I need to trim closely.
12. I know - what in the world is an emery board doing on my tool space.  Well, I hate having a ragged edge on my hands or nails wile working with my beautiful fabrics.  It just feels like fingernails scraping across a blackboard - eeeeuuuwwwwww!  I can't do it.  So this is hear for a quick rescue!

This is just a short quick list of my favorites but not of everything that I use!

Comments

[Lindsay T]

Great post. Must remember those needles as I have the same problem with threading these days.

[Ann's Fashion Studio]

Great post.I love my notions too and can use them all. My favorite scissors are also Ginghers. My tweezers,small scissors,seam ripper and awl are always beside my sewing machine.