I have learnt a lot over the months, starting out all I had was my trusty old John Lewis sewing machine, a couple of spools of cotton from Aldi and some normal scissors I found in a drawer in the kitchen. I quickly realised that if you dont have the tools for the job, the job doesn't get done and it takes a long time to get anywhere.
I know a work-woman shouldn't blame her tools, but i am telling you now .... these tools are 100% what you need, because without them you are sat trying to use all your limbs to baste, your sewing machine sounds like its about to jet off to Mars and you'll be launching your generic kitchen scissors at your other half as they laugh at you trying to cut a straight line - this is purely a fictional representation of what could happen by the way....... I am totally not talking from experience.
A great little machine that does the job ....
I was lucky enough to have my new sewing machine for Christmas, its a pretty basic generic low end machine but it does everything I need and its super easy to change the feet and has a few different stitches.
Above as pictured is my Brother Ae2500, I love that its got illustration on it as most machines are very plain. Brother have tonnes of extras to adapt your machine like a wider extension table and a multitude of different feet so for me its great as a second machine.
I do however struggle with the throat size (the square shaped bit in the middle) because for quilting large projects there isn't much room .... but I make it work.
Cutting equipment is a MUST !!
Normal scissors just are not going to cut it .... see what I did there?
I suggest you invest in a good rotary blade, above is a Fiskars blade I purchased on Amazon. I will admit I didn't order it because it had five star reviews, I thought it would look good in flat-lays.
You will need a good cutting mat ... again I love my pink one and my larger green and grey ones hardly feature in my insta because they just aren't worthy, however a selection of different sized cutting mats are super helpful.
Invest in good fabric scissors .. again I have a few pairs now but one large pair is ample - your other half and yourself will thank me later, so will your kitchen scissors.
Clover clips and Pins ...
As a child I always used to love playing with my Nan's sewing pins I think she had beautiful glass headed ones, mine are pretty basic and so is my pin cushion.
Pins are super important, there are some great ones out there now from different lengths to flat heads etc go and explore and experiment.
Safety Pins - large curved ones are a must have for basting, especially larger projects. I bought mine from Dunelm in a huge pack of over 200 and they are amazing.
Clover Clips - I love the name and I love my colourful ones (pink ones pictured above) these are again something I cant quilt without, perfect for securing your binding and helpful for lots of other tasks.
Rulers !
Not just any old rulers but Quilting ones. I have two and I wouldn't be without them, there again is tonnes on the market but I swear by my Arteza 24 inch quilting ruler and my small Quilting square I got free in a magazine. I want to invest in more but ... fabric stash comes first.
There is lots of tools you can buy to make quilting easier but I found with these few things I could start off just fine and they are still my everyday essentials. - Hope this was some help to those starting out, and if anyone wants to suggest what they think is an essential let me know, (or my husband) its my birthday coming up!
XOXO
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