Sew Many Supplies!!

  

You don't have to read this post.  It may be helpful if you're a beginner like me, but for anyone else it's not that great.  It's probably really boring--and let's be honest--it's just a way for me to show off the things I got and try to get some validation for my matching pink scissors!

So I decided to start sewing and after much research, I headed out to the store to pick up some supplies. (This was one of the activities I did while I had to wait for my sewing machine to ship)

First I picked out some scissors. You should have some sharp, stainless steel scissor that feel right in your hands. Can't explain it, they just need to feel right so if you can test them out a little, most scissors are packaged so you can sort of try them out. I liked these ones and I liked that they were pink and not the ugly orange color the other ones were.

I like to refer to them as mommy and baby scissors

You really should have 2 pairs of scissors: a larger pair, 8" for cutting out fabric, and a small pair for cutting thread and trimming nose hairs. Just joking about the nose hair part, but in all seriousness apparently the first thing you do once buying scissors is to make a blood oath that you won't use them for anything other than fabric and sewing projects.  If you use them for anything else they dull really fast, or to be honest get lost for a really long time.  

Next there's pins and a pin cushion. Loved the pink--decided I might as well go with a theme at this point and things got  little overly girly. Pink's not even my favorite color, I promise I'm really an adult and that I'm not someone regressing back to Barbie days.  

Fun fact I learned: the strawberry attached is used to sharpen the pins!

I got a rotary cutter, ruler, and cutting mat. I wasn't planning on buying these originally because they are pricier items and you really could just hand cut everything with scissors.  After some thought I realized my cutting abilities are comparable to a preschooler so I decided this is probably the best investment I can make in myself to succeed.

As a bonus--it doesn't clash with the pink theme

When you pick out a rotary cutter it should be one that has a cover or safety on it so you don't accidentally cut yourself (apparently they are extremely sharp and I am now extremely nervous), and so the blade doesn't get messed around with. Mine has a retractable cover which seems nice but I imagine eventually it may not work as well as it does now--I went a little cheaper on this.  There's really not a good reason I picked this mat, it was grey and a decent enough size with out breaking the bank (I kid you not they sell some bigger ones for over $100!) so I got it.  The ruler I liked because it is clear so you can see the patterns on your fabric well and it has a little lip edge on one side you can slide it on your mat and be sure that you're making a straight line.  

Got some needles (BORING) for hand sewing and for the machine just in case (I guess... I mean, so I'm told.)

Some seam rippers--these are a must for my current skill level--in fact I probably should have gotten some seam rippers before  buying the sewing machine! They say you should have two because you lose them pretty often (I had to stop myself from going overboard and buying six because I lose things so often!) I got a small cheap pink one keeping with my earlier theme and a larger one that fits more comfortably in my hand for those long mistake projects I anticipate I'll make.

Ironically enough I couldn't find the little pink one when I went to take pictures..

Picked up some basic thread colors and some extra bobbins.  A must need. I figured I'd probably use black and white a lot and then got some few other colors I knew I'd be needing soon.

I bought a few yards of really cheap muslin. I read somewhere that this is a good thing to do as a beginner so you can practice something you're feeling uncomfortable about with a really cheap fabric instead of messing up your pretty, expensive fabrics.  Seemed like a great idea to me so it became a must! (Writing this currently, I feel that the muslin has helped give me a little more confidence to try some harder patterns than I would have started with originally.)

This fabric finally helped me figure out the difference between Muslim and muslin.--I kid you not!

I got some of this tracing paper, you place the paper between your pattern and your fabric and roll the baby-pizza-cutter device over it and it transfers little dots on your fabric so you know where to cut.  To be honest I got it mainly because it reminded me carving pumpkins and that was always my favorite part. 

Now I just want to carve a pumpkin...

I got measuring tape to use to measure things. You should get one that has inches on one side and centimeters on the other, and is pink in color.

The pink part is especially important!

This next one I think is really cool! It's a fabric marker that has one side (purple) where after a few hours the ink will just fade away and the other side (blue) you can use a little dab of water to make it disappear!

Have to restrain myself from playing with this one

Finally I got a cute little sewing kit basket to keep all of these awesome supplies I got!

Don't worry--there's some pink on it!

So that's it! That's all that I got so far and I seem to be really well prepared to tackle any sewing endeavor--or that's the hope anyways!

Those of you who are more experienced in sewing: did I leave anything out? What's your favorite sewing accessory? Anyone else end up with a theme to their accessories--or am I alone in my weirdness?