The Basics:
- Sewing Machine: A basic machine is all you need for this one. No decorative stitches or serging will be needed, we won't even be doing buttonholes. However, you want to make sure the one you have is ready for the job. Here is a great site for information on cleaning an older machine, and here is one for repair and maintenance for you do-it-yourselfers. That last link is actually an excellent one for anything sewing related. Stop and take a look around there while you have a chance.
- Iron & Company: In addition to an iron that is capable of producing massive amounts of steam, you'll want a few other items as well. Primarily a press cloth (I use a clean piece of muslin, works great for me. You can buy commercial versions that are cheesecloth as well), an assortment of pressing aids such as a tailors ham, seam roll, pants board(kind of a mini ironing board) and your scuba gear. That last one is only if you are into extreme ironing. Make sure the plate of your iron is clean with no gunk on it. Most irons also have a way to clean the mineral deposits left from the water that has been steamed as well. I suggest running that a couple of times. Oh, and toss the ironing board cover into the wash and get that nice and clean too. Since ideally we will be working with wool get a spray bottle to wet down the fabric with water when we need to.
- Scissors: Make sure you've got nice sharp scissors. There are plenty of different types, but no pinking shears! We need a straight edge on all our cuts. Ginghers have traditionally been a very solid brand. However I currently use a pair of spring loaded Fiskars. Get a separate pair of teeny tiny ones for cutting threads too.
- Pincushion: These are fun to get. There are all types of pincushions, magnetic ones for those (like me) who tend to get pins everywhere and hate getting them lodged in your heel, cushions shaped like little dress forms, the classic tomato with emery strawberry, tiny cushions you can slip on you finger or wrist to keep the pins handy, you could probably even use a voodoo doll as a pincushion which would be great multitasking.
- Chalk: Instead of pinning paper patterns to fabric (which can cause inaccuracy with your cuts) we'll be tracing the pattern directly to the fabric. There are multiple forms of chalk that you can use, I have a holder that has sticks of white or pretty colored chalk with a fine point. Go to the fabric store and choose whatever strikes your fancy.
- Pins: Make sure you've got plenty of straight pins. With this project you don't need any fancy type of pin, keep in mind that pins with the glass or plastic heads can be a pain when trying to iron, but a blessing when removing pins or when going through several layers of thick fabric. Most of the time we'll just be using basting in place of the pins, and you're welcome to do so for every time you need to hold two pieces of fabric together, but I like to change it up some.
- Needles: Make sure you've got a variety of hand sewing needles, you can usually get a little sampler pack for a decent price. As for machine needles, stock up on universal needles, make sure they will work with your brand of machine. I'll be focusing an entire post to needles and thread shortly, so you might want to hold off until you know exactly what you need.
- A Thimble: Trust me, your fingers will thank you for it.
- Dress Form: If you are all by yourself, do not trust the opinion of others or are extremely anal this is VITAL. Even if none of the above applies I still highly recommend getting one. There are several ways to go out this, for the cheap, a duct tape dummy is an excellent option. The only downside is you can't pin things to them very well, this goes for the hard plastic forms too. Preferably get one of the soft cushy ones that have a slip cover you sew to fit your form exactly, I don't know what I would do without mine.
More detailed information will be posted later, until then here are some of the supplies we will need.
- Paper: This is for drafting the patterns on. Some use newsprint, others tracing paper or they purchase expensive pattern paper. I had a professor that made us all buy exam table paper, you know stuff the doctor makes you sit on when you go in for a physical? It's cheap, slightly transparent, strong (it's gotta survive you sitting on it, right?) and comes in long rolls. Once you start making patterns with this stuff you don't go back to anything else.
- Drawing Utensils: Pencil, marker, gel pen etc... use whatever you like. I find drawing in either a fine felt tipped pen or a gel pen works best. Pencil is great until you need to trace the pattern onto another piece of paper, it's not very easy to see.
- Rules: Yardstick, shorter ruler, flexible curve and a French curve are needed.
- Removable Tape: 3m makes this. It's almost like regular tape except you can use a piece over and over as it doesn't pull apart the paper when you peel it off.
- Tape Measure: You will need it to measure yourself, do not do this part on your own. If you know of no one else that can do this for you find a tailor that can. I cannot stress this: DO NOT MEASURE YOURSELF!!!!!!
- I like to sew with the tv on, or something to keep my thoughts from going overboard while I sew. This would be a perfect time to watch/listen to all three Lord of the Rings movie commentary that you've been meaning to one of these days. Even better, watch Star Wars since we'll be working on a Star Wars costume. Nothing like the movies to inspire you're sewing.
