Why I've sized down my sewing kit!

Now that I've been sewing awhile I seem to have accumulated quite a sizable sewing accessory stash. Truth be told whilst I love collecting old bit of sewing equipment especially if they belongs to someone I know, trying to find exactly what I needed was a bit like trying to find a needle in well...a really big like of needles and other stuff!! 

It was really starting to drain on my creativity. I could easily spend an hour tidying everything up and trying to work out what to take when I did my demos at abakhans was becoming a nightmare. But I couldn't see myself being able to part with any of my old sewing things especially things that had once belonged to someone else.

Then I was lucky enough that prym sent me some of their new sewing range to try out. And guys less is more!!!

They basically sent me a collection of sewing essentials in a little plastic sewing box and once I'd seen all those matching items together I couldn't bare to throw them into the chaos of the sewing box!! 

So I kept them separate and tried a more minimal type of sewing! 

And I loved it!!!! Naturally I added in a few of my own items that I love but now I find things a lot easier! I wasn't spend ages searching for items or tidying UK now and the case was portable enough that it could from my sewing table to abakhans no problem! It even took a trip to my sons school when I did a sewing workshop. 

I think it works so well because everything in their is an essential and everything is good quality so I'm no longer searching for a good needle or decent scissors! 

Here's a small taste of whats inside:

Prym scissors on chain (particularly useful for cutting over locker chains) this pair actually came attached to a pin cushion but I like them better than my previous cabin scissors so I switched them.

Prym ergonomic unpicker  not that I use it because *ahem* pro sewer over here...... Its lies if I could have this on a chain too I would. 

Needle holder

. This might be my favourite item to be honest. With having a day and a small child I am always on alert that they can't get my needles. Well this case comes with a lid and swivels up like a lipstick to display your needles. AND there's a magnet in the bottom so even if you hold it upside down nothing falls out. GENIUS!!!! 

Magnetic pincushion, again safety wise this has been a godsend. I regularly throw needles at it and it catches them every single time!!!! 

Small scissors these are in between my dressmaking scissors and my embroidery ones so perfect off quick cuts for alterations . They are super sharp which really makes me want to try their larger version! Also the boys know exactly what I mean when I scream don't use the polka dot scissors!!! 

Point turner. Its official I'm the person who uses a point turner... A few years ago if you'd have asked me to use a point turner I'd have pointed to various pens and pencils that I used as point turners but now I'm all about the smooth point! And as an added bonus this doesn't leave an ink stain like pen does!!! 

Beeswax (not sure what brand this is ?) I added this to the box myself because I cannot cope with tangled threads I just don't have the patience! 

Tailors chalk (not sure of brand) I added this to the box because using it makes me feel fancy.... That's not even a joke when I use tailors chalk I feel like a sewing boss! 

Other fabric markers ( from top to bottom ) cartridge pen , aqua pen and chalk wheel.  At a push I'd say the chalk wheel is my favourite but to a be honest between the three of them I can mark pretty much every fabric ever!!! 

Other things that live in the box worth mentioning : 

- wonder clips ( especially useful for jersey fabrics)

- thread cutter necklace (literally saves my sanity any time I fly)

-janome scissors 

- my own personal sewing labels (because I'm fancy) 

Okay so I'm officially converted to a minimalist sewing box (not that it'll keep me from filling my big sewing box with other goodies I find) but where do you stand???? 

Is smaller more practical ? Or is bigger better?? 

Much love 

Frankie 

Xxx

Disclaimer : whilst prym sent me these items for free I have been using them solidly for 6 months and all thoughts and views are my own.

Sewing Box Makeover

This is what my sewing box used to look like. It was very kindly given to me by my friend when she was having a clear out before she moved. 

Now from what I can remember she'd had it for some years and I've had it since may last year and it was starting to look at little worse for wear. 

One of the main issues was that one of the hinges on the top section was broken and some of the screws had come out and gotten lost.

So I went to Rikki batting my eyelashes and he agreed to fix it. And then he suggested that we just pull the whole thing apart and re paint it because some of the paintwork was chipped and fading. 

And that's how my swing box ended up looking like this. 

First of all I had to empty the dammed thing which led to another "why do you have so many pairs of scissors?" discussion. FYI I want at least one more pair but I want really really good ones this time not cheapo ones!

Our agreement was he would pull it all apart and glue the bits that needed gluing, then I would sand it and paint it, and then he would put it back together and fix the hinge and stuff. 

I genuinely thought I had the easy part........I was wrong.

THE BLOODY THING TOOK ABOUT 5 HOURS TO SAND! 

Honestly my right arm is like pop eyes now and I worked muscles I never knew I had! luckily we have this weird sander tool thing where you stick the sand paper on the bottom. I can't find our exact one but this one is similar and I'd definitely recommend it for this sort of job. I did think about using our electric sander but its quite big and bulky and I didn't want to damage the box beyond repair. 

After the sanding I gave everything a good wipe to get the dust off and started painting whilst it was disassembled. The white paint is some silk emulsion that we had lying around and the purple is a tester pot that Rikki popped out the get whilst he was getting a new hinge [he actually colour matched it too our living room perfectly!] It took four coats of white to get it looking nice and three of the purple.  

I painted the bottom of the box and the lid purple as well because I thought it might help me find stray pins. I left the sides bear because some of them contain makers marks which I thought was a nice touch.

The handle was especially fiddly to paint because I had to have it half propped up. The little wooden extendy bits [I have no idea what I'm talking about can you tell!!!!] Because they are only about 1cm wide I ended up with most of the paint on my fingers. 

Some of the purple paint came off on the white paint the first few times we opened it but its stopped now so now I really need to touch them up. 

I also added my signature to the front in sharpie but its not very neat so I'd like to cover it in a little metal or wooden sign instead. 

And then we put the whole thing back together again! 

I've got to say I love it! Its surprising how far some elbow grease and a bit of paint can go. And its so nice to breathe life back into something. Especially seen as I've become quite attached to it! I just wish it was a bit lighter so I could take it with me when I do demonstrations! 

Speaking of which.......

This was me today! Yep I braved the cold and went to Abakhans Hanley to demonstrate the things you can do with EPP hexagons! 

Whilst I love the sewing part the best part is chatting to people! 

I met a couple who had been married for 62 years [yes they were adorable, they met at the cinema]

A lady who's daughter owns a pub in Staffordshire that has quilts on the wall and that I am definitely going to visit! I mean booze and quilts? Does it get better?

I also met a young girl who had started sewing. She was only 9 but had made a quilt, clothes for her dolls and is about to try and make something for herself [I believe she said a skirt] She left me completely in awe and she has a lot of talent so I hope she sticks with it!!! Especially in a world where so many schools are being forced to cut back on textiles and other hand crafts.

My next one is on how to make an embroidered cushion and its on the 21st of April!

Much Love

Frankie!

xxx

  

Whats In my Sewing Box!

So I actually made this video on the 14th September but haven't gotten around to uploading it until yesterday!!!

So yeah it features the ENTIRE contents of my sewing box!! 

Grab and cup of tea [and a cheeky biscuit, in fact just grab the packet!] 

and enjoy!

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

What's In My Sewing Box?

I'm nosy by nature, last year I saw two lads stealing bits of the fridge my neighbours had dumped outside and I managed to give them an accurate description, time frame and the make of the vehicle as well as the number plate. I am what is referred to in my family as a net curtain twitcher. I love to be nosy which I think is why I loved housed hunting so much and why I'm always intrigued when people post pictures of their sewing stashes and sewing boxes.

So here's mine:~

So here's what I keep my basic sewing supplies in, these are the things I used every day. The box was my mums I think she had it when she was younger and she mentioned using it to take things to peoples house's for sleepovers, then I think she stored baby clothes in it. 

No idea where the key is, I just push down the lock to open it.

I decorated the lid with some of my favourite postcards.

And here it is all full up!

These are my scissors [yeah I know it seems like over kill]

i have [ from the top]

paper scissors

rotary cutter

pinking shears

large paper scissors

Old metal fabric scissors [sentimental]

Old pinking shears [also sentimental]

flowered fabric scissors

black fabric scissors

small card crimping scissors for doing tags.

Three pin cushions!

My old sylko one [previously my grandmas]

My purple pin cushion bag [made at school]

My tie on wrist one

Voodoo doll [because I'm evil and stuff]

Glue [not sure why I have this? it just appeared]

Craft knife, best way of removing buttons from old shirts!

Clear Tape

Masking Tape [best way of fixing paper patterns because you can draw on it and you can iron it]

Carbon paper, This was recently given to me and I've not had chance to use it yet!

My handmade tailors ham and my flexy curve thingy - this was originally my grandmas.

Machine oil, I've recently been trying to take better care of my machines by oiling them more often. I keep this in a zip lock bag so it doesn't spill everywhere. 

Pens and pencils of various natures.

This is my little bag where I keep all of my smaller sewing bits that might get lost in the chaos of scissors!

In my little bag:

pot of chalk

unpicker

6 screwdrivers

tweezers

black pen

snips

needle book

zubes tin of pins

giant paper clip

four flexible tape measures

small blue paper clip

machine needle book

golf ball shaped metal tape measure

tine of machine needles

seam allowance tool

butterfly pencil and rubber

walking foot

And that's it! all my other supplies are stashed in various other places, so I hope you enjoyed having a nosy around my sewing box! What's in yours?

Much Love 

Frankie

xxx