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.

DIY Wooden Clapper

So far as I can tell sewing tools come in two categories. Your average run of the mill type bits like needles and pins which start off cheap and can be more expensive depending on what quality you want and bits and pieces you don't really need but kind of do that are really blooming expensive for what they are. 

I desperately wanted a tailors clapper for ironing stubborn wool fabrics. Basically you put the clapper on top of the seam after you've ironed it and hold it their until the fabrics cool and using some sort of magic it makes the seam a lot flatter and look a lot neater. 

Naturally to begin with I used an rolling pin or a wooden spoon but that was becoming a bit problematic because LOL want to make some biscuits but I can't find the rolling pin best search the sewing area for 45 minutes and try and find it. 

After looking on line I realised that the majority of tailors clappers are just a big hunk of wood with a pointy end and for £24 that does seam a bit steep. 

Well this girl has a shed full of odd bits of wood [when we dismantled the old sofa Rikki chose to keep what he called the "good bits of wood" and put them straight into the shed were they sat waiting because they were always too big or small for whatever project he was doing] AND a GCSE in product design..... I;m not kidding by the way I took three practical subjects at GCSE and basically spent two years messing around making things. 

Typically I don't really do wood work anymore but I thought I could manage to saw a few bit of wood and knock in a couple of nails. 

It was harder than it looked. 

For starters our saw was fairly blunt and secondly I had wanted to put screws in but couldn't get the blooming things in so ended up with nails.

The front part isn't completely symmetrical and I didn't really get around to rounding off the bottom portion because I don't have access to a sander BUT it works and Rikki's Grandad has promised me we can make a prettier one together in his workshop at some point. 

I was going to do a tutorial for this but to be honest you can just use a flat piece of wood so a tutorial would be a bit redundant. 

In other news:

We have a DOG! If you've been on my Instagram in the past few days you'll have seen our latest addition. We adopted her from the city dogs home, she was found as a stray but was micro chipped which means she has had an owner at some point. 

Shes still a bit scared and isn't really eating much or drinking more but she's slowly relaxing. We've decided to call her Polly and so far she's very lovely. 

If you want to see whats on my Instagram I've linked it to my new Facebook page, so if you have Facebook then you'll be able to find my Instagram posts there. 

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx