Talk Back Thursday

Ripley's powerloader in "Aliens" -

just about the only tool not mentioned for the sewing room! ;)

Thank you so much to CarlaF, Cindy, Mamafitz, Towanda, Gaylen, M.Soto, Jen, Elaina, Becky, MeredithP, and Summerset for "talking back" last week! I asked what are the basic tools that should be in a sewing room, and got LOTS of excellent answers!

Between those 11 commenters, over 50 items were listed as candidate sewing room tools! In order to make sense of it all, I’ve attempted to group those items into logical clusters. As usual, within each category I will list the items in order from most mentioned to least mentioned, and give the number of people who called out each item in parentheses.

The Room Itself / Furniture
- Cutting table (5)
- Good desk / cabinet for your machine(s) (3)
- Plenty of storage space and/or storage containers (3)
- Good lighting/lamps (3)
- Dress form (3)
- Method to display fabric (Elaina mentioned using the cardboard inserts from fabric bolts from fabric stores) (2)
- Good chair (1)
- Smooth floor (1)
- Hanging board for rulers, scissors, etc. (1)
- Cork board (1)

Machines & Machine Accessories
- Sewing machine (8)
- Accessory feet for your machine (7)
- Serger (7)
- Extra machine needles (2)
- Extra bobbins (2)
- Coverstitch machine (2)
- Buttonhole attachment (1)
- Bobbin winder (1)
- Computer (1)
- Industrial sewing machine (1)
- Magnetic seam guide (1)

Pressing
- Good iron (9)
- Ironing board and/or ironing mat (8)
- Pressing cloths (esp. silk organza) (4)
- Ham (4)
- Sleeve board (3)
- Point presser and/or clapper (2)
- Steam press (1)
- Dry press for interfacing (1)
- Seam stick (1)
- Manila folder to press open seams (1)

Cutting
- Good scissors (9)
- Seam ripper (7)
- Cutting mat (6)
- Snips (5)
- Rotary cutter (5)

Measuring
- Measuring (or seam) gauge (7)
- Measuring tape (6)
- Straight edge ruler (5)
- Yardstick (1)
- Curved ruler (1)
- Set of dressmaker’s rulers (1)

Marking
- Marking tools (chalk, paper & wheel, water soluble pens, etc.) (7)
- Embroidery thread for tailor’s marks (1)

Pins and Needles
- Pins and pin cushion (7)
- Hand needles (4)
- Magnet for finding needles on the floor (1)

Miscellaneous
- Awl /bodkin (2)
- Tracing paper (1)
- Point & tube turners (1)
- Clothes pins (1)
- Coat hangers (1)
- Hammer (for eyelets, snaps, etc.) (1)
- Plastic drop cloth (can be used for muslins, pattern drafting, etc.) (1)
- Bamboo skewers (I’m not sure what these are for – maybe to get people to tell you their actual measurements?) (1)

Possibly Most Important “Tool”:
- Patience!

Ultimate Dream Sewing Room:
- An unlimited budget!

Is this a great list, or what? :) There was a lot of agreement on the basics, some tools I've never heard of, and some really ingenious ideas!

Possibly the most agreed upon point was to make sure that your scissors and your iron are good quality - apparently these are not things to skimp on!

You may want to read the comments for yourself, as people elaborated more than I have been able to in this summary.

Oh, and I still want a powerloader - maybe I can tell my husband I need it for the garden...? ;)

Thanks again everyone! Have I mentioned recently that you guys rock? :)