8 Sewing Aids You Won’t Find at the Fabric Shop

When your favorite online sellers like Ellesby Fabric don’t have what you need, do you typically go to your local fabric store or big-box craft retailer for all things sewing related?

In my decades of making clothes, I’ve found a few tools that make sewing easier at some common stores hiding in plain sight! Do you use any of these tools?

Found at Staples (or the office supply store of your choice)

1) Binder Clips

Binder clips as a tool to clamp, clip, and pin I discovered in my early adulthood working in office jobs. With the plethora of binder clips I encountered, I realized that the different sizes would be great to get for my own sewing purposes:

• Jumbo binder clips fit comfortably on my cutting table for laying out fabric and keeping it taut for cutting pattern pieces. This is incredibly important for slippery fabrics like silk that I use often.

• Once done cutting your pieces, use smaller binder clips to hold pieces together and keep pieces from the same pattern from getting lost.

• There are even little binder clips that are great as alternatives to pins.

  
  

To me, binder clips have several advantages.

• Once clamped, they stay in place fairly well while pins or paperclips can fall out.

• They have smooth, rolled edges that keep them from damaging fabric or paper.

• The arms can be folded down for extra hold when laying out fabric and pattern pieces.

• The arms can also be used as temporary loops to hook tools or notions to them.

• You could even clip together patterns, fabric, and notions and then string them or hook them for better sewing area organization!

Found at Dollar Tree (or your favorite discount retailer)

2) Oven Mitt

Let’s be real – whether you shop Family Dollar or Daiso, you’ve probably found lots of goodies at these discount stores to help you sew much better. It’s fun to peruse their craft supplies, notions, home organization, cleaning products, and storage aisles looking for inexpensive impulse buys. But a long oven mitt is one that I recently started to use. Due to rushing and not paying attention, I frequently burn my arms and hands when ironing or pressing. My mom recommended me grabbing a long oven mitt, the kind used for barbecuing, to protect myself. I now keep one on my ironing board.

3) Washcloth or Hand Towel

When ironing or pressing velvets or other pile fibers, it’s important to use a terrycloth shield between the iron and the fabric. Get a small low-cost towel or washcloth from your local dollar store so that you have a designated one just for ironing. It’s also great for keeping your iron plate gleaming!

4) Fingernail Buffer Block

Admittedly, I’m not one for manicures. Handling a lot of delicate fabrics like silk jersey, fine knits, and chiffons means being very careful to avoid snags and pulls. I keep a good quality emery block under my sewing desk so that when I have a hangnail, I can take care of it in the most likely place for a hangnail to happen. The other handy use for a buffer block or other sturdy emery nail file? You can use it to resharpen needles that are skipping stitches to help them last longer!

Found at the Container Store (or other storage solution supplier)

5) Stackable Plastic Drawers

I probably have about 50 drawers of Rubbermaid brand containers these days. They typically come in sets of three drawers, four drawers, or five drawers, but they can be easily disassembled and restacked to fit your fancy. In addition to providing different size options for easy organization of your projects, they are sturdy enough to store or display lighter things on top in the same way you would treat a bookcase. I bought my more recent addition from the Container Store who offered free shipping on my purchase. The Rubbermaid kinds are popular because you can kind of see into them to quickly scan your projects.

They last decently well – some of mine are over 15 years old and still somewhat hanging together (although some look like the Leaning Tower of Piza). Keeping the drawers fully pushed in helps to extend life because each drawer helps reinforce the shelf's structural integrity. The wheels that typically come with them make organization great, but they cause more wear on the shelves. The drawer portion of the container can continue to be used as a bin or basin once the frame (the more likely part to deteriorate) starts to crack.

I also like to use the extra drawer tops I have from reassembling three-drawer or four-drawer sets into five-drawer sets. They make good lap desks for queuing up what I’m about to sew or keeping things organized while hand sewing.

6) Clothing Rack

Having just some extra clothes racks to hang clothes, projects, fabrics, or notions from has been incredibly handy to me. Since most of mine are on rollers or are lightweight, I can quickly move things around. It can be inspiring to see several things next to each other hung up or draped over a clothes rack that I ordinarily would not have pictured together. Collapsible or easy-to-assemble clothes racks are also an essential for you if you sell your sewn wares at fairs or events. The added bonus is having more space to hang my own clothes!

Found at Ace Hardware (or your preferred home improvement store)

7) Retractable Tape Measure (like the kind that construction contractors use)

Yes, I have many measuring tapes for tailors and some that are even retractable. I do try to keep one in my purse. Notwithstanding, when I’m out in the Fashion District hunting up new inventory finds for Ellesby Fabric, having that metal tape that stays straight and also hooks at one end helps me measure dimensions like fabric width without another person on the other end. I like having the 120 inch tape for flexibility in measuring extra-wide items. It also comes in handy for home décor and theatre projects.

Found at Best Buy (or other major appliance stores)

8) Air Purifier

I already have lots of particulate matter around my workshop from bits of thread and snips of fabric that somehow didn’t land in the trash can. But when I’m cutting pile fabrics like velvet and fake fur, quickly my activity sends even more dust into the air. I spent awhile thinking about it, but I’ve now bought an air purifier to help suck up all of this dust before I inhale it.

---

Wherever you shop, you might be able to save additional money when you login through CapitalOne Shopping and use your CapitalOne credit card at checkout. Find out more here (LINK).).

What other craft tools do you use from non-craft retailers?