Save your money and make these 7 helpful sewing tools instead of buying them! Many of these sewing tools are also great scrap busting projects that will not only save you money but help you keep your stash under control. A win-win in other words! ✌🏻
When it comes to sewing there are so many helpful tools out there and it can be hard to figure out, first of all, which sewing tools do you need? And of these tools which ones shall you save on and which one shall you splurge on?
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The tools in this video are not necessarily all tools that you should save on (more on that later), but I think if you are on a budget these tools are really helpful to make instead of buying.
Click here to watch the video, or click on the thumbnail above. Or if you prefer you can keep on reading…
Pressing board
Can I confess something?
I do not like ironing boards! 🤭
I find ironing boards are often hard to store. I also find them flimsy. I am sure there are great ironing boards out there that are not flimsy – but the ones I’ve had have not been sturdy enough. When it comes to pressing garments during the sewing process I often also find them too squishy.
The squishier surface of an ironing board is fine for when you are ironing clothes – but not for pressing. If you’ve been sewing for a while you know that there is a difference between pressing and ironing.
As such, I decided to make my own pressing board. Another benefit of making a pressing board is that you can make it in any size you want and I wanted mine to be in a size that I can easily tuck away when not in use.
I followed a tutorial on how to make your own pressing board by Leah Day. I made my pressing board with a 3/4 inch plywood, which I then put a layer of cotton batting on top and then I put the unbleached cotton canvas and then on the back I stapled the cotton batting and the cotton canvas to the plywood.
If you want to learn how to make your own pressing board you can find the tutorial here.
If you want to buy a pressing board I really like the EasyPress mats from Cricut or wool pressing mats like this one here.
My friend also warmly recommends the Swedish company Rörets Industrier for ironing boards. She told me, after I uploaded the video above, that hers has a firm surface instead of a squishy one, and that the ironing board was bought in the 70s (maybe even the 60s).
Around 10 years ago the plastic part that holds the ironing board together when folded up broke. My friend emailed the company and asked if she could buy a new one from them, and they sent her a new plastic part for free. I wish more companies did things like this so that you do not need to dispose of the whole item just because a tiny plastic part broke. You can check out Röret’s ironing boards here.
Tailor’s Ham & Tailor’s Sausage
The next tool (or tools) that I think you should make instead of buying are a tailor’s ham and a tailor’s sausage.
I specifically think a tailor’s ham is an essential ironing tool because every time when you press on darts and curves a tailor’s ham is such a helpful tool.
You might not need a tailor’s sausage – it depends on what type of things you sew if you do. If you do not own one and you need a tailor’s sausage once in a while I recommend rolling up a towel and put inside the sleeves of the garment that you need to press.
Of course, you can buy your tailor’s ham and your tailor’s sausage. I find most of them are decently priced but for me, it was more a matter of aesthetics and using up scraps and materials I already had over saving money.
The fabric I used was leftover fabric from when I reupholstered two chairs that I have. One of the chairs is actually the one that I’m using when I am sewing, overlocking & machine knitting etc. in my sewing room.
I decided to use this fabric as my base for the colour scheme of my sewing space and I also wanted my tailor’s ham & sausage to match with my chair(s).
Then I filled my tailor’s ham & sausage with leftover yarns e.g. the yarn ends & tails that I had cut off from several knitting projects, as well as knit samples that I wasn’t going to use anymore. I cut up the yarn up into small pieces and stuffed both my tailor’s ham and tailor’s sausage with those.
Download and print out the FREE patterns I used to make mine below:
Tailor’s ham
Tailor’s sausage
Here is a good tutorial on how to make your own tailor’s ham & tailor’s sausage.
Pressing cloth
The next helpful sewing tool that I think you should make instead of buying is a pressing cloth.
If it’s just one tool, of all of the ones that I share with you today, that I would advise you to definitely not spend any money on it would be a pressing cloth. I really do not see a point in buying a pressing cloths because you need to replace them quite often as they do get disgusting after a while.
However, I have also heard a horror story in a comment somewhere on the internet where someone shared that they had a pressing cloth that melted! 😱 That makes me worry that maybe some of the pressing cloths out there are not able to withstand heat in the way that they should be able to.
If you decide to make your own pressing cloth you need to pick a fabric that can withstand the heat on the highest setting on your iron and not melt! As such avoid synthetic fibres and go for something like cotton or linen or another natural fibre that can withstand high heat.
What I’ve used mostly for my pressing cloths has been old bedsheets or pillowcases. The one that I recently have made is from an old bed sheet that I downgraded from being used as bedding to a “helpful sewing tool’. I’ve also used that bed sheet to make a mock-up for a pair of trousers that I’m working on right now.
I finished the edges of my pressing cloth with my overlocker, but you can also just pink with a pair of pinking shears or zig-zag them if you prefer.
In the past, I haven’t always finished the edges of my pressing cloths and I would advise against not finishing them as they will fray and leave threads & lint otherwise. And we do not need more lint in our sewing space, am I right!?
Pincushions & Pincushion bracelets
The next sewing tool that I think you should make instead of buying are pin cushions and pincushion bracelets.
I crocheted both of my pincushions. The cupcake is my first ever Amigurumi project that I then decided to use as a pincushion. The chocolate jammy dodger I pattern tested for my friend Mai, and then I decided to use it as a pincushion as well. You can find her Etsy shop Florencia which is full of cute crocheted goodies here. She even has her own cupcake pincushion which you can buy here if you do not want to crochet your own as I did.
Of course, you definitely do not need to crochet them as I have done. There are loads of great pin cushion tutorials online and I think most of them are really cute and great scrap busting projects as well. I started to create a Pinterest board with some of the many cute pincushion design out there – you can find it here if you need some pincushion inspo! (It’s a collaborative board – so please request to join if you want to share more pincushion ideas!)
Another helpful tool to make is a pincushion bracelet. I wanted one of these for years because they’re really helpful to wear whilst you’re sewing to both make it easier to grab a pin as well as putting pins away. Before I made mine I could easily end up having pins laying all over my surfaces and still not being able to find a pin when I needed one.
However, I didn’t like the look of the majority of the ones available in stores. I cannot speak for other countries but here in Canada when you go to stores like Fabricland they, first of all, do not look that great in my opinion and secondly they are not worth the price. 🙅🏼♀️
So the one I have I made from a tutorial that Evelyn Wood has here on Youtube. I saw her beautiful pin cushion bracelet that she is wearing in the majority of her videos, and I was very curious how she made it and as it wasn’t only me who was curious about this so she made a tutorial on popular demand.
I love that it looks more like a fashion accessory than a sewing accessory. The bracelet I used as my base I got from the thrift store and then I used polyfill and printed quilting cotton on top.
- Watch Evelyn Wood’s tutorial on how to make a wrist pin cushion bracelet here.
- Click here to find the pattern for the Amigurumi Cupcake that I use as a pincushion.
Dress forms
The next helpful sewing tool that I would recommend you to make instead of buying is a dress form.
I made a video recently on the process of me making my dress form from a custom pattern to my size.
When it comes to dress forms I think you should either invest or DIY! Most good quality dress forms start from $300 and upwards, and if you want to have a custom dress form where you 3D scan your body and get a full-on copy of your body shape – check out Beatrice Forms. However, they cost US$1499, and that’s quite a lot of money for most of us. But if you have the money by all means – spend it! I think it’s a great investment as long as you can afford it.
But if you want to save money and still have a good quality dress form made to your measurements I highly recommend you to check out the Bootstrap Fashion Custom Dress form patterns.
I know it can be tempting to buy an inexpensive dress form. I used to have a cheap dress form made out of styrofoam, and in my opinion, they’re awful to work with! First of all, pinning in styrofoam! 😬 Do I need to even say more? Secondly, the cover itself was of this polyester stretch fabric that as soon as you put a pin in it created a little snag. I still shudder at just the thought of it! 😣
However, that was the only thing I could afford at the time and sadly nothing like Bootstrap Fashion’s DIY dress forms existed back then.
The other type of inexpensive dress form that many people get is the adjustable ones. They seem like a great investment at first, but honestly, I found them really hard to drape & pin on as they do not have a squishy enough surface to put pins through. Also, when you change the size of your adjustable dress form they don’t really change how a real body changes in size. On top of that when you size up it creates this weird gap in the middle which I find makes it really hard to drape on.
If you are interested in making your own I highly recommend you to check out the video I made on the process of making my DIY dress form, and if that doesn’t seem like your thing start to save money and invest in a good quality dress form once you can afford it!
Watch my DIY Dress form video here.
Buy your own Bootstrap Fashion Custom-size Dress form pattern here.
Fabric Baskets for Storage
The next item(s) I think you should make instead of buying are fabric baskets to store things in.
This one I specifically like to have easily accessible on my desk so that I can store my scraps & thread tails whilst I am sewing. I find it really helpful to have this basket so that I can easily put fabric scraps away when I work and not create a complete mess in my sewing space.
Of course, you do not need to store scraps in your basket if you do not want to. You can use these baskets to store whatever you like.
This is also a great scrap busting project. I think that’s why I like a lot of the tools that I’m sharing with you today because they can be such helpful scrap busting projects. I love when you can turn scraps into something useful!
Click here to find a tutorial on how to make your own fabric storage baskets.
Pattern weights
The next helpful sewing tool that I think you should make instead of buying are pattern weights.
The ones I use are washers that I got from the hardware store. Then I used my Cricut Maker to cut a removable glitter vinyl to size in two different colours. I have a blue removable glitter vinyl on one side and a silver removable glitter vinyl on the other side.
I have also seen lots of people that have wrapped fabric scraps around their washers – it’s all up to you which design you go for! You can also keep them plain if you prefer.
Of course, you do not need to use washers to make pattern weights. There are a lot of other DIY pattern weight designs out there like these triangle-shaped ones filled with rice. I am also planning to make some more pattern weights in the foreseeable future. Partly because I need more pattern weights, but also because I have too many scraps in my stash.
Buy your own washers to use as pattern weights here.
Want to save it for later? Pin it!
I hope that I gave you some ideas on what to save money on when it comes to sewing and if you know of any other helpful sewing tools that you think we should make instead of buying – let us all know in a comment down below! I would love to hear from you!
