
Sewing Series ~ Sewing 101 ~ Basic Sewing Kit
Essential Sewing Kit
A sewing kit an essential item when learning to sew, it’s great to start a super basic sewing kit. You can always add to this list, bringing in tools that will help you save time. But to get you started, we will go over the necessary items, and then I will be sharing some of my favorite tools.
Sewing Kit Essentials
A container is a great place to start when putting your sewing kit together! A sewing basket or drawers are ideal.
When taking classes, it’s nice to have all of your items together and ready to use. Missing things can slow down even the easiest of tasks.
Also an excellent, reliable machine (if you don’t have one yet). I suggest to all of my students, the Brother CS6000i, I have one and have used it for the last six years. It’s fantastic and even comes with a walking foot!
Items to include in a sewing kit:
- Two pairs of scissors
- an inexpensive pair for crafting
- good quality pair of fabric shears (I suggest KAI N5230
)
- Straight Pins – Glass head or the thicker Quilters Pins
- Pin Cushion – magnetically remarkable!
- A fiberglass tape measure
- Marking tools such as tailor’s chalk, vanishing ink marker or even washable markers from your kid’s coloring stash.
- A seam gauge – This is an excellent tool for making accurate measurements and for tracing straight lines such as darts.
- A seam ripper – All new seam rippers are sharp and precise. Make sure to change out your seam ripper every month or two; it will save you time!
- Hand sewing needles – a nice assortment to fit various sewing needs
- Sewing Machine Needles – Keep a stash of the most commonly used needles. Size 12 is your primary “go to” needle, Size 14 is for thicker fabrics like canvas and Size 10 is for lightweight materials.
- Make sure you change your machine needle every 6-8 hours of sewing (with conventional cotton) more often if you are sewing wool, fleece, denim, or felt.
- Extra Machine Bobbins
– it’s always good to have a set of additional bobbins for that last-minute thread change. They are not that expensive. Make sure that they go with your machine; all bobbins are not equal!
Advanced Sewing Kit
Some extra goodies to have in your kit!
- Pressing Ham & Seam Roll
- Snap Tool
- See-Thru Ruler
- 5 in 1 Sliding Gauge
- Turner
- Clapper
- French Curve Set
One last thing
There are a lot more goodies you can have in your kits, don’t be fooled by gimmicky tools, do your research before purchasing! I have spent some real money on things that didn’t help me do my work, but they were shiny and cute.
XOXO ~Jesy
What is your favorite sewing tool?
Final words:
The entirety of the blog is my opinion, and I have not compensated in any way for my review or recommendations. Please also note there are affiliate links which help run this blog. Thanks for your support!
I believe in blog transparency and letting you know everything that goes into making or creating content.
Any products that I mention or patterns that I use; I will give full credit to the publisher, designer, fabric company, etc.

