My favourite hand-sewing notions
If you do a significant amount of anything, you develop preferences. Preferred techniques, products, requirements. And seeing as I do a ridiculously significant amount of needle-turn appliqué, I figured I'd share some of my favourite hand-sewing and appliqué notions! Think of it as a "what's in my sewing bag" feature. These are my non-negotiables, my ride-or-die's, my "if they're not in my bag I'm not sewing" products. I'll also list a few new products I've been playing with and would love your feedback if you've tried them or not!
Alright, let's go!
What's in my sewing bag?
Needles – my preferred needle to needle-turn appliqué with is Bohin no. 10 Milliner's needles. They're thin, long, and have just the right amount of flexibility that allows me to grip and flex the needle just slightly. They're so thin and sharp that I've accidentally sewn the top layer of finger skin onto my project - no joke! Additionally, for big-stitch quilting or basting, I love the Tulip Sashiko needles. They're long, strong and have zero flexibility, which is exactly what you need. I used to use the Clover Sashiko needles, but I really like how long the Tulip ones are, and think I will likely use these moving forward.
Thread – no sewing of mine will be done without Wonderfil Efina. And I'm not saying this because I'm a Wonderfil Threaducator. As soon as I got my first spool of Efina I was hooked. So much so that I had a small spool of Efina tattooed onto me! Efina comes in so many great colours, and even if the one you have isn't a perfect match to your fabric, its such a great weight that it just melts into your fabric.
Thimbles – to be honest, I don't use a thimble when doing needle-turn appliqué, unless it's been a marathon and my callused middle finger is getting sore. When I do it's usually a combination of my trusty leather Clover thimble and some Thimtec Thimble Tape around my thumb for grip. I find this combination works really well when big stitch quilting, or when my fingers are starting to get tired.
Sew Fine Thread Gloss – cause.... of course! Whether it is an old tin of mine, or the new run from Soak, you won't catch me doing any hand sewing without a tin of Sew Fine Thread Gloss. Lately I've had a tin of Pink Macaron with me at all times! The natural beeswax formula is amazing for taming your threads and allowing them to smoothly and easily glide through your fabrics.
Marking tools – I use a combination of marking tools, depending on the type of sewing I'm doing and the colour of fabrics. For lighter fabrics I tend to use a light coloured Frixon pen as I find they don't discolour the fabrics after ironing. For darker fabrics I love to use my Bohin Chalk pen – it has a nice thin core which is great for precise marking, and you can get multi-coloured chalk refills.
Snips – what sewing bag is complete without a pair or two of your favourite snips! I've used many brands over the years but my favourite is definitely LDH Scissors! I think I now own every type of snip they make, their new Prism one-piece snips being my most recent acquisition from Quilt Canada. They are so well made, and LDH even offers sharpening services for their scissors!
And that's it! My tried and true, can't go/sew anywhere without these hand-sewing notions. Have you tried any of these products? Any others you use that you'd recommend? I'd love to hear what your go-to hand-sewing notions are – leave a comment below and let me know!